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
ZAIN AHMAD
Zain Ahmad is an attorney, actor, and organizer. Zain worked as a corporate attorney in New York City and San Francisco where he advised entrepreneurs, startups, and public companies on a variety of matters including company formations, venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, SEC compliance, and IPOs.
While in law school, Zain was a law clerk at The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under the Barack H. Obama administration where he worked on the 2016 presidential transition, ethics, FOIA, executive orders, and science/tech policies and initiatives. Zain also served as a law clerk at NASA and advocated for America's Journey to Mars on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
As a college student at Rutgers University, Zain led a series of coalition building initiatives among the South Asian student organizations on campus including successfully hosting the first two conferences focused on South Asian American identity. While in law school, Zain served as the President of the South Asian Law Students Association at Boston College Law School where he built coalitions and hosted joint programs with other affinity groups.
Zain is also an actor and screenwriter and is currently working on a television series. He is excited about breaking down barriers, building consensus, and mobilizing the South Asian American community towards building a more prosperous and egalitarian society.
Zain holds a JD from Boston College Law School and a BA in Political Science from Rutgers University and is a proud alumnus of the Eagleton Institute of Politics.