Fellowship 2021: Durva Patel

Durva Patel

Intricacies Among Connections

With an unfinished cereal bowl in hand, shoes untied, and laptop chargers holding on to the half-zipped recluse of the backpack that I slung over my shoulder, I rushed into the car. Neglecting the fact that punctuality was not my strong suit, I had designated the first week of my internship at Senator Vin Gopal’s office to be in-person. Nothing short of a feat considering that the only other interactions I had were with the other inhabitants of my home. I heaved a large sigh and stepped into the building, which felt larger than I had planned. While there were only two floors, I managed to lose my way, weaving through the halls until I finally found the room a couple of rooms from the entrance. I was relieved to know that there was another intern that had just arrived alongside me for the internship. 

After knocking for a few seconds at the Legislative District 11 office, the door flew open and it was the Senate Deputy Chief of Staff Aislinn Brennan smiling when we entered. After settling into our assigned desks I was emailed the first assignment of the day. It was to update a tracker for the bills that Senator Gopal had been a sponsor to. In completing this task, not only did I update the sheets but also learned about the policies that Senator Gopal supported and what bills had been passed in the last year. Many regarding COVID-19 and fiscal policies, I decided to do research on the bills that I was unable to fully comprehend. Simply in the first two hours, I began to understand New Jersey law more than I ever had. While my brain racked the myriad of ways that I would be able to embarrass myself on the first day, the Senate Chief of Staff Dyese Davis decided we would go out and get ice cream. We laughed as we recalled the horrible experiences we had faced with people in the fast-food business and soon I had forgotten about the hypothetical situations in which I humiliated myself. 

“I decided to do research on the bills that I was unable to fully comprehend. Simply in the first two hours, I began to understand New Jersey law more than I ever had.”

At the end of the eventful week in which I had organized the physical copies of the Legislative District 11 bills, responded to curious constituents about the recent plastic bag ban, and attempted to draft a letter to the governor in order to request that certain funds be reserved for arts and culture programs, I had the speakership series. The speakership series although now resorting to a Zoom meeting retained its level of inspiring talks with speakers from all avenues of life with multitudes of experiences and a manifold of stories to share. This weekend’s speakership series began with a woman that I had the pleasure of working with myself, Dyese Davis. Her stories were filled with her experiences with constituents and the importance of maintaining a reliable presence in their lives. Derived from her degree in sociology she built incomparable connections with the people she represented and the people she worked with to build a society that they felt proud serving. Along with her sociology degree, her degree in criminal justice taught her to understand the intricacies of the system and decipher the unjust workings. Especially with the rise of COVID-19, the prison system was neglected and Davis understood her role as a lawmaker to work to fix the flaws.

Not only did Davis talk about fixing the flaws but so did the next speaker, Carissa Smith. Smith spoke about the importance of supporting women in politics and mitigating the apparent gap between men and women. Drawing on her own experiences as being part of campaign teams, she explained how large of a role data is in orchestrating political campaigns. While explaining the role of data, she recalled how useful simply being a part of a campaigning team can be. The gratification that you can earn from the team and the policies you support. Politics is often seen as a dirty table which she looked through the lens of either she can “leave the dirty table or grab a kleenex and get to cleaning.” Inspiring us to work on our own ethics and principles and maintaining our goals in politics. 

We spoke to Sam Joshi, a mayoral candidate for Edison township who reminded us of the significance of a municipal government. As it impacts the day-to-day life of the local populous while the federal government has a much more subtle effect. Our final speaker was the Chief Counsel to the Governor, Parimal Garg. Garg discussed his roles as counsel and how all his cases were unique that required an equally unique approach.

“Learning from the speakers each week and the people that I work with, I carry knowledge with me I would not have been able to fathom a year ago.”

Learning from the speakers each week and the people that I work with, I carry knowledge with me I would not have been able to fathom a year ago. I found myself speaking to my friends about recent bills that had been passed as a casual conversation topic. I had carried with me an expectation that I would be quizzed or some other probing questionnaire would face me on the first day. I read New Jersey statutes as I finished my cornflakes in the car. Instead, I was met with individuals who had much more experience and merit that made me feel welcome anyway and part of the team. Similarly, with my assumption that I would be disregarded by the other interns, on the contrary, we found ourselves joking amongst one another. It was easy to find a society within the individuals I met. I soon began to gain experience that I revere from so many of the speakers themselves. 

