Rena Haley Age, Husband, Wedding, Job, Parents (Nikki and Michael Haley) Nikki Haley Daughter

Haley was South Carolina’s first female governor, the country’s youngest governor, and the state’s second governor of Indian ancestry (after fellow Republican Bobby Jindal of Louisiana). She was the first Asian American female governor. Haley became the first Indian American to serve in a presidential cabinet in 2017.

Haley served as United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2017 to 2018. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a 96-4 vote, and sworn in on January 27, 2017. In the aftermath of the 2017-2018 North Korean crisis, Haley reaffirmed the US willingness to use military force in response to further North Korean missile tests.

She defended US interests at the Security Council, particularly US support for Israel,[5] and led the effort to withdraw the US from the United Nations Human Rights Council. She resigned as Ambassador voluntarily on December 31, 2018.

Haley is a Republican Party presidential primary candidate for president of the United States in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. In February 2023, she announced her candidacy.

Haley Randhawa was born at Bamberg County Hospital in Bamberg, South Carolina to immigrant Indian Punjabi Sikh parents. Her parents, Ajit Singh Randhawa and Raj Kaur Randhawa, immigrated to the United States from the Amritsar District of Punjab, India. Her father was a professor at Punjab Agricultural University, and her mother graduated from the University of Delhi with a law degree. From her childhood, Haley was known by her middle name, Nikki, a Punjabi name.

Haley’s parents relocated to Canada after her father was offered a scholarship at the University of British Columbia. After receiving his PhD in 1969, her father relocated his family to South Carolina to teach at Voorhees College, a historically black institution.

Raj Randhawa, her mother, earned a master’s degree in education and taught in Bamberg public schools for seven years. Exotica International, a popular clothing boutique, was founded by her in 1976. It was decommissioned in 2008.

Haley has two brothers and a sister. Simran, her Canadian-born sister, is a radio host and Fashion Institute of Technology alumna. Her first brother, Mitti, retired from the United States Army Chemical Corps after serving in Desert Storm, and her second brother, Charan, works as a web designer.

Haley began assisting with bookkeeping in her mother’s ladies’ clothing store, Exotica International, when she was 12 years old. She graduated from the Orangeburg Preparatory Schools in 1989.

She graduated from Clemson University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Haley worked for FCR Corporation, a waste management and recycling company, after graduating from Clemson University, before joining her family’s clothing business as bookkeeper and chief financial officer.

In 1996, she married Michael Haley. She later became involved in community affairs. She was appointed to the board of directors of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce in 1998. In 2003, she was appointed to the Lexington Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors. In 2003, Haley was elected treasurer of the National Association of Women Business Owners, and in 2004, she was elected president.

Haley presided over the Lexington Gala, which raised funds for a local hospital. She also served on the boards of the Lexington Medical Foundation, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Foundation, and the West Metro Republican Women. She served as president of the South Carolina Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners and chaired the Friends of Scouting Leadership Division campaign in 2006.