OBAMA ADMIN: Anju Bhargava, Eboo Patel join a presidential council

From a White House press release below:

Washington – President Barack Obama today announced additional members of the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  The Advisory Council is part of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and is composed of religious and secular leaders and scholars from different backgrounds.

Among the folks named are two South Asians:

• Anju Bhargava, president, Asian Indian Women in America, New Jersey
• Eboo S. Patel, founder & executive director, Interfaith Youth Core, Chicago, IL

More about Patel here in his bio (as we get more info, we will update this page).

Meanwhile, a lot more about Bhargava, a long-time friend of SAJA, via the press release below and at AnjuBhargava.com. Asked for a comment, she told SAJAforum:

It is a great honor to be the first Indian American woman be part of the President's Council. I am excited and exhilarated.  I expect to bring both my professional risk management and banking background as well as the interfaith and community building aspects into this important initiative of the President.

Post your comments, after the press releases below.

PRESS RELEASE:

Anju Bhargava, President, Asian Indian Women in America, a Pioneer Community Builder and Management Consultant is Appointed to President's Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

The President’s Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships is a Council of advisers to the President on issues relating to the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  Including social service provision, community development, social change and relevant public policy issues. The President’s Council will form Taskforces in order to study in depth key topics and make recommendations to the President, White House staff and members of government. The Taskforces of the President’s Council will include: Reform of the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Economic Recovery and Fighting Poverty, Fatherhood and Healthy Families, Inter-Religious Dialogue and Cooperation, Environment and Climate Change, Global Poverty, Health and Development. The Council does not make recommendations about federal grants, or federal government hiring. Council membership is a one-year term.

Anju Bhargava is the Principal Director of Global Synergy Associates, an international management consulting firm working at the intersection of strategy, risk, leadership and culture through a combination of both business and human levers.  A change catalyst pioneer, Ms. Bhargava, a management consultant, has organized and advocated to build healthy American communities.  Her distinctive research based approach leverages best practices from many spheres - education, government/politics, civic/social, religious/faith based, medical/nursing, corporate/business, for hands on grass-roots level nation building, organizational development and individual coaching.  She is the President of Asian Indian Women in America (AIWA) and has worked extensively in areas such as employment, career development, cultural acculturation, integration, health, education and general welfare to develop a vibrant community.

 
Ms. Bhargava began her career over two decades ago as a banker and has held senior level positions in Corporate America, focusing on business transformation, organizational development and risk management.  Her internationally cited research of NatWest USA Bank's Loan loss experience (Enterprise Risk Management) was published by The RMA Journal, and received recognition from the Office of the Comptroller of Currency.  Currently she is working with Rutgers Business School, as a Fellow of Department of Accounting, Business Ethics and Information Systems to frame thoughts on current risk assurance and Enterprise Risk Management issues.   Ms Bhargava has consulted for global companies in diverse industries, coached and mentored talent and provided thought leadership in the public and private sectors.  She has held senior positions at Bear Stearns, BB&T Bank, IBM Global Services, Fleet/NatWest Bank and Chase Manhattan Bank. She has developed an Executive Education program, Chakravyuhu or the labyrinth, a program for mentoring women to make the "step-change" in their careers in the Corporate World. She has taught Organization Management at Rutgers Graduate School of Business.

Ms. Bhargava was the only Indian-American to serve in the Community Builder Fellowship, President Clinton’s White House initiative (1998-2000) where she fostered partnerships, facilitated economic, workforce and business development.  She conducted the 1st comprehensive assessment of immigrants need in New Jersey which became the foundation for many government and community organizations programs (2000).  She was an advisor to Community Foundation NJ which brought diverse parents in Elizabeth and Jersey City together to breakdown cultural barriers.  She was recognized by the Partnership for New Jersey and Governor Whitman as a founder of New Jersey Diversity Network.  As part of AIWA with the City of New York she co-organized the 1st job fair for new underserved communities in 1986. For the past 20 years Ms. Bhargava has been the Hindu representative for Livingston's Interfaith Clergy Association and is a member of the Collective Hindu Initiative.  She has conducted and participated extensively in interfaith dialogues at the local, state, national and international level. She is the first Hindu woman Pujari in New Jersey.  She volunteers at St Barnabas Pastoral Care Department and Livingston's Interfaith Clergy Association.