Fellowship 2021: Priyanka Das

Priyanka Das

NJLP Orientation

June 27th, 2021 was the orientation for this year’s class of New Jersey Leadership Program fellows. After talking to my cohort, we all agreed that this opportunity goes above and beyond what any of us expected.

Things across the United States have slowly gone back to normal, we are starting to take masks off, over half of the adult population is fully vaccinated, and we have been reassured that school is going back in person next year. I was anxious to see what the program would look like this year because of Covid-19, but the tireless work of founder and President Amit Jani, the NJLP board, and our internship coordinators hasn’t let us skip a beat. While some of our internships are still virtual, and we’ve only met our peers over Zoom, our class already feels like a family.

Our first speaker was Parag Mehta, an extremely accomplished and successful individual who spoke to us at orientation. He described the ethic needed to maintain a career, and the opportunities that are available if we lead with a strong moral compass and focus on strong goals, which was the exact motivation we needed approaching our first week of work.

I am fortunate enough to have been one of the first fellows to be placed in the private sector and am now working full-time at Princeton Public Affairs Group, Inc. under experts who have already taught me so much about the day-to-day of a lobbyist. In just two weeks I have learned more about where I see myself in life and what I want to do with my career. I’ve gotten the chance to interview partners like David Smith and Regina Appolon, two people I admire so much and get a real insight into their thoughts on the job, and advice on how I should approach my future. 

“After talking to my cohort, we all agreed that this opportunity goes above and beyond what any of us expected.”

While the internships are the main focus of the program, the speakers that we get to listen to every Saturday are one of the highlights of the opportunity. From people that lead departments in New Jersey government to those who do the same in the White House, the range that we are exposed to is impeccable, and each speaker holds so much advice and provides unique insight on their career.

One speaker that struck a chord with me was Laura Jiménez, who is the Senior Advisor for the Bureau of Western Affairs in the State Department, and she is incredibly accomplished at such a young age. She stuck out to me because she is what I aspire to be, a hardworking woman of color, working in the State Department, and she showed me that it is achievable. Another speaker was Shanti Narra, the first South Asian female County Commissioner in New Jersey. She taught us the importance of knowing our worth as young brown girls and letting our voices be heard.

Other speakers like Parimal Garg, Chief Counsel to the Governor, and Dyese Davis, Chief of Staff to Vin Gopal taught us equally important lessons about the value of public service and what it means to embody the people that you represent. Every speaker we have had has been so engaged and so willing to share their wealth of knowledge with us, and I am privileged to have that opportunity with them.

“I am proud to be a member of the 2021 cohort and the New Jersey Leadership Program, and I can confidently say that I will be forever grateful.”

I am so thankful that I made the decision to apply for NJLP, and would not want to spend my summer any other way. I have learned so much in just a week from my internship and speakers, and I am so excited for what the rest of the program has to offer. It has been an eye-opening series and has embodied the idea of a “new normal” after a ruthless pandemic. The dedication from the NJLP board to ensure the best experience possible cannot be praised enough. I am proud to be a member of the 2021 cohort and the New Jersey Leadership Program, and I can confidently say that I will be forever grateful.

NJLP Fellowship: Ayush Nallapally

“My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win out.” The words of Ronald Reagan hold true, whether you revere him or not. No matter who you are, your background, or who you choose to be, these words epitomize the journey of life and our navigation through the challenges presented to us. What the end goal is doesn’t necessarily matter compared to our determination to get there and the lessons we learn from the quest. These past few months have lived up to this quote.

In no way was this year’s fellowship program ever going to emulate those of the past, given the pandemic and the unforeseen destruction that has toiled for months. Many plans went awry, as some of the fellows have written about. While the conditions for the Fellowship were not the most ideal, partially taking away from the experience, I came to the realization that this was a unique opportunity that I could take advantage of. In an ordinary internship, I may have been expected to do routine, mundane tasks with the opportunity to learn some policy. But with the circumstances of the pandemic, I found myself serving a vital role to the community. In times such as these, we often look to protect our loved ones and are privileged enough to be living in good arrangement. However, not everyone could afford that luxury, and this pandemic has left people of all backgrounds in trouble. 

