Sonal R. Shah (born May 20, 1968), is an American economist, former lobbyist, and public official. She served as the National Policy Director for Mayor

Pete Buttigieg Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; ; Sometimes pronounced or , but not by Buttigieg himself. born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former military officer who is currently serving as the United States secretary of transp ...

's run in the

2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...

. From April 2009 to August 2011, she served as the Director of the

Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation The Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation was an office new to the Obama Administration, created within the White House, to catalyze new and innovative ways of encouraging government to do business differently. Its first director w ...

in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

.Springer, Richar
" Sonal Shah served as Deputy Assistant to the President for President Obama and founded the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation"
, "indiawest.com", accessed August 3, 2009.Perry, Suzann
"Leader to Step Down From White House Social-Innovation Office"
"philanthropy.com", accessed May 5, 2012. Shah is the founding executive director of the Beeck Center for Social Impact & Innovation at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. Previously, Shah was a member of the

Obama-Biden Transition Project The 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama began on February 10, 2007, when Barack Obama, then junior United States senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for President of the United States in Springfield, Illinois. After winning a m ...

and was the head of Global Development Initiatives, a philanthropic arm of

Google.org Google.org, founded in October 2005, is the charitable arm of Google, a multinational technology company. The organization has committed roughly US$100 million in investments and grants to nonprofits annually. The organization is noted for se ...

.People Sonal Sha
"Sonal works for google.org Global Development"
, "changemakers.com", accessed August 3, 2009.

Early life

Sonal Shah was born in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, India. She moved to the US in 1972 at the age of 4, and grew up in Houston, Texas. She graduated from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

with a B.A. in Economics in 1990 and received a master's degree in Economics from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

.Bahree, Megh
"Offshoring Aid"
"forbes.com, May 8, 2006, accessed August 3, 2009.

Career

Public service

Shah held a variety of U.S. Department of Treasury positions from 1995 until 2001. She was the director of the office overseeing strategy and programs for

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

, which included debt relief, development programs and

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

strategies. She worked with the Ministries of Finance in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

and

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

to design the

post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...

banking system. During the

Asian financial crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...

, she served as a senior adviser to U.S. Treasury officials who were coordinating the U.S. response.Lecture Series on South Asi
"Sonal Shah, Founder of Indicorps and Anuja Khemka ’02"
Watson Institute for International Studies, "watsoninstitute.org", February 1, 2007, accessed August 3, 2009.

Private sector

From 2001–2003, Shah served at the

Center for Global Development The Center for Global Development (CGD) is a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C., and London that focuses on international development. History It was founded in November 2001 by former senior U.S. official Edward W. Scott, directo ...

as Director of Operations and Programs, helping set up all aspects of the strategy, infrastructure and operations. From 2003–2004, she worked at the

Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy research and advocacy organization which presents a liberal viewpoint on economic and social issues. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The president and chief executive officer ...

as an Associate Director, advising current and former Congressional and government executives on a wide variety of issues including trade, outsourcing and post-conflict reconstruction.Thaindian New
"Obama picks Indian American Sonal Shah as adviser"
"thaindian.com", November 7, 2008, accessed August 3, 2009. In 2004, Shah joined

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

as a vice president, where she worked on green initiatives, which included informing clients and bankers on alternative energy opportunities and advising them on how to implement environmental, social and governance criteria for all investments.Ferdinand, Andre
"Goldman Sachs VP Says Corporate Responsibility Part of Strategic Plan"
, McCombs School of Business, Univ. of Texas at Austin, November 7, 2006,accessed August 3, 2009. In 2007, Shah joined

as the head of Global Development Initiatives, and worked closely with Executive Director

Larry Brilliant Lawrence Brilliant (born May 5, 1944) is an American epidemiologist, technologist, philanthropist, and author, who worked with the World Health Organization from 1973–1976 helping to successfully eradicate smallpox. Brilliant, a technology pate ...

in guiding global economic development efforts.Brilliant, Larr
"New team members for Google.org"
"The Official Google Blog", April 6, 2007, accessed August 3, 2009. She also worked extensively on the growth of

small and medium sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...

in partnership with the

Omidyar Network Omidyar Network is a self-styled "philanthropic investment firm," composed of a foundation and an impact investment firm. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, Omidyar Network has committed over $1.5billion to n ...

and the

Soros Foundation Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a sta ...

