Duggal will be one of 55 members on the Council.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: President Barack Obama has appointed Indian American Shefali Razdan Duggal to a key position on the Holocaust Memorial Council.
Duggal was appointed on Tuesday to be a member of the Council, which was established by Congress in 1980 to oversee the federal government’s commemorative efforts of the Holocaust and its victims. The Council is responsible for having built the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, which it currently oversees alongside the US government in a private-public partnership.
The Holocaust Memorial Council meets twice a year, and consists of 55 members. Duggal is the latest addition to the Council; her appointment was announced alongside five other key administration posts by Obama on Tuesday.
“The extraordinary dedication these men and women bring to their new roles will greatly serve the American people,” Obama said in a statement, of Duggal and her fellow appointees. “I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”
Duggal is known for being a successful fundraiser and a key supporter of Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. She earned her B.S. from Miami University of Ohio, and an M.A. from New York University.
She is currently a member of the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) National Finance Committee, and is the National Co-Chair of the DNC’s Women’s Leadership Forum. She was a key finance person on Obama’s 2012 campaign, and was a Co-Chair of the Obama Victory Trustees. Previously, she was a political analyst for Station and Hughes Strategy Firm in 2001.
Additionally, Duggal is a member of the National Board of Directors for Emily’s List, the Human Rights Watch California Committee North, and the National Advisory Board of Doctors for America. She is also on the National Advisory Board of Beyond Bollywood at the Smithsonian Museum, and is a Senior Advisor for the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA).
Along with Duggal, Obama also appointed new Ambassadors to Turkey (John R. Bass), Paraguay (Leslie Ann Bassett), Turkmenistan (Allan P. Mustard), and Guatemala (Todd D. Robinson) on Tuesday.