Week 4 - Following Our Dreams

By: Anika Madhusudhan

Politics is a word with many definitions. The word doesn’t mean the same thing to different people. Some people have a disdain for it, whereas others thoroughly enjoy everything about it. To me, politics meant shady backroom deals and smiles that would quickly turn to scowls as soon as you have your back turned. Even when I joined my school’s Model Congress club, my view on politics didn’t change. I still regarded the world of politics with distrust, and though I was interested in political issues, I never considered an actual job within the political sphere.

Since experiencing my first speakership series with the New Jersey Leadership Program Summer Fellowship, my entire perspective on politics has changed. I realized politics isn’t just another world—it’s another universe. There are so many factors that are needed to create the “hospitable zone,” the perfect environment for anyone trying to make an impact in the political world. Of course, in politics, there is no such thing as the perfect environment for any politician, but the gist of what I’m saying is the same. There are many gears that have to work together in order for the complex machine of politics to function, or function as well as it can on any particular day.

Now, after several speakership series and an eventful trip to our nation’s capital, I find myself being more interested in a political career. Perhaps not exactly running for an elected position, but rather becoming an advisor to an elected official, such as a foreign policy advisor. And hearing intellectual and interesting lectures from accomplished, successful people on a weekly basis only furthers my interest in a political career. This week’s speakership series on politics and campaigning was especially thought-provoking and productive.

Our first speaker was Edison Democratic Chairman and Chief of Staff to Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak, Shariq Ahmad. He spoke to us about the varying levels of influence that different positions within New Jersey government and politics play, along with the risks that come with running for an elected position. Following that, Robbinsville Councilman Dan Schuberth entertained us with stories from when he went door to door canvassing to speak with the residents of his town and secure their votes. He taught us how to analyze the voter pool and effectively put our time and energy into the pool of people that will yield results, as well as how to get people who historically don’t vote, to vote for you. Councilman Schuberth was followed by the accomplished Tara Dowell, President and Founder of the TDG Group. She advised us on proper behavior in the workplace, and the importance of polite persistence. She inspired us with her ability to accomplish her goals simply by working hard and being professional.

My personal favorite was the panel that came and spoke to us. West Windsor Councilwoman Ayesha Hamilton, Middlesex County Freeholder Shanti Narra, and Edison Councilwoman Sapana Shah gave an enthusiastic and energetic talk that really inspired feelings of passion. Every word they spoke dripped with sincerity and truth. Every time they would make eye contact with me, I could tell that they truly wanted me, as well as all the other fellows in the room to succeed at whatever we pursued. Furthermore, as a young female myself, listening to the hardships that these women had to go through and still have to endure just because they are females enlightened me to the fact that if I really want something to happen, and I put in the hard work and effort to do so, I can accomplish anything. I learned that I must fight the barriers constructed to put down or hinder women to pave a path for the girls that follow. Sitting in that room, across from those three accomplished women brought to me a whole new perspective.

Learning from others experiences, successes, and mistakes are the best way to build a sturdy plan for your future. And while I may change my mind and not pursue a political career in the future, the lessons that I have been taught by the speakers of NJLP won’t simply fade like fleeting dreams. These lessons will be cemented into my life like a child writing his or her name onto wet cement. The core values each speaker has presented my class of fellows with will stay with us for the rest of our lives, because it is applicable to every situation you can encounter in your life. The most important thing I learned on Saturday and will keep with me forever was this golden piece of advice from Tara Dowell, which is “Successful people do what unsuccessful people don’t.”

Week 3 – Mr. Seetamraju Goes to Washington

By: Varun Seetamraju

When I got back home in the early hours of the morning last Saturday, I remember my Mom asking the usual parent question: “What was the highlight of your trip to Washington, D.C.?”

We had just completed a grueling but exhilarating day trip to our nation’s capital, to learn about the inner workings of our federal politics, along with getting career advice from South Asians congressional staffers. That trip brought a unique view of politics compared to the work I had been doing as part of the internship for this program.

