2024 Desis Lead Spring Intensive Cohort Bio Book

Introducing our

2024 Spring Intensive Cohort

Spring Intensive Cohort

Mahtab Khan

Harshal Dear

Pooja Mehta

Mishal Reja

Shria Holla

Irfan Mahmud

Spandana Singh

Ketan Kapasi

Ramesh Premkumar

Sukhmani Singh

Monowara Hossain

Shekhar Sinha

Ashwin Narayan

Me

et the Cohort!

Mahtab Khan is an activist and community organizer from Jamaica, Queens, New York. He graduated from CUNY John Jay College in 2019 where he double majored in Political Science and Criminal Justice with double minors in Law and Human Rights Studies. He was a Bernie Sanders Delegate in 2020 and in 2020 he was about 400 votes away in his election for District Leader when he ran against the incumbent Assemblyman David Weprin. Since then he has been active in community based civic organizations and in 2022 he was elected to be Judicial Delegate for his community. Now he currently works in city government and hopes to one day for higher office to continue advocating for his community.

Mahtab Khan @YesWeKhan

Pooja Mehta is an outspoken South Asian Mental Health Advocate, and has been telling her story to audiences across the United States for the last 10 years. As a professional with direct and family lived experience, she is eager to further the conversation around the role public health and patient perspective plays in mental health care and looks forward to changing the way we think and talk about mental health as a society. Originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, Pooja holds a MPH from Columbia, and is building a career working in health policy and advocacy in Washington, DC. In her spare time, Pooja enjoys playing her flute, rock climbing, and catching up on TV shows with her cat, Pepper.

Pooja Mehta @poojasmehta_

Irfan Mahmud is a voting rights and political law attorney in Washington, DC. He is a proud new resident of Alexandria, VA with his spouse who grew up here and is now coming home. His family originally comes from Bangladesh, and he is a Bengali and Muslim American. He just graduated last year from a JD MBA program between Harvard Law and Stanford Business. He is very passionate about political engagement, civil rights, economic mobility, and education policy. He believes that political engagement and education policy are the issues that unlock the most progress on all other issues. He hopes to be very actively engaged in his community in Northern Virginia, and he hopes to dedicate his life to public service of his communities both local and national.

Irfan Mahmud @irfanxmahmud

I am running for office because I believe that our city needs a leader who understands the importance of public safety, a strong community, and responsible spending. I will work to maintain the "small-town" close-knit community we have and preserve the things that make it special. As a small business owner with 11 years of entrepreneurial experience, I know what it takes to create jobs, manage expenses, make payroll, and grow our economy. As a resident of Coppell for over 16+ years, my family and I have benefited from strong public schools, volunteer opportunities, and a safe and enjoyable community. I am committed to making Coppell a better place to live, work, and play for all residents. My experience, passion and dedication make me the best candidate for the job. Together, we can make Coppell an even better place to call home.

Ramesh Premkumar @rpk4Coppell

Harshal is the President of the PA chapter of the National Safe Parents Organization. She led statewide events to establish November as Family Court Awareness Month and lobby for the passage of Kayden's law SB55. NSPO a national coalition of more than 100,000 survivor parents and concerned citizens in the United States advocating for evidence-based policies that put child safety and risks at the forefront of child custody decisions.

Harshal Dear @minipawashe X: @harshaldear

She advocates for a child’s right to live free from abuse and that child safety must be made the top priority in practice in all private custody decision-making. She works with similar national coalitions across the globe, dealing with the same problems we see in the U.S. Court’s resistance to taking risks and abuse to a child seriously in the context of child access decisions.

Harshal is a graduate of Cornell University. She has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a master’s degree in biomedical engineering and works in a non-profit role at the FDA.

Hello! My name is Mishal Reja, and I am thrilled to be a part of this cohort. I am a Gastroenterologist and Internist based in New York City. Though my professional journey is rooted in the medical field, I am deeply passionate about addressing issues of social justice and healthcare inequity. I have participated in initiatives at the community level to combat these challenges.

Mishal Reja @doc.meesh

Spandana Singh is a Privacy Policy Manager at Meta, where she collaborates with global product teams, policy stakeholders, civil rights organizations, regulators, and lawmakers to build privacy, fairness, transparency, and other critical elements into Meta products – especially those relying on AI and machine learning.