One week, I lead efforts to help trace the missing P-EBT benefits of a hard-working family who desperately needed them in order to continue through this pandemic. Many low-income families rely on these state issued programs to purchase food to help feed their families, especially with schools closed and no longer able to serve meals to children. Hearing the desperation of this family made me think back to why I even considered a future in politics. From a young age, I’ve always wanted to be able to help people in any way I could and give back to the community. As I grew older, I began to develop a fascination for the intricacies and workings of government. As I matured, I began reading the works of our founders, be it documents of law or essays in defense of it. A greater understanding of the perspectives of those who created our government made it clear to me that my way of giving back to the community would be to serve it through a career in law and politics. I would be a servant to the people, ensuring that I could protect the democratic freedoms that our nation enjoys while uplifting those in society who require a voice. Many people have been silenced by this pandemic, unable to lift their wings and prosper. Working to restore the benefits of these citizens gave me a new sense of validation in that I had the power to change a person’s life for the better. No longer was this internship about me and getting work experience, which was an added benefit nonetheless. It was about rebuilding our state one step at a time, doing whatever I could to help as many people as possible. 

I was also tasked with helping small businesses come out of the dark and begin to reopen. Many businesses struggled amidst the pandemic and the economy showed it during the second quarter. While major retailers had ample funds reserved to reassert themselves in the market, the smaller, more hard working individuals, who put their souls into their businesses, were back to square one. Many of them needed avenues of funding and looked to legislative offices such as ours for answers. I became consumed in looking for ways I could direct businesses to the right form of help. Working around the clock, I researched numerous private, state, and federal grants and relief programs that small business owners could use to help start up once more. I worked on making reports and summaries and making sure that these constituents would get the answers they needed. I embraced their struggles as my own, working to ensure that these people had everything they needed to succeed while being assured that their government had their back.

Looking back on these experiences, I reflect on President Reagan’s words. I’ve always known what I’ve wanted to do my life, but until the fellowship program, I never had the chance to experience it. While I may have endured unfortunate circumstances, it is undeniable that I have also been blessed with some luck. The loss of an in-person internship due to COVID-19 led me to having a virtual internship in which I learned a great deal of emergency government response and got to partake in one as well. And to say the speakership series wasn’t inspirational and enjoyable would be a lie. Never did I think I would have the opportunity to speak to a congressman and have a back and forth discussion on a matter in which we disagreed upon. To see both Representative Frank Pallone and I defend our arguments, with different Federalist Papers written by Alexander Hamilton, made for a compelling historical discussion on executive power. Speakers such as Dan Schuberth, Parimal Garg, Dan Benson, and Ishan Shah all captivated me with their political backgrounds and experiences. To have the opportunity to speak with these fine people and learn from them only adds to why this year’s fellowship program may have been an unexpected surprise. Following up with some of these speakers have opened up new opportunities for me in the future to learn and continue finding ways to help the community. This all brings me back to the philosophy of Reagan. President Reagan believed that if we know what we want and work tirelessly to achieve it, then we will never lose. That does not mean that everything we do comes out perfect nor does that mean we will always be content. A world in which we must cope with COVID-19 proves it will be anything but easy. However, so long as we enjoy the journey and make sure we hold ourselves accountable, we have already won. Our ability to learn from the challenges and become better people is just as good of a reward as accomplishing our dreams. At the end of the day, it is the experiences that we have, and how we face them, that will define us and truly make a lasting impact on our legacy.

NJLP Fellowship: Naveen Shah

The United States is currently a very political place to live. Amid a global pandemic and a hotly contested presidential race, almost everyone has something to say about the state of our country and its politicians. COVID-19 has allowed me to understand the importance of state and local governance. 

Through the New Jersey Leadership Program, I am spending this summer at the office of Assemblywoman Carol A. Murphy.  So far I have worked under her Chief of Staff John J. Mulholland. One of the best parts of my experience so far has been pestering him with hundreds of questions! John has fielded all them with unwavering enthusiasm. It has really helped me understand the ins and outs of New Jersey’s governmental system. Recently, John and I got into a discussion about a bill that Assemblywoman Murphy was looking to introduce this upcoming session. I was able to explore the bill and brainstorm amendments after doing my own research on the topic. I presented my amendments to Assemblywoman Murphy and am now working on contacting OLS to make the revisions! Relatives of mine have warned me not to go into politics because they believe I will be frustrated with a lack of progress. This amendment experience has proved otherwise. 

For this week’s Speakership Series, Dan Schuberth, a current councilman for Robbinsville Township, kicked things off. He stressed to me and the other fellows that there are no two ways to get into politics and policy, but he explained how one of the easiest ways is to volunteer for positions within your town. Dan additionally provided great insight into the life of a part-time legislator. He described being a councilman as an “evening and weekend job.” The most interesting part of our conversation was centered around a key part of his platform-- keeping the tax burden low. Dan explained the strategies Robbinsville used to court Amazon when they were looking to place a fulfillment center. He described how bringing business into a municipality can drive tax revenue without using many of the town’s resources.