Ms. Bhargava co-started Asian Indians in Livingston and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr initiative. She has advised Livingston Township and the Board of Education in developing diversity and inclusion strategies to integrate multicultural residents while enhancing the Township’s image and resulting property values.  She has organized community based affinity groups and created a language and cultural education infrastructure to facilitate adaptation and integration.  In 2006, she initiated Utsava, the 1st Festival of India in Winston Salem, NC, an event linked with Winston Salem's strategic direction to revitalize downtown and enhance bio-science workforce development, and with North Carolina's global education vision and goals for school children. She was a founding member of NJ Corporate Diversity Network, an initiative formed with Partnership for New Jersey to "maximize effectiveness of diversity initiatives to enhance business results and positively affect our communities and the economy".

 
Ms. Bhargava is a graduate of Stella Maris College, Madras University, India and Rutgers University (MBA), with training at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, American University, Kellogg, Graduate School of Management and Dale Carnegie Institute.

 

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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         April 6, 2009

President Obama Announces Additional Members of Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Washington – President Barack Obama today announced additional members of the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  The Advisory Council is part of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and is composed of religious and secular leaders and scholars from different backgrounds.

Each member of the Council is appointed to a one-year term.  The members of the Council are:

Diane Baillargeon, President & CEO, Seedco
New York , NY

*Anju Bhargava, Founder, Asian Indian Women of America
New Jersey

*Bishop Charles Blake, Presiding Bishop, Church of God in Christ
Los Angeles, CA

Noel Castellanos, CEO, Christian Community Development Association
Chicago, IL

*The Rev. Peg Chemberlin, President-Elect, National Council of Churches USA
Minneapolis, MN

Dr. Arturo Chavez, President & CEO, Mexican American Catholic College
San Antonio , TX

Fred Davie, Senior Adviser, Public/Private Ventures
New York , NY

*Nathan Diament, Director of Public Policy, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
Washington, DC

Pastor Joel C. Hunter, Senior Pastor, Northland, a Church Distributed
Longwood, FL

*Harry Knox, Director, Religion and Faith Program, Human Rights Campaign
Washington, DC

Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie, Presiding Bishop, 13th Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal Church
Knoxville, TN

*Dalia Mogahed, Executive Director, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies
Washington, DC

Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., Pastor emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church
Cleveland, OH

Dr. Frank S. Page, President emeritus, Southern Baptist Convention
Taylors, SC

Eboo S. Patel, Founder & Executive Director, Interfaith Youth Core
Chicago, IL

*Anthony Picarello, General Counsel , United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Washington, DC

*Nancy Ratzan, National President, National Council of Jewish Women
Miami, FL

Melissa Rogers, Director, Wake Forest School of Divinity Center for Religion and Public Affairs
Winston-Salem , NC

Rabbi David N. Saperstein, Director & Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Washington , DC

Dr. William J. Shaw, President, National Baptist Convention, USA
Philadelphia , PA

Father Larry J. Snyder, President, Catholic Charities USA
Alexandria , VA

Richard Stearns, President, World Vision
Bellevue , WA

Judith N. Vredenburgh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Big Brothers / Big Sisters of America
Philadelphia , PA

Rev. Jim Wallis, President & Executive Director, Sojourners
Washington , DC

*Dr. Sharon Watkins, General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Indianapolis, IN

NOTE: Members marked with an asterisk were announced today. The White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will be a resource for nonprofits and community organizations, both secular and faith based, looking for ways to make a bigger impact in their communities, learn their obligations under the law, cut through red tape, and make the most of what the federal government has to offer.  Other members of the Advisory Council were announced earlier this year.

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