 IAFPE Officials including Yogi Chugh,
President (CA), Sampat Shivangi,
MD, President Elect (MS), Dwarika Agrawal, Senior Vice President (MA),
Prasad Vanguri, Vice President (NC), Rajesh Verma, Treasurer (CA), Alex
Abraham, Jt Treasurer, (AL), and Ravi Sakhuja, Past President (MA).
 Vivek Kundra and Ro Khanna with Yogi chugh
 IAFPELOCALOrganizers
 Fremont councillor Anu Natarajan, san Jose
City Counicllorr Ash Kalra and Congressman Mike Honda
 Congressman Pete stark with Dharam Dewan
 Deepak
Chabbra Dinesh N and Ro Khanna
 Telugu
community with BATA and TANA
 Awardee
Toby Chaudhary with Anu Natarajan Ravi Sakhuja and Awardee Varun Nikore
 Civil
Rights/IImmigration Panel Veena D, Anu Natarajan, Indrepreet S and Yogi
C
 Program
Registration
Volunteers
 PNG
Jewelers Vishakha Shah, Dr Raj salwan and Mike Honda
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 INDIAN AMERICAN POLITICAL FORUM CONFERENCE
- SILICON VALLEY
Building a politically effective Community Sam Rao
Milpitas, CA
The Indian American Forum for Political Education (IAFPE), founded in
1982, held its first political forum in the SF Bay area after nearly 15
years. The all day event on Sptember 12th was held at the India
community Center and was titled. ‘Building a Politically Effective
Community’. Conveners for the IAFPE forum were Fremont city
Planning Commissioner Yogi Chugh and Fremont City Councilmember Anu
Natarajan.
The all day event hosted by the national organization drew several
office bearers past and present and also many local politicians and
civic leaders of the SF Bay area. Among the key note speakers were
newly appointed officials of the current US Administration under
President Barrack Obama, US Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Vivek Kundra and Deputy Assistant secretary of US department of
Commerce Ro Khanna.
Also attending the event were US Congressman Mike Honda (D 15), who
addressed the group on current issues and leadership in the
Indian-Americans community, and US Congressman Pete Stark (D-13), who
spoke on the current Health care reform debate. Indian-American
and State representative from Kansas Raj Goyle Although the day time
sessions were lightly attended by the public, the evening banquet was
well attended and several local politicians graced the occasion. Some
of the attending national leaders included IAFPE National past
Presidents, Dr. Krishna Srinivasa, Dr Dinesh Patel, Dr Romesh Japra,
and Jayarama Komati, President, TANA, Entreprenuer Kanwal Rekhi,
DNC Member at large Kamil Hasan, Democratic Strategist,Ramesh Kapur and
several local politicians and community leaders.
The IAFPE was formed with an goal to empower Indian Americans
politically by raising civic consciousness and increasing participation
in community affairs and the mainstream political process, including
civic duties like Voter registration and encouraging Indian Americans
to exercise their rights to vote and to run for public office.
The panel sessions ran the gamut with the kickoff on current issues on
Healthcare and Immigration with panelists Dr. Ami Bera, Clinical
professor of Medicine UC Davis; Corporate attorney Inderpreet
Sawhney and Asian law Caucus Staff attorney Veena Dubal, while the
moderator was attorney Kalpana Peddibhotla
The interesting topic of the day was on Political Engagement &
Empowerment by panelists Toby Chaudhari, Communications Director for
the Campaign for America’s Future and and Varun Nikore, founder
of Indian American Leadership Initiative. The activists and
community organizers were animated and brought in a wealth of their
experiences to share and inspire oon the need for Political engagement
and traced successes of the community both as a result of strategic
engagement and grassroots and vision planning. Both the speakers were
also awarded a special IAFPE Trailblazer Award, which was well deserved
according to the many past office bearers of the IAFPE.
Well known Democratic Activist Ramesh Kapur, brought in his extensive
experience and acumen to give a keynote address ofn “ A
Politically Engaged Community” just before the lunch break. Kapur’s
illustrious achievements include a stint as the National Chair of the
Indo-American Leadership Council for Democratic National Committee;
Member of the Board of Directors, Indian American Council, Democratic
Congressional Campaign Committee (2005-06); National Finance Board
member, Democratic National Committee (2006-08).
Following lunch, Democratic National Committee trustee, member at large
Kamil Hasan spoke on ‘the importance of being Heard”, extolling
the community to get engaged and involved and making issues heard. The
following session by guests Vivek Kundra US Federal CIO and US
Deputy Asst. secretary Ro Khanna, moderated by Yogi Chugh was closed to
media.
Congressman Mike Honda (CA-15) was his entertaing self as he outlined
his commitment and support for Asian Ameriacn Pacific Islander (AAPI)
causes and evoked the name of the first Asian American Congressman
Dilip Singh Saund of sacramento- who also happened to be the only
Indian-American Congressman in the state. Encouraging several potential
candidates from the Indian American community, representative Mike
Honda displayed his ‘rock star; qualities as he drew a crowd of
attendees after his speech.
Dr Subroto Kundu led the brief Health Care Discussion followed by a
presentation by representatives of the California Nurses Association
Giving a boost to the potential candidates in the fray, the topic of
candidacy proved very interesting, as speakers drew upon their varied
experiences. With speakers Raj Goyle, State representative from Kansas
who has announced abid for US Congress and recently elected San Jose
City Councilmember Ash Kalra, and Attorney Harmeet Dhillon, the sole
Republican and candidate for Assembly from San Francisco and attorney
Ash Pirayou. The moderator was Anu Natarajan of Fremont, the
first Indian-American to be elected as City Council member in the SF
Bay Area. The afternoon session rounded off with an address by
the outgoing IAFPE President Ravi Sakhuja , who traced the achievements
of IAFPE and the way forward.
The banquet session saw a series of awards of distinction being
conferred on attendees and past officials and also the installation of
new IAFPE national officers, The
elected officials included Yogi
Chugh, President (CA), Sampat Shivangi, MD, President Elect (MS),
Dwarika Agrawal, Senior Vice President (MA), Prasad Vanguri, Vice
President (NC), Rajesh Verma, Treasurer (CA), Alex Abraham, Jt
Treasurer, (AL), and Ravi Sakhuja, Past President (MA).
Co Convenor IAFPE forum Anu Natarajan said, “I thought the event
was successful in bringing together I-A leaders in the community from
across the country. I was hoping to have a larger audience for
the panel discussions - especially the younger crowd. The level
of discussion was good and some very valid challenges were surfaced
that need to be addressed as we also take the time to celebrate our
victories - both small and big.”
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IAFPE Officials including Yogi Chugh, President (CA), Sampat Shivangi,
MD, President Elect (MS), Dwarika Agrawal, Senior Vice President (MA),
Prasad Vanguri, Vice President (NC), Rajesh Verma, Treasurer (CA), Alex
Abraham, Jt Treasurer, (AL), and Ravi Sakhuja, Past President (MA).
All Sam Rao photos
Each pic and more have HIGH RES PICS AVAILABLE
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