The Washington Leadership Program

Dr. Rahul Mehra gives back

Dr. Rahul Mehra, a community leader and CEO of Mehra Vista Health Group in Tampa, Fla, recently hosted an event along with WLP Alum, Aakash Patel, to support the mission of the Washington Leadership Program. 

He got involved with WLP as he was encouraged by its mission to get more young people involved in the process, no matter what political party they are affiliated with. The WLP is fortunate to have great supporters like Dr. Mehra and Mr. Patel.

You can see his interview on why he hosted an event with WLP below:

 

 

Summer Reflection 2012 pt. 3

DC in the summertime hums with energy. It’s not just the heat reflecting off the sidewalks; in the summer, it truly does become intern country.

All ten of us in the WLP program this year felt extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to work, explore and build friendships in a city so unique. Washington, as we learned, is one-of-a-kind – a place where teamwork is everything, where the primary commodity is thought, and where communication is key. Like pieces in a puzzle, all the different professional fields represented in DC – from public service to business to the media – come together to create change. Together, they shape the unique culture of this city, which I have always loved, but had never before understood as well as I do after a WLP summer.

Over the course of the program, many everyday conversations with friends and co-workers ended up being invaluable learning experiences. For instance, it was enlightening to hear about the experiences of lawyers in the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs at the Department of Labor, where I interned.  Each day of work at the DOL was exciting and different: the summer involved everything from writing a speech for a meeting with the National Organization on Disability to researching federal grant provision to Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Best of all, goings-on at work seemed to move in parallel with the WLP events and discussions in which we participated. The issues we debated over the course of the summer helped us really delve into questions of identity: What does it mean to be of South Asian heritage, and how can we increase participation in American government and public service among our demographic? What, broadly, does it mean to be an Asian-American? Hearing the responses proffered by prominent South Asian-Americans provided us with food for thought throughout our three months in DC.

By the end of the summer, we found ourselves evolving into a tightknit group. As we disembarked from the Metro on our final day of work and parted ways, I know we all held fast to our SmarTrip cards and stowed them away safely. Our memories of this incredible journey, and the friends we made along the way, would always inspire us. We knew we’d return someday soon to learn more and contribute more, both to our respective communities and to our country.

Sonalee Rau
Columbia University
WLP 2012 Alumna

Summer Reflection 2012 pt 2

I spent most of my summer working at USAID through the Washington Leadership Program thinking of my internship as just that – an internship. On my last day, my boss gave me a few parting words of advice: “Go home, study hard, and come back to us when you’ve learned something. Thank you for your service to your country.”

Service to my country? I spent my DC summer doing research, writing reports, taking minutes at meetings, and pulling as many co-workers as possible into coffee and lunch meetings to pick their brains about their jobs, their backgrounds, and what they thought about the work they were doing. I met some of the most accomplished members of the Southeast Asian community in DC, and picked their brains as well, seeing the dozen different paths they all took to pretty stunning careers. I walked the monuments in the moonlight, tried every coffee shop I could find, made new friends from all corners of the country, and learned that DC has a culture all its own. You have to live it to understand it.

Some of that – the contacts, the knowledge of the city, the understanding of federal government structure and opportunities for careers in politics and policy – have been useful in a tangible sense in the past few months. I have a solid handle on jobs I would enjoy in DC, and ones I wouldn’t touch. I have an idea of some paths that I could take, and friends and colleagues I could truly count on for support, if I ever wanted to make my way back to the city.

But the intangibles – personal and professional development, new best friends, and watching and learning from the people that really know how to make DC tick, how to make the wheels of bureaucracy run and positively affect every day Americans – are what I can carry with me no matter where I end up. My WLP classmates and I had conversations about politics, policy, the South Asian American diaspora and the impact we can have on this country that will shape my career choices and point of view forever.

And we will go on to impact this nation, in no small part thanks to what the WLP did for us. It was the start of service to our country, but certainly not the end.

Hetali Lodaya
UNC-Chapel Hill
WLP 2012 Alumni

Reflection of Summer 2012 pt.1

On August 4^th, I got on a plane and left behind DC and a spectacular summer as a scholar in the Washington Leadership Program. As I came back on the flight, I reflected about what the summer had meant to me, but as I wrote that reflection, I had no clue how much this experience had truly transformed me.

The day after I got back home, the nation was struck by a terrible tragedy: the shooting in a Sikh Gurdwara in Wisconsin. As I watched the news, I was drawn to tears. How could it be that I had spent my whole summer talking about embracing our South Asian and American identities, giving back to our nation, and the great strides that have been taken by our community, only to come home to the news that innocent people had been targeting merely for looking different, believing in a different faith? The Wisconsin shooting is something that we may never understand, but sitting at my dining table, I realized that I had to do something to honor the lives of the people who were lost. I realized that the summer in DC had given me the skills, networks, and courage to stand up and do something; if not me, who? As president of the South Asian Students Association at our university, I organized an official sympathy letter from Ohio State, which was signed by numerous students, faculty, and staff, including our university president, Dr. E. Gordon Gee. Later, once school got started, I worked with other Asian American faculty and students to organize several reflections and discussion events about what happened in Wisconsin and it connects to hate on our own college campus. Now I’m working with university administrators and fellow students to organize a No Place For Hate Week, which will hopefully take this dialogue to a campus-wide level and raise awareness about racism and hate at our university.