I intern at Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak’s legislative office in Edison, NJ, which is based in New Jersey’s 18th Legislative District. I started off my internship at the Assemblyman’s office by stuffing envelopes, picking up calls, and doing data entry. However, hearing the advice of speakers from past weeks about doing my best with any task that I’m given, I kept my head down and worked as hard as I could. As a result, I started to get more substantive tasks, one being writing a speech for the assemblyman for an event on the topic of bigotry. I had never written a speech before, and was thoroughly confused on what to do. I spent my days watching speeches by politicians from both the local and national level. After I gave the assemblyman’s chief of staff my best attempt at the speech, I was surprised to see that he had revised it a lot. However, that was one of the greatest learning moments for me at my time here in the office. My dad always says that, “one learns from their mistakes,” and indeed in this case, I really did learn a lot from the revisions. I learned how to write using the correct tone and wording, how to effectively use symbolism, and more.

After my experience writing the speech, I began to work on a plethora of other tasks, one being researching issues in the 18th Legislative District that fly under the radar, but have a legislative fix. For example, I looked into the spending of civil forfeiture funds on an armored Military Vehicle in East Brunswick, and possible ways the assemblyman could regulate it. This research slowly became one of my favorite things to do in the office, with addressing issues in the local community becoming something that really interested me.

As the day of the Washington, D.C. trip approached, the fellows and I were really excited to get started. What was not exciting was the 4:00 AM departure time, but once we all arrived, our collective enthusiasm drowned out whatever sleep deprivation we had.

As we arrived in D.C., we sought refuge in the air conditioned buildings in the Capitol from the 100 degree weather. Once inside the Dirksen Senate Office, we set off to our first meeting with Senator Cory Booker’s Defense and Foreign Policy Advisor, Sophia Lalani. As we walked to his office, we passed Senator Bernie Sander’s office, and many of us stopped in to take photos with his office sign. We then went to the meeting with Mrs. Lalani, where she told us about her career path and what her role in Senator Booker’s office was. She then answered our questions about her specific career path, foreign policy and the decisions the Senator and she have to make.

Next, we went over to the Capitol building to have a tour of one of Washington D.C.’s most opulent buildings. There we saw the rotunda and the elaborate architecture and paintings that span across the ceiling. One thing I found fascinating was the immortalization of many of the nation’s founders as a sort of deities. It was a bit reminiscent of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.

After the tour, we had a lunch panel with five great speakers who offered advice about their experiences as Asian Americans in politics. Speakers included Congressional staffers: Moh Sharma and Courtney Hruska, along with Rachit Choksi, the Counsel to the Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission, Nisha Ramachandran, the Policy Director for the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, and Kapil Sharma, the Vice President for Government and Public Affairs at Wipro. The speakers highlighted why they got involved in politics and what their path was to get there. It was really interesting to learn about the different paths the speakers took and that one’s career path is not set, with many of them initially setting out to do completely different careers than what they ended up doing.

After that, we went sightseeing where we took photos at the Capitol Building and the Supreme Court Building. Seeing the opulence of our nation’s capital still leaves me awe-stricken despite seeing it multiple times previously.

We then had another speaker come, her name was Lakshmi Sridaran, the Director of National Policy and Advocacy for South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT). She outlined SAALT’s recent new direction and then started a great discussion with the fellows regarding how to deal with educating people ignorant about South Asian Americans, and how to promote more harmony externally and internally in the community.

We then had a networking dinner with a group of college students who were our counterparts from the Washington Leadership Program (WLP). This meeting was a way for us to network, along with getting advice from college students on a variety of topics, such as getting through high school, college majors, and more. Despite just meeting them for a short time, I was able to really get to know some of the the fellows in WLP well.

We then headed over to the White House for our tour of the West Wing. My only prior experience of the White House had been from seeing it on TV or from behind the tall metal fence that surrounds its perimeter. But this time I actually got to go inside the White House! On the tour we got to see famous areas, such as the Situation Room, Rose Garden, Roosevelt Room, and even got to peek inside the Oval Office! The experience was capped off with a tour of the White House Press Briefing Room on the very day Press Secretary Sean Spicer resigned.

After our tour of the White House, we headed back to New Jersey, arriving in the early hours of the morning. The next morning, I remember my Mom asking the same question that I was too tired to answer earlier.

“What was the highlight of your Trip to Washington, D.C.?”

Hearing that question made me reflect on the hectic but eventful day trip and all the fun that I had spending it with the other fellows. For me, the highlight was the friendships that we developed and the way in which we bonded during that trip. I really hope the fellows next year get to experience the thrills and all the great memories that the Washington, D.C. trip brought for me.

