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
SWATI GAYEN
Swati is a Research Assistant at Abt Associates where she conducts research and provides technical assistance for federal contracts in housing, homelessness, and international development. She attended Johns Hopkins University and graduated in 2020 with a degree in Economics and International Studies. She has prior research experience at the Poverty and Inequality Research Lab, where she contributed to a study on housing and families, and as a research assistant for the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor undergraduate research program where she contributed to studies in political economics. She has volunteered for several nonprofits like the Computer Literacy Program and was a marketing and communications intern at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services. She is currently volunteering at Local Motion Project in DC, as part of the Service Never Sleeps Fellowship that empowers young professionals to pursue social justice through public service and allyship.