02-03-2008, 10:09 PM
http://www.indiawest.com/view.php?subactio...t_from=&ucat=11
DNC Elects Three Indian Americans to Convention Committees
By RICHARD SPRINGER
India-West Staff Reporter
The executive committee of the Democratic National Committee has elected three Indian Americans to the standing committees at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, convening Aug. 25-28 in Denver, Colo.
Sunita Leeds, co-chair of the Washington, D.C.-based education-oriented Enfranchisement Foundation, was named one of the three co-chairs of the rules committee, which proposes convention rules, adopts an agenda and makes recommendations for permanent convention officers.
San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris and Smita Shah, founder and president of Chicago-based engineering and construction management company Spaan Technologies, were named to the platform committee, which drafts the partyâs national platform.
In addition, Pakistan-born Iman Malik Mujahid, founder and president of Chicago-based Islamic teaching materials distributor Sound Vision Foundation, was named to the credentials committee, which coordinates selection of convention delegates and alternates.
The executive committee voted unanimously for DNC chairman Howard Deanâs nominations for the nine co-chairs and the 75 additional committee members.
Shah told India-West from Chicago that she hopes to have an impact on the platform from the perspective of being an Indian American and also as a woman who has owned and headed an engineering and construction company for the past 10 years.
A member of the Society of Women Engineers, she said she will listen to what others say, but also be vocal about issues she cares about, such as the need for more women to enter the engineering field and the sciences.
Asked about what people expect from her, she added, âEveryting people donât expect me to be, I tend to be.â
Shah, who will be married in February, was a delegate to the Democratic national conventions in 1996 and 2004 and on the rules committee in the 2000 and 2004 conventions.
She said that the Indian American community has changed dramatically since 1996, when âthere were just seven people of Indian origin as delegates.â There were about 19-21 in 2004 and many more are expected this August.
A former appointee to President Bill Clintonâs Millennium Council to Save Americaâs Treasures, Shah is supporting Barack Obama for president.
âI have great respect for them (the Clintons), but I have been a supporter of Barack Obama and they have been gracious and understanding to me. They know I have to support my guy.â
A member of Loyola Universityâs board of regents and one of six Indian American winners of last yearâs Ellis Island awards (I-W, May 4, 2007), Shah has an M.S. from MIT and a B.S. in engineering from Northwestern University.
Dean, in a statement about the inclusiveness of the selection process, added, âThese outstanding leaders reflect the great strength, diversity and energy of the Democratic Party, and Iâm confident their efforts will ensure our convention in Denver is reflective of our shared values and our nomineeâs vision for America.â
The three committees will eventually have 186 members, with an added 161 members named to each committee by the statesâ and territoriesâ convention delegations this spring.
Also named to the platform committee was California State Controller John Chiang. Other Asian Americans elected to the rules committee were council member Evan Low of Campbell, Calif., and Boston, Mass. city councilor Sam Yoon.
Harris, who is of Indian American and African American heritage, in 2003 became the first woman district attorney elected in San Francisco, the first African American elected a DA in California and the first Indian American elected a DA in the U.S.
A supporter of Obama, she was named âWoman of Powerâ by the National Urban League and received the Thurgood Marshall Award from the National Black Prosecutors Association in 2005.
Leeds, a longtime Democratic Party activist, recently moved to Washington from Paris, France, where she was president of the Parent Faculty Association and treasurer of an Anglo-French Jewish congregation. Before that, she headed a software development team at Bell Labs.
Leeds also chairs the advisory board of the DNCâs Indo-American Leadership Council.
Mujahid is a Muslim leader, activist, film producer and non-profit entrepreneur. An imam at three Chicago mosques, he has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago and is currently president of the Council of the Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.
A producer of over 40 educational programs, his book, "Conversion to Islam: Untouchables Strategy for Protest in India," won the Outstanding Academic Book of the Year award from the American Library Association.
:by indiawest
DNC Elects Three Indian Americans to Convention Committees
By RICHARD SPRINGER
India-West Staff Reporter
The executive committee of the Democratic National Committee has elected three Indian Americans to the standing committees at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, convening Aug. 25-28 in Denver, Colo.
Sunita Leeds, co-chair of the Washington, D.C.-based education-oriented Enfranchisement Foundation, was named one of the three co-chairs of the rules committee, which proposes convention rules, adopts an agenda and makes recommendations for permanent convention officers.
San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris and Smita Shah, founder and president of Chicago-based engineering and construction management company Spaan Technologies, were named to the platform committee, which drafts the partyâs national platform.
In addition, Pakistan-born Iman Malik Mujahid, founder and president of Chicago-based Islamic teaching materials distributor Sound Vision Foundation, was named to the credentials committee, which coordinates selection of convention delegates and alternates.
The executive committee voted unanimously for DNC chairman Howard Deanâs nominations for the nine co-chairs and the 75 additional committee members.
Shah told India-West from Chicago that she hopes to have an impact on the platform from the perspective of being an Indian American and also as a woman who has owned and headed an engineering and construction company for the past 10 years.
A member of the Society of Women Engineers, she said she will listen to what others say, but also be vocal about issues she cares about, such as the need for more women to enter the engineering field and the sciences.
Asked about what people expect from her, she added, âEveryting people donât expect me to be, I tend to be.â
Shah, who will be married in February, was a delegate to the Democratic national conventions in 1996 and 2004 and on the rules committee in the 2000 and 2004 conventions.
She said that the Indian American community has changed dramatically since 1996, when âthere were just seven people of Indian origin as delegates.â There were about 19-21 in 2004 and many more are expected this August.
A former appointee to President Bill Clintonâs Millennium Council to Save Americaâs Treasures, Shah is supporting Barack Obama for president.
âI have great respect for them (the Clintons), but I have been a supporter of Barack Obama and they have been gracious and understanding to me. They know I have to support my guy.â
A member of Loyola Universityâs board of regents and one of six Indian American winners of last yearâs Ellis Island awards (I-W, May 4, 2007), Shah has an M.S. from MIT and a B.S. in engineering from Northwestern University.
Dean, in a statement about the inclusiveness of the selection process, added, âThese outstanding leaders reflect the great strength, diversity and energy of the Democratic Party, and Iâm confident their efforts will ensure our convention in Denver is reflective of our shared values and our nomineeâs vision for America.â
The three committees will eventually have 186 members, with an added 161 members named to each committee by the statesâ and territoriesâ convention delegations this spring.
Also named to the platform committee was California State Controller John Chiang. Other Asian Americans elected to the rules committee were council member Evan Low of Campbell, Calif., and Boston, Mass. city councilor Sam Yoon.
Harris, who is of Indian American and African American heritage, in 2003 became the first woman district attorney elected in San Francisco, the first African American elected a DA in California and the first Indian American elected a DA in the U.S.
A supporter of Obama, she was named âWoman of Powerâ by the National Urban League and received the Thurgood Marshall Award from the National Black Prosecutors Association in 2005.
Leeds, a longtime Democratic Party activist, recently moved to Washington from Paris, France, where she was president of the Parent Faculty Association and treasurer of an Anglo-French Jewish congregation. Before that, she headed a software development team at Bell Labs.
Leeds also chairs the advisory board of the DNCâs Indo-American Leadership Council.
Mujahid is a Muslim leader, activist, film producer and non-profit entrepreneur. An imam at three Chicago mosques, he has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago and is currently president of the Council of the Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.
A producer of over 40 educational programs, his book, "Conversion to Islam: Untouchables Strategy for Protest in India," won the Outstanding Academic Book of the Year award from the American Library Association.
:by indiawest