I can honestly say that without the WLP, I may not have done any of this. I would have thought that someone else would surely take action. I would have accepted the Wisconsin shooting as a tragedy and moved on with my life. However, as a WLP scholar, I was given the skills I needed to launch this type of campaign, and the program attuned me to my own responsibility in these situations and abilities. I could no longer be silent after meeting so many inspiring people who worked hard every day to make a difference. Hearing their stories had taught me one invaluable lesson: there’s nothing magical about the people who chose to fight for a cause or take a stand. You don’t need anything more than an idea and the willingness to talk about it to everyone until you find the people with the resources to make it happen.

So here I am, just four months later, telling you that this was one of the best experiences of my life. The Washington Leadership Program gave me professional work experience, allowed me to meet countless hardworking individuals who are doing amazing things every day, helped me experience the joy of giving back, and gave me the courage to take on change, one step at a time. Coordinating a response to the Wisconsin shooting is just one small example of how the WLP has made a difference for me, and I could sit here all day telling you more.

So if you’re a student, thinking about applying to this amazing program, don’t even think twice. Take the leap and become a part of the WLP family. 

Suparna Reddy
The Ohio State University
WLP 2012 Alumni 

2012 Election Results of South Asian Candidates

South Asian candidates continue to make inroads in the political arena.  Leading the way for the community was Dr. Ami Bera, who will become the 4th South Asian ever to win a seat in Congress. Dr. Bera, a Democrat from Sacramento, was able to defeat the Republican incumbent Dan Lungren. Six South Asians ran for Congress in 2012, Bera was able to fill the void left by Hansen Clarke, the 3rd South Asian in Congress, who lost his primary earlier this year.

Bera wasn't the only winner this year, 16 other South Asian candidates from across the country were able to join the ranks of elected public servants. Three State representatives were able to win their bids for re-election, including the young democrat from Vermont, Kesha Ram, as well as Janak Joshi, the Republican house member from Colorado, and Prasad Srinivasan, the Republican house member from Connecticut. Two new State Representatives join the ranks of elected officials from our community. This includes Sam Singh, a Democrat from Michigan, as well as Shanti Gandhi, Republican in Kansas, who is also Mahatma Gandhi's Great Grandson. Gandhi becomes the 2nd State Representative of South Asian decsent in Kansas history, following the election of Raj Goyle who served as a state rep from 2006 - 2010. 

Four members of the community in New Jersey won their bids for elected office. This includes Rupali Wadhwan for Millburn Board of Education and Atif Nazir for Piscataway Board of Education, as well as two township council members. Nuran Nabi and Shanti Narra, both Democrats, won their respective races for Plainsboro and New Brunswick Township councils. 

A full list of candidates by State, Party, and Office from the 2012 election, compiled by WLP Board Member Nisha Jain, can be found by contacting wlp@thewlp.com

 

2012 candidates won loss from The WLP.

Please support The WLP here

Now Accepting Applicants for the 2013 Washington Leadership Program

The Washington Leadership Program (WLP) is pleased to announce that it is accepting applications from high-potential South Asian college students for the 2013 summer leadership program scheduled to take place from June 8, 2013 to August 2, 2013. The WLP cultivates the South Asian American community's next generation of leaders by placing them in Congressional offices or Government Agencies for eight-week summer internships and a structured leadership-training curriculum.  The students gain a firsthand view of the policy-making and legislative process, as well as gain access to high-profile South-Asian leaders in the nation's capitol. Applications are available online at the "Apply To WLP" tab above. The deadline for submitting applications is January 22, 2013.

Please follow @TheWLP and www.facebook.com/TheWLP for additional information that will provide insight for the application process.

All students who are either US citizens or legal permanent residents are encouraged to apply. Selection to the WLP is highly competitive and not limited to students pursuing majors in social sciences. The backgrounds of past participants have ranged from medical school to art and business.

Interns will receive a total stipend of $2,000 and will be required to complete 2-3 short writing assignments during the internship.

The WLP has over 180 alumni who have interned for notable elected officials including Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN), and Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-LA). Alumni from the program have gone on to win Rhodes, Marshall, Fulbright, and Mitchell Scholarships, as well as acceptances into top-flight medical, law, public policy, and other post-graduate programs. Several alums are currently senior advisors to government officials, and one is an elected representative from the State of Maryland. 

The original program built  a strong reputation on both the Hill and in the community and continues to receive favorable reviews from former participants.  Former House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO) called the WLP "the best program of its kind on the Hill."  The program has continued to receive generous support from alumni, the community-at-large, and community organizations and corporations. 

For more information about the program, visit the WLP's website at www.thewlp.com