Our next speaker was Ishan Shah, who has held numerous positions under former Governor Chris Christie and worked on Bob Hugin’s 2018 Senate campaign. We discussed the Senate race first, particularly how the campaign attempted to sway minority groups in urban settings to vote for a Republican. I thought the approach the campaign took to sponsor local events was ingenious, as long as their sponsorship of the event wasn’t too obviously about garnering votes. As a Republican who is part of the South Asian community, Ishan provided a unique opportunity for myself and the rest of the fellows to address his experiences with the party. He tried to dispel a stereotype that the Republican party is often not welcoming of minorities, citing examples of how some Republicans have disavowed and criticized other members of the party for racist or discriminatory actions. 

Our final speaker of the day was Nadia Hussain, a Maternal Justice Campaign Director at MomsRising and a member of the National Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). For much of our time, Nadia focused on her bid to run for school board in her town. I got to ask her a few questions about her approach to schools reopening, including what working parents would do with their children if they stay home. Nadia explained her view that health and safety comes first when it comes from elementary-aged kids and the coronavirus. On the flip side, many American parents are concerned with the quality of virtual education for these kids. Nadia’s opinion on the matter is really representative of a debate occurring all around the country right now. This fall, school board’s across the country will have address these issues about reopening schools. 

Nadia also pointed out that it is a shame that younger people, who these types of decisions affect greatly, aren’t as involved as older citizens! In order for us to shape our future, young people must vote and get politically active on a scale we have never seen before!  Not all older Americans care about the issues they leave for us.  I see my involvement in NJLP as doing what I can… at least until I can vote. 

NJLP Fellowship: Simran Bhathal

Equality. It’s a word we hear everywhere, all the time. We hear calls for equality every time another unarmed Black man is killed. Every time another family is separated at the border. The list of inhumane actions continues, and every time we call for...equality. But the issues plaguing American society cannot be solved by equality. Imagine an idealistic world where we suddenly made everyone equal and the law reflected that. You would consider it safe to assume that this would eradicate most issues that stem from inequality in America, right? No, it would not. And the reason for this is making everyone equal does not erase the inequality of the past. Just because some people have been given certain measures of equality now does not erase that everyone else had it from the beginning. We cannot simply give people equality and expect them to know what to do. What is needed instead, is equity. Equity would mean the proportional representation and resources needed for one to succeed based on how unequal the circumstances were previously. 

An extremely relevant example of this could be the aftermath of the Civil Rights movement. At face value, it seemed that ALL people are finally equal. However, there had been 200 years of slavery on top of Jim Crow era laws. How could Black Americans be expected to succeed if they had been disproportionately pushed down for so long? They were starting from zero. Yet they were expected to catch up to 100 immediately? Without adequate support and resources, it is impossible for the have-nots to catch up to the haves, and this is true for every minority group throughout history. 

It was due to this realization that I wanted to become involved in politics and set my sights on applying for internships such as NJLP. I firmly believe that the best way to change a flawed system is from the inside, so it is best to just gain as much experience as you can. NJLP allowed me the chance to gain that experience in the political field and I am extremely grateful. The New Jersey Leadership Program itself exemplifies the need for equity. When one considers the population of South Asian Americans to the number of South Asian legislators, it is clearly disproportionate. But through NJLP, South Asian youth like myself can gain more experience and hopefully be those legislators later in life. 

Through NJLP’s Speakership Series I have got the opportunity to hear so many great people speak. One speaker who stuck out to me this past Saturday was Nadia Hussein. An advocate for racial justice, especially in terms of maternal healthcare, I once again was struck by the need for equity. While on paper it can be argued that all people in the US have the ability to get adequate healthcare, it clearly does not play out that way. Some people may not be able to afford it. Some people may be able to afford it but systemic racism affects their treatment. She spoke about this issue in depth and stressed that the main issue in terms of racial disparities in healthcare was access. Once again, it was predominantly people with less money who were more often than not people of color, unable to access healthcare. This was not to say that they were any less deserving, but simply that the system was biased against them. I want to eradicate these biased systems, and I believe equity is the way we can do that as Americans. The experiences I have gained as an NJLP fellow have only helped to confirm that for me and push me to pursue a career in politics and advocacy.