Spandana is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network and Global Shaper program, and is a part of the Google Next Gen Policy Leaders program, which convenes tech-savvy leaders across civil rights, racial justice, media, business, and other sectors to collaborate on issues at the intersection of technology, policy, and social justice.

Spandana Singh X: spandi_s

Prior to Meta, Spandana worked at New America’s Open Technology Institute, where she led a policy portfolio focused on algorithmic accountability, corporate and government transparency, election disinformation and integrity, privacy, and more. She also previously served as a Public Policy Fellow at Twitter.

Sukhmani has dedicated herself to public service and leadership since high school. From interning with Kyrsten Sinema's re-election campaign before she could even vote, she embraced her civic duty to uplift the South Asian community. She has a particular passion for sustainability and environmental justice and plans to practice environmental and energy law after law school.

Sukhmani believes in bipartisanship as the beacon of progress and aims to represent the South Asian community by fostering collaboration and respect for diverse ideas. With a vision for a cleaner, greener, and safer future, she aspires to be a unifying force in Arizona, committed to finding the best solutions for all.

Sukhmani Singh X: @sukh_k_singh Threads: @sukhksingh

Shekhar Sinha X: @shekhsinha Threads: @shekhar.sinha.9

Shekhar is running, as a Democrat, for Texas State Representative in House District 121. He came from India as a Teaching Assistant in the mid-80s and graduated three years later from Penn State with dual Master’s in Math and Computer Science. Subsequently, he worked in the IT industry for 3 decades in both technical and management positions. He also has an MBA and an MS in Global Supply Chain Management from Indiana University. Before coming to USA, he served in two prestigious services in India. As Special Class Railway Apprentice, he earned bachelor’s degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering, and then served briefly in the Indian Railways Service of Mechanical Engineers. Later, he served briefly in the Indian Police Service. He reƟred in May 2022. He has volunteered for Democratic candidates from 2020 and has been serving as a Democratic Precinct Coordinator in San Antonio for a year.

Shria Holla, originally from Richmond, KY, is a senior at the University of Kentucky studying mathematics, economics, political science, and statistics. She will be working at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago after graduation as a research assistant, supporting leading economists with innovative research. Shria aspires to obtain a JD and a PhD in economics. With research focused on immigration and female labor economics, she hopes to soon use her expertise to inform state and federal policies. Aside from academics, Shria is avidly involved in the community.

You can most often find her teaching disadvantaged youth public speaking, keeping socially isolated seniors company, or organizing cultural events with her local Indian community. In her free time, Shria loves to explore the local food scene, learn new dance styles, and play soccer.

Shria Holla @shriaholla

Hi, I’m Ketan! I love bringing people together, building community, and group adventures. With respect to political experience, I was a staff organizer on the Yang 2020 presidential campaign where I ran the field office in Waterloo, Iowa, and in college, I interned for my state representative in the Texas Capitol. I am a UT Austin grad in computer science and finance, and I work as a product manager formerly at Facebook and Dell. I’m exploring if running for office is for me, and what kind of impact I would hope to achieve!

Ketan Kapasi @ketan_kapasi

Growing up in Alexandria, Virginia, Monowara graduated from George Mason University with a Bachelors in Business. She recently completed her Masters in Migration Studies from the University of San Francisco. Prior to joining the Department of State as a consular affairs specialist, she served as a White House and Department of State intern. Her professional interest lies in immigration policies and procedures, and has written a master thesis on the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar (Burma).

Monowara Hossain @Monowarra

I'm Ashwin Narayan (he/him) and I live in DC. I'm currently working in politics as a data scientist for a firm that does digital fundraising for Democrats. I'm pretty new to the political space: before this I was doing a PhD in applied math/statistics focusing on machine learning for biological data. I'm still thinking about the idea of running for office as well, but I'm extremely interested in polling and in the running of campaigns and more generally the idea of "math for social good". Towards the end of my PhD, I became interested in law and regulating AI and am thinking about that alongside my interest in political data. I'm hoping this group can help me connect with more folks finding their feet in politics, and also would love to learn more from people who have campaign experience. Outside of work, I love the outdoors: backpacking, (ice) climbing, skiing, camping!

Ashwin Narayan LinkedIn

We

lcome to Desis Lead!