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
PARAG MEHTA
Parag V. Mehta is a Senior Vice President at Mastercard, where he leads the company’s efforts to advance sustainable and equitable economic growth around the world as Executive Director of the company's Center for Inclusive Growth.
Parag has spent the past 20 years working to advance justice, inclusion and human rights through political activism, public service and now philanthropy. He played several leadership roles in President Obama’s administration including as liaison to the AAPI and LGBTQ communities and as Chief of Staff to the U.S. Surgeon General.
Parag is the Board Chair of New American Leaders, a national nonprofit organization that works to strengthen American democracy by electing first and second generation immigrants and refugees to public office.
Parag is a second generation Indian American from Central Texas and a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He lives in White Plains, New York, with his husband Vaibhav Jain. The two are plaintiffs in a landmark court case before the Delhi High Court which seeks to legalize same-sex marriage for 1.2 billion people in India.
