President Joe Biden, who has already inducted a number of Indian-Americans in top positions of his Democratic Party government, has nominated a woman of Kashmiri roots for the coveted post of the ambassador to the Netherlands. Shefali Razdan Duggal is among the eleven Democratic Party activists, fundraisers and the President’s confidants whose nominations have been announced by the White House on Friday. 

According to the White House press release, 50-year-old Shefali, an immigrant to the United States from Kashmir, India, is an experienced political activist, women’s rights advocate, and human rights campaigner. She is a former Presidential appointee to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council, and continues to serve as a Western Regional Advisor. She is a San Francisco Committee member of Human Rights Watch, a member of the Wake Forest University Leadership and Character Council, and served on the National Board of Directors for Emily’s List.

Congratulations to our friend @ShefaliRazdan Duggal on your nomination. ❤️ 🇺🇸

Shefali Razdan Duggal, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.#UnitedStates #Netherlands #Friends #Women #Love #Diplomacy
https://t.co/1ojxON5RT6 pic.twitter.com/a6bSk3jCtR

— Robert Camacho (@robcamacho) March 12, 2022

Shefali is also the recipient of numerous civic awards, including being recognized with the Western Regional Leadership Award by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, as a Community Hero by the California State Assembly, and as one of the Most Powerful Women in California by the National Diversity Council. She served as National Co-Chair of Women for Biden, and as a Deputy National Finance Chair at the Democratic National Committee. She is a B.S. in Mass Communication from Miami University (Oxford, OH) and a M.A. in Media Ecology from New York University.

On her blog, Shefali introduces herself as a San Francisco Committee member of Human Rights Watch, a non-profit, non-governmental human rights organisation which investigates abuses, exposes facts and advocates with those in power to create lasting change. She also serves on the Leadership and Character Council (Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem NC) and on the National Advisory Board of Inside Washington (Miami University, Oxford OH). Shefali recently served on the National Finance Committee of Joe Biden for President 2020 and also was a National Co-Chair of Women for Biden. Shefali also served as a Deputy National Finance Chair at the Democratic National Committee. 

Shefali completed her term on the National Board of Directors for Emily's List (an organization dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic women to all levels of government). She also served as a Vice-Chair of the Credentials Standing Committee for the 2020 Democratic National Convention (Milwaukee WI). She served as an At-Large Delegate for Vice President Joe Biden at the Democratic National Convention. 

Shefali also served on the Rules Standing Committee for the 2016 Democratic National Convention (Philadelphia PA) and was also on the National Finance Committee for Hillary for America (2016 Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign, National Advisory Council). She was on the National Finance Committee for President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election Campaign, additionally serving as an Obama Victory Trustees Co-Chair and Northern California Finance Committee Member. She was a member of the Credentials Standing Committee for the 2012 Democratic National Convention and was an At-Large Delegate to the Convention from the State of California.

Shefali also was active during Senator Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign, where she was a Trustee for the DNC South Asian American Leadership Council. She previously worked with Senator Hillary Clinton's 2008 Presidential Campaign, where she was a member of the campaign's Northern California Steering Committee and the Women for Hillary Committee. She was also on the Finance Committee for the Kamala Harris for California Attorney General Campaign and was a member of her Transition Team.

In addition, Shefali was Executive Director of Indus Women Leaders (a national South Asian women's organization) and was both a graduate and on the Advisory Board of Emerge California (a political leadership training program for Democratic women). She was also a Board Member of the Indian American Leadership Initiative (an organization focused on promoting South Asian political participation) and on the National Advisory Board of Doctors for America.

The high-profile Democrat was also on the National Advisory Board of Beyond Bollywood (Smithsonian Museum) and a Senior Advisor for South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA). 

Earlier in her career, Shefali worked as a Political Analyst at Staton Hughes (political strategy firm). She also worked at the Massachusetts Democratic Party, the New Hampshire Democratic Party and the offices of Senators Ted Kennedy and Dianne Feinstein. She worked on Vice President Al Gore's 2000 Presidential Campaign, and was an At-Large Delegate to the 2000 National Democratic Convention from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

A Kashmiri born in Haridwar, Shefali moved to the United States at a very young age and grew up in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and Cincinnati Ohio. She lives in California.  She started her work in Presidential campaigns as a volunteer and at-large delegate representing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with Al Gore in 2000. 

Originally the residents of Srinagar’s Habbakadal locality, Shefali’s parents reportedly moved to U.P where she was born in November 1971. Thereafter, this family of the Kashmiri Pandits migrated to the US and settled there. She was married to a Punjabi, Raj Duggal, in 1998 and the couple have two children. 

In one of her interviews once, Shefali disclosed her Kashmir nostalgia. Replying to a question she said: “I too am very proud of my Kashmiri roots, carrying the Razdan name with a badge of honor! My parents are both from Srinagar, with most of my family still firmly ingrained within the Kashmiri culture, both here and in India. I joyfully recall Kashmir, as we used to travel there during the summers when I was a child to see my extended family.” 

She said: “The last time that I visited Kashmir was in the early 1990s, just before my family made the exodus out of Srinagar (to various parts of India). I vividly recall the houseboats on Dal Lake and particularly the beauty of Nishat Bagh (close to both of my parents ancestral homes), seeing Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Hari Parbat, amongst so many others. I look forward to taking my children there, to let them see the beauty from which they have been born. Although, personally I don’t have to look too far to be reminded of my Kashmiri heritage– I look in the mirror and see the classic KP nose peering back at me!”

Shefali's nomination is subject to the approval of the US Senate where she will be extensively interviewed over the next several weeks. 

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