Incumbent President of the US, Mr. Joe Biden has recently nominated a Pakistani-American, Mr. Dilawar Syed as deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA).
“I’m deeply humbled & honored by President Biden’s nomination of me to help lead @SBAgov as the Deputy Administrator,” said Syed, confirming the news on Twitter.
He said that if the nomination is confirmed by US Senate, ”I will put my heart & soul into helping small businesses everywhere in these challenging times.”
I’m deeply humbled & honored by President Biden’s nomination of me to help lead @SBAgov as the Deputy Administrator.
If confirmed by the US Senate, I will put my heart & soul into helping small businesses everywhere in these challenging times.
Their grit makes America strong. pic.twitter.com/625UHEWgIP
— Dilawar Syed (@dilawar) March 3, 2021
According to the statement released by the White House, Syed holds an MBA degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and earned a BA in Economics and Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin. He immigrated to the country from Pakistan to join The College of Wooster in Ohio as a Freshman.
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Currently, Mr. Dilawar Syed is serving as the president and CEO of Lumiata, an “AI for healthcare company focused on reducing healthcare costs and improving patient outcomes”, according to the statement.
Prior to this, he worked at Freshworks where he worked in scaling the software company’s products to various small and medium-sized businesses.
According to the statement, Mr. Syed served on President Obama’s White House Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and chaired the White House Initiative on AAPIs’ Economic Growth Committee.
The statement mentions that in that role, he led the administration’s engagement with small businesses across the country after the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
It is worth mentioning that it is not the first time that Mr. Syed is working with the Small Business Association (SBA). According to the statement he has previously served as a liaison with the SBA and the Department of Commerce on federal initiatives such as the President’s Export Council.
Another Pakistani named Ali Zaidi has been appointed to serve as White House Climate Coordinator.
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Mr. Zaidi works under Gina McCarthy to coordinate the new administration’s domestic climate agenda.