US President Barack Obama has nominated Indian-American businesswoman Shamina Singh to a key administration post.

Singh has been nominated as the member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Obama made the announcement yesterday along with several other key posts including Matthew H Tueller, who has been nominated as the US Ambassador to Yemen.

“I am honoured that these talented individuals have decided to join this Administration and serve our country. I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come,” Obama said.

A founding board member for Indian American Leadership Incubator (IALI), Singh currently is executive director of the MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth, a position she has held since December 2013.

Singh is also the Global Director of Government Social Programs in MasterCard’s Public Private Partnerships group, a position she has held since February 2013. From 2011 to 2013, she was Senior Advisor to MSLGROUP.

Previously, she served as Vice President of Government and Public Affairs at Nike, Inc. From 2010 to 2011.

Prior to that, Singh served as COO for Global Community Development at Citigroup, Inc. From 2005 to 2010.

From 2004 to 2005, she was a Deputy Director for America Votes while in 2003, she served as a Senior Advisor to US House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and in 2002 was the Deputy Campaign Manager for the Ron Kirk for US Senate campaign.

Singh was Executive Director for the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders from 1999 to 2001.

She was Congressional Liaison for the Office of Congressional Affairs at the Department of Labor from 1998 to 1999, Senior Legislative Advocate for the Service Employees International Union from 1995 to 1998, and Campaign Associate for the Ann Richards for Governor Committee from 1993 to 1994.

She is a Young Global Leader with the World Economic Forum and a Henry Crown Fellow with the Aspen Institute. She received her Bachelor of Science from Old Dominion University and a Master of Public

Administration from the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Source: ZeeNews

The Indian American CEO of Chicago’s Cook County Health and Hospital System has been appointed by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio as the head of the city’s health network, the country’s largest public hospital system.

Ramanathan Raju, a native of Madras, will be New York City’s Commissioner of Health and Hospitals Corporation, a network that has a dozen hospitals, a health plan and more than $7.3 billion in revenue. The respected physician re-joins HHC after two years at the helm of Chicago’s public hospital system,

In his new role, Raju will work to raise standards of care at HHC hospitals, deepen the agency’s approach to providing primary and preventative care at the neighborhood level and implement progressive, community-based reforms. Raju’s appointment must be ratified by the HHC board.

“We sought out progressive, proven leaders who are committed to serving diverse communities across this city. And in Raju, we found them,” de Blasio said in a statement.

Raju’s new posting brings him back to an organization where he had previously served as chief medical officer, corporate COO and executive vice president.

“I am excited to return to the Health and Hospitals Corporation. Under my leadership, the HHC will continue its mission of ensuring New Yorkers have access to quality health care options—from major hospitals to neighborhood clinics—no matter where they live,” Raju, who has more than 30 years of experience in public and not-for-profit hospital systems, said.

Raju began his medical career at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, where he was promoted to the positions of director of surgery, director of medical education, and senior vice president. He went on to serve as the COO and chief medical officer at Coney Island Hospital.

As CEO of Cook County Health and Hospitals System, the third largest health system in the U.S., Raju is credited with improving CCHHS’s quality of care, increasing revenues, and cutting costs by leveraging federal resources, restructuring the system’s operation and utilizing technology to make the health care system more accessible to patients.

Raju received his medical degree from Madras Medical College and was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in the United Kingdom.

Raju is not the only Indian American serving in the new mayor’s cabinet, reports PTI.

Rahul Merchant is New York City’s first Citywide Chief Information and Innovation Officer and the seventh Commissioner of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications.

Merchant is responsible for the city’s IT infrastructure, as well as oversight of the implementation of key technology initiatives.

Meenakshi Srinivasan is the Chair of the Board of Standards and Appeals, which is a part of the city’s system for regulation of land use, development and construction.

“Dr. Raju is an outstanding choice,” said Greater New York Hospital Association president Kenneth Raske. “His vast experience, deep commitment to caring for vulnerable communities, and keen understanding of New York’s health care delivery system make him the ideal person to build on Alan Aviles’ remarkable accomplishments and guide HHC through the many challenges that lay ahead.”

As Health and Hospitals Corp.’s former chief operating officer, Raju helped implement a four-year cost cutting plan to deal with a $1.2 billion budget deficit. Those skills again will be tested. The Health and Hospitals Corp. faces deep cuts in Medicaid and Medicare.

