International Women’s Day: Indian American Trailblazers Who Stood Out Over the Past Year

This International Women’s Day, its time to take stock of Indian American trailblazers who made news over the past year in various fields like politics, business, arts and entertainment. 

Nikki Haley, who had pitched herself as the best opportunity to move on from former president Trump, suspended her presidential campaign after suffering a major loss in the Super Tuesday primaries. But the former governor of South Carolina and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations made history on the way. She’s the first woman to win a Republican presidential primary, in the District of Columbia; she also won in Vermont. Supporters and analysts told the Associated Press that she “may have developed a playbook for confronting the former president who dominates the Republican Party — and for running in the post-Trump era.”

On the Democratic side, Vice President Kamala Harris has been trying to change the narrative. Since taking office, she has struggled to communicate her vision and the nature of her role to both the press and the public. As President Joe Biden eyes reelection, questions about her readiness to step in as president if needed are dominating conversations in political circles and outside. Her “stepped-up efforts come at a critical moment. Her office has largely stabilized after early years of intense dysfunction, and she has been slowly asserting herself more confidently in public,” CNN noted.

Another powerful Indian American politician is Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), an outspoken advocate of social justice, reproductive freedoms, and immigrants’ rights.  Head the Progressive Caucus in the House of Representatives, she was last year named ranking member of the powerful House Judiciary Committee’s panel on Immigration, making her the first immigrant to serve in a leadership role for the subcommittee. She is the he first South Asian woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and one of only two dozen naturalized citizens in Congress. 

Defense Department’s Deputy Spokesperson Sabrina Singh is another key player of Indian-origin in today’s political landscape. The young Indian American conducts Pentagon’s media briefings laying out the administration’s strategic positions. She was one of Harris’ longest-serving aides and has been her deputy press secretary since the beginning of the administration. She was first hired by Harris in March 2020 to run communications for her political operations. At the time Singh became the first Indian American to assume the role of a press secretary to a U.S. vice-president nominee. She also worked for Harris during the general election and the transition.

In state politics, New York State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar won the Diwali school holiday in just one legislative session, achieving the decades-long dream of the South Asian community.The first Hindu-American and South Asian-American woman elected to state office in New York spent months forging a broad, diverse coalition of stakeholders from across the State. The Assemblywoman secured the support of all her Albany colleagues and passed the Diwali school holiday bill unanimously in June, in one of the state legislature’s most historic moments. The festival of lights will now be recognized as a school holiday for New York City public schools. 

This January, Neena Singh made history with her appointment as mayor of Montgomery Township in New Jersey, becoming the first Sikh and Indian American woman mayor in the state. In South Jersey, Pakistani American Fozia Januja was selected mayor of Mount Laurel. She is the first Muslim and South Asian woman to lead the township. 

In Oregon, Labor and civil rights attorney Aruna Masih was appointed as a justice on the state’s Supreme Court. She is the Indian American and South Asian American justice on the state’s high court. 

In the field of business, former Obama White House Counsel Uma Amuluru was named Boeing’s Chief Human Resources Officer and executive vice president, effective April 1. She joined Boeing in 2017, and currently serves as vice present and general counsel to Boeing Defense, Space & Security, a position she has held since early 2023. Before that served as the company’s first chief compliance officer. 

Several young Indian American women made their mark in entertainment this past year. Ishana Night Shyamalan, the middle daughter of filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, is making her directorial debut this year with  “The Watchers,” starring Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Oliver Finnegan, and Olwen Fouere. The 22-year-old recently laughed the trailer of the thriller, an adaptation of A.M. Shine’s 2021 gothic horror novel of the same name. She co-wrote 10 episodes and directed six episodes of M. Night’s Apple TV+ series “The Servant.” 

Actresses Avantika Vandanapu and Geraldine Viswanathan starred in two separate much-publicized Hollywood films. While the former was seen in the latest adaptation of “Mean Girls,” the latter was seen in “Drive-Away Dolls,” a bawdy comedy directed by one of the biggest names in Hollywood, Ethan Coen. The the Australian actress is seen as Marian, a demure girl who desperately needs to loosen up. Avantika, 19, who goes only by her first name, plays Karen Shetty in the film directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. Her version of Karen puts a new spin on the dim-witted, easy-going, and flirty character first brought to life by Amanda Seyfried. 

Meanwhile, British Indian actress Ambika Mod excelled in the ‘flinty and vulnerable’  role as as Emma Morley in the hugely popular Netflix series “One Day.” She is well known for playing Shruti Acharya, a junior doctor in “This is Going to Hurt,” for which she won the 2023 Broadcasting Press Guild Award for best actress.

Among young achievers, California teen Shripriya Kalbhavi won second place at the 2023 3M Young Scientist Challenge, the nation’s premier middle school science competition. The San Jose 9th grader at Lynbrook High School developed  EasyBZ, a cost-effective microneedle patch that allows for self-automated drug delivery without pills or needles.

Scientist and innovator Gitanjali Rao, 17, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, was among 15 young women leaders honored by First Lady Jill Biden at the first-ever “Girls Leading Change” celebration at the White House in October to observe the International Day of the Girl. Time magazine’s first ever ‘Kid of the Year,’ Rao is a freshman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her groundbreaking lead contamination detection tool won her an EPA Presidential Award and America’s Top Young Scientist by Discovery Education/3M. Her book “Young Innovator’s Guide to STEM,” which offers a prescriptive five-step innovation process, is used as a STEM curriculum globally in selected schools.