AAPI Victory Alliance Announces New Members to Board of Advisers

Indian American lawyer Ankur Goel is one of the recently-named board members of the AAPI Victory Alliance. (mwe.com photo)

India-West Staff Reporter

The AAPI Victory Alliance June 15 announced a slew of prominent Asian American Pacific Islander voices that will be added to AAPI Victory Alliance’s board of advisers.

These AAPI candidates are leaders in their respective positions and have demonstrated a commitment to elevating AAPI voices and causes in their fields, the news release said.

Among the new board members are Indian American lawyer Ankur Goel, partner of McDermott, Will & Emery and former AAJC Board member; Sima Ladjevardian, former Democratic candidate for Congress in Texas; Katie Kalvoda, impact investor and community builder; Jeff Yang, CNN contributor; and Lala Wu, co-founder and executive director of Sister District.

While each of our new board members are expert advocates in their own right, only one, Sima Ladjevardian, makes history as the first Iranian American to sit on the board of an AAPI-focused organization.

“As an organization built to serve the ever-evolving needs of our community members, I’m thrilled to usher in a cohort of new board members who are just as diverse and who are equally passionate about educating the public on progressive issues, advocating for fellow community members and building life-long alliances to help the AAPI community build political power across the country,” AAPI Victory Alliance Indian American executive director Varun Nikore said in a statement.

With tensions stretched thin by COVID-19, and given all that our community has faced over these past few years, I’m beyond excited to work with our new members to help take AAPI Victory Alliance to the next level,” Nikore added. “As our world slowly opens back up and our everyday lives regain a familiar semblance of normalcy—no doubt indelibly changed by the pandemic—so too has our organization changed.”

The alliance executive director went on to note that, as onboarding begins and they launch a new think tank and upcoming initiatives, they have turned their attention towards a brighter, more inclusive and equitable future for all Americans.

With these leaders as board members, the alliance hopes to take their policy and advocacy work to the next level, the release said.