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
RAJESH KURUP
Rajesh Kurup is a Strategy Director at UPS Capital responsible for strategic financial analysis. His work uses financial analysis to help drive the company’s strategy. Prior to his role in Strategy, Rajesh was responsible for Forecasting, Planning and Analysis for UPS Capital. Rajesh has also worked at Citibank, Bank of America and S1 Technologies.
Rajesh was born in Allentown, PA and grew up in Richmond, Va. Rajesh graduated from University of Virginia with a degree in Asian Studies and from Emory University with an MBA.
Rajesh has been a foot soldier in grassroots politics for more than 30 years. He has knocked on countless doors and made thousands of calls from Virginia to New York to Georgia. He has served as a poll watcher and has registered voters from Jackson Heights, Queens to Atlanta. Rajesh has been involved in Indian community organizations such as the founding the Puja Group of Atlanta, working with Raksha, and co-chair for UPS’s Asian Business Resource Group.
