Meet Kamilah
Kamilah Bywaters was born and raised in Las Vegas in a working-class family grounded in education, service, and community responsibility.
Her father, Thomas Bywaters, dedicated more than twenty years to the Clark County School District as a special education teacher at Rancho High School. He was also a respected soccer coach who mentored generations of students both academically and athletically. Her mother worked in food services in public schools, ensuring students were cared for daily in ways that often go unseen but remain essential to student success.
Kamilah played competitive soccer throughout high school and earned a scholarship to Howard University, where she developed discipline, teamwork, and leadership skills. When it became clear that a professional soccer career was no longer her path, she turned toward two callings that had always guided her life: education and ministry.
My Father & Mother taught me that leadership means responsibility to your neighbors, your community, and the next generation. That is the responsibility I am ready to carry for Assembly District 2.
At her father’s encouragement, Kamilah entered special education through an alternate route to licensure and taught in the Clark County School District. During this time, she was a proud, dues-paying member of the union and worked directly with students whose needs were frequently underserved by the system.
After three years in the classroom, Kamilah felt a strong call to ministry and returned to Howard University to pursue a Master of Divinity. While in a rigorous theological study, she taught in DC Public Schools and worked at Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel as a graduate assistant to the Dean of the Chapel. During this period, she engaged with nationally respected scholars, faith leaders, and public intellectuals whose work strengthened her commitment to justice, equity, and moral leadership.
In 2010, Kamilah helped restart the Las Vegas Alliance of Black School Educators (LVABSE), an organization dedicated to supporting educators and advocating for students and families. That work continues to shape her leadership and advocacy.
Today, Kamilah serves as the Special Education Instructional Facilitator supporting educators, students, and families across the state.
Every role she has held as an educator, advocate, organizer, partner, and mother has prepared her to serve the community at the legislative level.
Upon returning to Nevada, Kamilah enrolled at UNLV to pursue her PhD in Special Education. She taught at a charter school and served as a Graduate Assistant, preparing future educators to work with students with disabilities and navigate the realities of the classroom.
Kamilah is the proud mother of two children—her son, Jasiri, born in 2016, and her daughter, Azana, born in 2018. She and Khaldun, a United States Army veteran, are raising their family together in Las Vegas and remain deeply invested in the future of the community they call home.
In 2020, Kamilah helped restart the Las Vegas Alliance of Black School Educators once again. She has served as President and currently serves as Co-Chair. She is a graduate of Emerge Nevada, Class of 2022, and ran for the Board of School Trustees in 2024, demonstrating her belief that leadership requires showing up, even when the path is difficult.