Source: IndiaWest

Neel Kashkari, a former US Treasury official and architect of the US bank bailout during the 2008 financial crisis, says he is running for governor of California with a pledge to create jobs and improve public schools. ”Today, the gift of a good education and the opportunity it creates are out of reach for millions of struggling Californians…That’s why I’m running for governor: To create jobs and give kids a quality education. Jobs and education. That’s it. That’s my platform,” he said. He entered the race on Tuesday as a Republican newcomer who faces long odds against incumbent governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat.

Kashkari, an Indian-American, made the announcement in a speech at California State University, Sacramento. He cited California’s public schools and economy as his motivation for running, declaring that status quo is unacceptable. The 40-year-old first generation Ohio native has no political experience and has never before sought public office. He faces a formidable challenge in trying to unseat Brown, who is widely expected to run for another term and has $17 million in his campaign account. Right now, Kashkari’s only Republican challenger is California assembly memmber, Tim Donnelly, a tea party favourite and staunch social conservative.

Kashkari’s campaign team includes political consultants who advised Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and John McCain and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Kashkari’s parents emigrated from India 50 years ago. The son of middle-class parents, Kashkari is a multimillionaire now and lives in Laguna Beach in Orange County. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering at the University of Illinois and moved to California in 1998 to work as a design engineer at TRW in Redondo Beach. He later earned his master’s of business administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and returned to California to help Silicon Valley entrepreneurs raise capital to grow their companies and create jobs. He was appointed to the Department of Treasury in 2006 by then Republican President George W. Bush. ”When the financial crisis erupted, he worked to bring together lawmakers from both parties to write and pass landmark legislation to prevent widespread economic collapse,” his website claims. Last year, Kashkari quit his job as an investment banking executive and began travelling across the state and mulling his run for governor, meeting with potential donors, community organizations and regular Californians, according to Mercury News.

Source: Hindustan Times

Attorney Nandita Berry has been appointed the Secretary of State for Texas by governor Rick Perry, making her the first Indian-American to occupy the post in the southern US state.

In this position, effective January 7 onwards, Nandita Berry will serve as the state’s chief elections officer, the governor’s liaison on border and Mexican affairs, and Texas’ chief protocol officer for state and international matters.

“Nandita Berry personifies what is possible through hard work and dedication in the State of Texas,” Perry said in a statement.

The Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission announced Dec. 3 that Kirin Sinha of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ahmad Nasir of the United States Military Academy were among the winners of the 2014 Marshall Scholarships chosen by eight regional committees.

Sinha, originally from Denver, Colorado, is graduating this spring with a bachelor’s degree in theoretical math and electrical engineering and computer science, with a minor in music. She has worked with mathematics professor Scott Sheffield on decision theory and is currently working with professor of applied mathematics John Bush on hydrodynamic quantum analogs, or the wave behavior of water droplets.
The Marshall Scholarship will allow Sinha to pursue two master’s degrees, in mathematics and in advanced computer science, at Cambridge University. Sinha will also introduce her nonprofit SHINE—a program that integrates dance and math tutoring to help girls gain confidence in math—to the U.K. While at MIT, Sinha dances professionally with the Triveni School of Dance in Brookline.

“It’s been my delight to have had Kirin Sinha as my undergraduate advisee in mathematics for the last three years,” Victor Guillemin, a professor of mathematics, stated in a press release. “Not only has she maintained an impeccable record in her math and other courses, but she also has wide-ranging non-course-related interests as well.”
Nasir, an American politics and Arabic double major, has worked as a congressional intern, studied abroad in Morocco and participated in a cultural exchange with the Sultanate of Oman.
He is interested in studying military-to-military relations, and the Middle East and South Asia.
Nasir aspires to be a South Asian Foreign Area Officer in the U.S. Army and hopes to use his education and military experience to help bridge the divide between U.S. and foreign military officers to forge stronger bilateral relationships.
“Winning the Marshall scholarship offers me the unique opportunity to continue developing as a leader and will undoubtedly help me cultivate the skills necessary to be a soldier-diplomat in the U.S. Army by interacting with some of the brightest young people from the U.S. and around the world,” Nasir said in a press release.
“This scholarship will continue to reinforce my commitment to public service through the military and other pursuits as well.”
The scholarship covers the cost of tuition, books, travel and living expenses while in England.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Marshall Scholarship, which is given by the British Parliament as a national gesture to the people of the United States for aid received after World War II under the Marshall Plan.

Source: India West