. In July 2019, Shah joined the presidential campaign of South Bend Mayor, Pete Buttigieg a
national policy director.

Return to public service

In April 2009, Shah was appointed director of the newly created White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation.

Global Philanthropy Forum The Global Philanthropy Forum (GPF) is an initiative of the World Affairs Council which acts as a peer-learning network of philanthropists — grant-makers and social investors — committed to advancing equity and opportunity in the d ...

br>"White House Social Innovation Office to Have Three Goals"
The Chronicle of Philanthropy, "philanthropy.com", accessed August 3, 2009. The objective of this office is to coordinate governmental efforts to aid innovative nonprofit groups and social entrepreneurs to address pressing social problems.PTI Housto
"Sonal Shah to head Social Innovation Office in Obama administration"
"dnaindia.com", April 23, 2009, accessed August 3, 2009. Shah is also working with the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

to bring a global perspective to these efforts. Shah had served on Biden’s Unity Task Force. In 2021, she was left out from being appointed in the

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...

after more than a dozen Indian-American organisations raised concerns about Shah's link with right wing Hindu nationalist

RSS RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many di ...

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

Hindu nationalist activism

Her father Ramesh Shah was the President of Overseas Friends of BJP-USA and is the founder of RSS-run

Ekal Vidyalaya Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (; EVF) is the principal organisation of the Ekal Abhiyan project, a one teacher school initiative in India. The foundation operates under the umbrella organisation of Ekal Abhiyan Trust and has a number of associated ...

. In 2001, Sonal Shah worked with the

Vishwa Hindu Parishad The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organization based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to ...

(VHP) of America, a branch of the

Hindu nationalist Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" or the correct term ''Hindū rāṣṭ ...

organization based in India, as the National Coordinator during the

2001 Gujarat earthquake The 2001 Gujarat earthquake, also known as the Bhuj earthquake, occurred on 26 January, India's 52nd Republic Day, at . The epicentre was about 9 km south-southwest of the village of Chobari in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District of Gujarat ...

.VHPA Updat
"Service To Humanity Is Service To God"
"vhp-america", February 3, 2001, accessed August 3, 2009. The VHP in India has been classified by the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

as a militant religious organization as of 2018. Later in 2001, she co-founded the non-religious, non-profit Indicorps which recruits young people of Indian origin from all over the world to volunteer in India working for Indian NGOs.Indicorp
"Program Overview"
"indicorps.org", accessed August 3, 2009. Indicorps volunteers have worked in the areas of education, health and sanitation, rural development, tsunami relief, and microfinance.Indicorp
"Our Projects"
"indicorps.com", accessed August 3, 2009. She gave the key note address in 2004 talking about her work with Indicorps for the US's branch of the India-based Ekal Vidyala Foundation (EVF). The EVF in India has been accused of running schools that pursue a Hindu-nationalist agenda and generate hatred towards minorities. The EVF in 2005 lost public funding after the Indian federal government deemed it was "spreading hatred" against India's non-Hindu minority. When she was appointed to the President Obama's transition team, leaders of the VHP and another Hindu nationalist organization, the

, issued a statement calling her a "proud member of the VHP, the daughter of Ramesh Shah, a very senior VHP leader." After her appointment to Obama's team and criticism of her links to India's Hindu nationalist movement, Shah disassociated herself from the VHP and condemned its role in the

2002 Gujarat riots The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hin ...

Board Memberships

Shah is a board member of

OXFAM Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

America and of Zev Shapiro's organization TurnUp

Awards and recognition

*Henry Crown Fellowship,

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

, 20062006 Great Xpectations Clas
"Henry Crown Fellowship List of Fellows"
"aspeninstitute.com",accessed August 3, 2009.
Next Generation FellowAmerican Assembly
Columbia University, 2007. *India Abroad Person of the Year, 2003India Abroa

"rediff.com", accessed August 3, 2009.

Papers and articles

*Guiding Principles and Design of the MCA *Trading Views *Served on Commission for Weak States and National Security, Center for Global Development. *Social Finance: A Primer, Center for American ProgressSocial Finance: A Primer, Center for American Progress, November 5th, 2013
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Sonal 1968 births 21st-century American economists American Hindus American people of Gujarati descent American politicians of Indian descent Duke University alumni Harvard Institute of Politics Henry Crown Fellows Indian emigrants to the United States Living people Obama administration personnel People from Houston Politicians from Mumbai University of Chicago alumni Vishva Hindu Parishad members