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
PREM SHUNMUGAVELU
Prem Shunmugavelu (he/him) is native of the Chicagoland area and has a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. His career includes roles as campaign staff on various Democratic Congressional campaigns as well as a staffer in the United States Senate and one of the co-Leaders of the Indian American Center for Political Awareness, well-known from running the Washington Leadership Program (WLP).
He also served on the Board of Indian American Leadership Initiative (IALI) as well as serving as the Vice Chair for the Minnesota Asian Indian Democratic Association (MAIDA).
He now serves as a eCommerce Software Sales and Business Development Professional after a 13 year Career at Colgate-Palmolive and 3 Years as a Consultant at Kantar. Prem lives in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro area with his spouse and two sons.
