Community Conversation
with Farooq Mitha
NEHA DEWAN
Neha has long been active in both local and national politics. Most recently, she founded and served as the National Director for South Asians for Biden, an organization dedicated to engaging, educating, and mobilizing the South Asian community to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. In 2016, Neha served as the National Co-Chair for South Asians for Hillary and was appointed by Hillary Clinton to the National AAPI Leadership Council.
Previously, in 2015, Neha was appointed as a guest of honor by the Consulate General of India in New York City where she was selected to speak about gender equality for International Women's Day. During the 2012 presidential campaign, Neha chaired the New York Chapter of South Asians for Obama and also served on the steering committee for Lawyers for Obama in New York. For several years, Neha served as an Officer of the New York Democratic Lawyers Council, an organization affiliated with the National Lawyers Council of the Democratic National Committee and comprised of Democratic lawyers and voting rights activists. Similarly, for many years, Neha served as an advisory board member of New Leaders Council, a national organization focused on training and supporting progressive political entrepreneurs. She has also been active in her local community board and political clubs. Neha served as the President of the South Asian Bar Association of New York in 2012, and now sits on the organization’s Board of Directors.
Mobilizing the South Asian Community & Building Political Power
AMBASSADOR
OSMAN SIDDIQUE
Ambassador Osman Siddique is an American politician, former Ambassador, and author, who served as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Fiji, the Republic of Nauru, and to the Kingdom of Tonga and Tuvalu from 1999 to 2001, making history as the first American-South Asian-Muslim to be appointed to represent the United States abroad as an Ambassador and Chief of Mission.
In addition to serving as Ambassador, Ambassador Siddique has also served on several Presidential delegations, including the White House Conference on Travel and Tourism and the First Hemispheric Trade and Commerce Forum. He also served on the National Democratic Institute’s International Observer Delegation to the Bangladesh Parliamentary Elections. In 1999, Ambassador Siddique represented the United States as its Co-Leader to the First Meeting of the Conference of the Pacific Community held in Tahiti.
Seeking the promise and opportunity of the United States, Ambassador Siddique left Bangladesh in the early seventies to complete his academic studies at Indiana University in the heartland of America. After a stint with a Fortune 500 company, he became a prolific entrepreneur and, most proudly, an American citizen.
In 1976 he formed ITI/Travelogue, Inc., a corporate travel management company, which became one of the top minority-owned businesses in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area and one of the largest travel management companies in the nation. He served as its president and Chief Executive Officer before entering public service. He was also a founding member of CorpNet International, a consortium of domestic and international travel management companies, with revenues in excess of $1.5 billion. He also co-founded other ventures in banking, real estate and international trade.
Ambassador Siddique has been featured in magazines and newspapers, including Forbes, Inc, Success and the Wall Street Journal. He has appeared frequently on CNN, VOA, Al-Jazeera and other international news media and interviewed extensively by the national and international press. He is a sought after public speaker on various contemporary geo-political issues including interfaith and cross cultural dilemmas.
Ambassador Siddique has served as a member of many prominent national and international boards and also served as strategic advisors to a number of them. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appointed him as a trustee to the Board of Governors of the prestigious East West Center in Hawaii.
Ambassador Siddique is the author of "Leaps of Faith: An Immigrant's Odyssey of Struggle, Success, and Service to his Country," a poignant memoir about his journey from Bangladesh to becoming a US Ambassador.
Most recently, Ambassador Siddique served as Senior Advisor to South Asians for Biden. He and his family continue to be active in several philanthropic and community-based organizations in the greater Washington D.C. area.
