Kal Penn, Kundra, Chopra and Bhargava join Obama Administration

Kal Penn, an Indian American actor who starred in Mira Nair’s The Namesake, is joining the White House as a liaison between the administration and Asian constituents. The ctor has been a long time supporter of President Barack Obama, Penn endorsed Obama’s White House bid in late 2007 and was a frequent campaign surrogate on the trail last year.

The actor will be part of the White House Office of Public Liaison, which is run by Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett. Penn will be primarily involved in dealing with Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and the arts community.

Son of Kalpen Suresh Modi, an immigrant from Gujarat, India, the 31-year-old actor who had a recurring role on Fox’s popular TV show House would join the White House staff as an associate director in the Office of Public Liaison. Born in New Jersey, Kal Penn now resides in L.A. He attended the Fine and Performing Arts Center at Howell High School in Farmingdale, New Jersey where he went though an intense study of the arts in acting, dance/movement, and vocal training.

During the Spring 2008 semester, he was an adjunct faculty member in the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania (familiarly called “Penn”) in Philadelphia. He taught a lecture course, “Images of Asian Americans in the Media,” and a seminar, “Contemporary American Teen Films,” both of which were cross-listed in the Cinema Studies department. His faculty listing on the Asian American Studies Program website gave his name as Kalpen Modi (his real name) first, with his stage name, Kal Penn, in parentheses.

Currently, he is in the process of earning a graduate certificate in international security from Stanford University. In April 2009, Penn told Entertainment Weekly Magazine that the writers killed off his character on “House M.D.” (2004) because he had asked to be allowed to leave the show to go work for the Barack Obama Administration as the Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Liaison.

Currently, Penn, who plays Americanborn Gogol, the son of Indian immigrants, wanting to fit in among his fellow New Yorkers, despite his family’s unwillingness to let go of their traditional ways, will in his new role connect Obama with the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities, as well as arts groups.

Apart from The Namesake, Penn has had starring roles in the films National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, Epic Movie, and Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. Kal Penn is best known as “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle”.

Kal Penn said that he got to know president Obama and some other staff people during the campaign and showed them interest to do work in White House. He said there is not a big chance to get money in this new job but he will get opportunity to serve in a capacity like this incredible honor.

Penn was quoted to have told the media that the new position comes after some soul-searching. There was “something aching in me to do something completely different and take a break from the acting thing for a while” Penn told the executive producers of the TV series “House” when he explained his decision to get involved with politics full-time.

The actor also said his interest in politics has deep roots. “I’ve been thinking about [moving into politics] for a while.

I love what I do as an actor. I couldn’t love it more. ...probably from the time I was a kid, I really enjoyed that balance between the arts and public service.”

And he went on to explain: “It’s probably because of the value system my grandparents instilled in me. They marched with Gandhi in the Indian independence movement, and that was always in the back of my head. So the past couple of years I thought about it a little more.”

Penn also is leaving the door open to returning to acting at some later point. “Who’s to say where any path leads? I still have a passion for it. But for the time being, I won’t be acting,” Penn said.

Vivek Kundra and Aneesh Chopra, currently Virginia’s secretary of technology, both Indian Americans, have been appointed by President Barack Obama to help give ‘Americans a government that is effective, efficient and transparent’.

Announcing the appointment of Indian American Aneesh Chopra, Obama said: “Aneesh will promote technological innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities - from creating jobs and reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure.”

Additionally, Chopra is currently Virginia’s Fourth Secretary of Technology serving Governor Tim Kaine. In this capacity, he leads the Commonwealth’s strategy to effectively leverage technology in government reform, promotes Virginia’s innovation agenda, and fosters technologyrelated economic development with a special emphasis on entrepreneurship.

For the Governor, Secretary Chopra chairs the Solutions Committee of the IT Investment Board, the Effectiveness and Efficiency Committee of the Council on Virginia’s Future, and co-chairs the Healthcare IT Council with Health Secretary Marilyn Tavenner.

Vivek Kundra was the District of Columbia’s chief technology officer to take the top information technology post in the federal government. Kundra, who had deployed advanced applications to improve the performance of public services during his nearly two years as CTO for the District, will replace Karen Evans as administrator for e-government and information technology in the Office of Management and Budget. The position effectively serves as the federal government’s chief information officer.

Kundra has drawn attention for his innovative approach to managing the District’s IT investments, including his use of a stock portfolio approach for tracking projects and his interest in encouraging public involvement in government — an Obama campaign promise, as well. He developed the AppsForDemocracy contest, which challenged citizens to come up with new ways of using technology to make government information widely available.

Anju Bhargava, president, Asian Indian Women in America, New Jersey has been appointed by President Barack Obama as 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.

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. “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,” Anju said.

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, 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 grassroots 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.

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 is the first Hindu woman Pujari in New Jersey.