Week 2 – Governor Chris Christie and Adventures at Drumthwacket

By: Deblina Mukherjee

I’ll be entering my freshman year at the University of Chicago this fall, and while I have been active in my high school’s Model United Nations and Youth and Government, I never thought that I would be interning for the nation’s most powerful governor in New Jersey Governor Chris Christie the summer before going off to college!

I was able to meet and speak with Governor Christie directly during my second week of the New Jersey Leadership Program’s Summer Fellowship, and what an experience it has been. We met with the Governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff on Monday, but had no idea what would be in store for the following day, when we would meet the governor himself. He has had a tough previous couple of weeks, with the shutdown of the New Jersey government, his use of the State Police helicopter for a radio audition, the sentencing of one of the last Bridgegate co-conspirators, and the ongoing Christie beach chair memes. So it is fair to say that the image that the media and others have painted of Governor Christie wasn’t exactly the rosiest one, and I didn’t know what to expect from him.

So the day came, with all the interns in the governor’s office patiently waiting and with one fell swoop, Governor Christie entered the room. From the start, he was kind, funny and affable. He took his time in speaking with us, shaking our hands and getting to know us, as we did him. We got to ask him questions, and he spoke to us about one of the most prolific moments in the 2012 Presidential Election with President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney — the infamous “hug” with President Obama at the airport tarmac. The governor protested that it wasn’t a hug, but it was too late and the media’s perspective already impressed into the public domain. He told us what it was like during Superstorm Sandy and working out of the crisis control room with all of his relevant cabinet members, watching the horrific scene of homes being destroyed and authorities pulling deceased bodies out of buildings. It was quite an experience meeting and hearing from Governor Christie, and I took much away from that unique experience.

My week didn’t end there — later that week, we took a trip down to the official Governor’s
Mansion, Drumthwacket. We toured the lavish building, which given that the governor doesn’t officially reside there, has been transformed into somewhat of a museum. It was beautiful and I learned so much about the history of New Jersey, the governorship, and so much more. The icing on the cake was that we were allowed to take souvenirs in the form of napkins emblazoned with the official Governor and Drumthwacket seals!

My day-to-day responsibilities are a bit more tame compared to the experience we had this week. Usually I sit at my computer in the governor’s office, reading our daily press briefings, calling individuals and groups on the governor’s contact lists, and compiling legal ad prices. I’m learning about policy, how government functions, and the nuances of politics. I’m working on a hot issue from a couple months back, that of legal ad prices, which I have gotten very interested in. So essentially, every time the local board of education has a meeting or the county sheriff puts a piece of land for sell, these government entities are mandated by law to place an announcement in the local newspaper so that residents and taxpayers know about it. The governor’s suggestion, to move these announcements online, would save the state government $80 million according to him, while the Press Association claims it would save only $20 million. While my work forces me to get into the nitty-gritty details of this issue, and many others, I love the work that I do in the governor’s office.

After the incredible week I had at my internship placement, it was time for our NJLP Speakership Series on Saturday. This week’s theme was on “Government.” We had an incredible schedule of speakers lined up, including elected and appointed officials such as Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr., New Jersey Superior Court Judge Peter Barnes, and Middlesex County Freeholder Kenneth Armwood. The last speakers were part of our government panel, which included U.S Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman’s Congressional Aide Petra Gaskins, the Director of Planning for Governor Christie Ishan Shah, and the Legislative Director for Assemblyman Craig Coughlin and Woodbridge Board of Education Member Daniel Harris. We learned about how these public servants entered politics and how their careers flourished by keeping the public good as their top priority.

While our experience in New Jersey politics hasn’t exactly been like House of Cards, it has been very exciting and we’re learning so much about government, politics and our home state. I’m excited to experience what the rest of our four weeks of the NJLP Summer Fellowship has to hold and looking forward to our field trip to Washington, D.C. this week!

Week 1 - Our NJLP Journey Begins

By: Shubham Saharan

It’s rare to find a group of people willing to talk about government and politics at eight o’clock on a Saturday morning. What’s even more rare is finding a group of teenagers eager to do so.  But when I walked in to our New Jersey Leadership Program Summer Fellowship Orientation this past Saturday morning, bleary-eyed and anxious, that’s exactly what I encountered.

For the past few months, my only glimpse into the personalities of my fellow NJLP peers had come from a sprawled set of emails we exchanged.  Then came the culmination of all our anticipation—the day we finally met.  Looking around the room, it was hard not to feel a sense of intimidation or inadequacy, after all, fellows going to top tiered universities, board members of various clubs, and leaders of high school political societies surrounded me.  Yet, what I didn’t expect as I walked into the room that morning was to come out with a newfound respect not only for all the people around me, but for my identity as a South Asian-American and the role I play in the progression of our minority group as well.

Whether we were taking part in icebreakers by untangling ourselves from a giant human knot; conducting “elevator pitches;” or engaging in debate about abortion, the prison industrial complex, or racism; one thing became overtly clear—this year’s class of fellows were some of the brightest, most analytical, and most passionate group of individuals selected.  

Throughout our conversations, I was able to better understand the different perspectives of my fellow cohort all throughout the state.  I realized that oftentimes we get so ingrained in the microcosms of our own communities that we fail to realize the overarching problems we all face within our South Asian society.  We discussed the role that sheer ignorance and lack of education play in the racism we encounter in our everyday lives and began work on our Capstone Community Service project to help combat these issues.

However, the best part of the day for me was the chance to interact with all our speakers.  We were privileged enough to have Passaic County Freeholder Assad Akhtar, Chief of Staff for Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo, Marshall Spevak, CEO and President of PARS Environmental, Kiran Gill, and 2016 NJLP fellows Aayush Gandhi and Gita Ganti join us.  What was especially refreshing about every single adult we talked to —whether that was Vinay, Amit, or any of our speakers— was that we were all treated as equals.  Every single person that came in to talk with us was genuinely invested in enhancing our understanding of the world and cultivating the potential they saw in us.  

As I left the building that day, I recall thinking how grateful I felt to be in such a unique program that offers South Asian youth the ability to engage in and learn about local government, and to be surrounded by such inspiring individuals. Though this was only my first week, I can’t wait to see what my future holds with the New Jersey Leadership Program!

Celebrating NJLP's Launch Year (2016)

It’s hard to imagine that just a little over a year ago, the idea for the New Jersey Leadership Program (NJLP) was born. At the time, we saw an unmet need within the South Asian community in New Jersey. A need that was being met by many national organizations in Washington, D.C., however nothing in a state that holds one of the highest concentrations of South Asians in the country. So a group of folks from our community and supporters of the community came together to change this, and that is how the idea of starting the NJLP was created.

An idea that we imagined could work, because it worked for me. I took part in leadership and government related programs for the South Asian community including the Washington Leadership Program when I was in college, a program for college students that was created many years ago to allow more South Asians to get involved in government and politics when there were virtually none. While programs such as this one are truly remarkable, we realized there was no program in our own state that built a pipeline into these national programs for students to start thinking about early in their development, when they are considering their career options.

If we can have the first African-American president, the first woman to clinch the nomination of any major party for the highest office in the land, this begs the question of why not a South Asian president. Why doesn’t the South Asian community, which has one of the highest levels of educational attainment, one of the highest levels of socioeconomic progress, and is part of the fastest growing racial minority in the country, have more representation at all levels of government?

The truth is that there are more South Asians starting to take part in the political process and in government, both at the electoral level in running for public office and on the staff levels, albeit at a slow and gradual pace. We believe that this integration of our community in government and politics can be accelerated through programs at the local level and for youth at an early age in their educational development. This is why we believe that the NJLP serves a critical purpose for our community.

Since that idea for the NJLP took root in August of 2015, the NJLP has since become a formal 501(c)3 non-profit organization and we launched our first Summer Fellowship Program this past summer. A launch year that included ten youth throughout the state of New Jersey ranging from middle school, high school and college students.

Our NJLP Fellows have received practical experience through their internships with the Governor’s Office, their State Legislators and with their respective town council. In addition to their internship placement, they have heard from dozens of elected officials, community leaders and executives from various sectors.

Given the success of the NJLP’s launch year, we have decided to offer the Summer Fellowship Program again next year and through the foreseeable future. The NJLP would not be possible without the NJLP Executive Board, Advisory Council and fellows, but most importantly we owe a great deal of gratitude to our community and supporters who spent time and money to help start and sustain this organization. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

As our launch year officially come to a close, we hope you can continue with us through the journey of the New Jersey Leadership Program and continue to be a part of the NJLP family.

Sincerely,

Amit Jani