News Update 2020: Nanda named to President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team. Read more in shethepeople and Indian Eagle.
Seema Nanda ’95 was named CEO of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on June 29, a role that positions her to have an impact on the upcoming midterm elections and beyond. She called the job “the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Nanda was selected by Tom Perez, chair of the DNC, with whom she worked previously as his chief of staff at the US Department of Labor during the Obama administration. “I am beyond excited that Seema is bringing her talent and brilliance to the DNC,” he said in a statement.
Professor Daniel Kanstroom saw those same qualities and more in Nanda when she was at Boston College Law School. “Seema Nanda was one of the most impressive students I have ever known: brilliant, energetic, good-humored, and passionately committed to justice, equality, and human rights,” he said. “Her stellar career path is no surprise. We need her leadership now more than ever and I am confident she will continue to do great things.”
Perez said he prizes Nanda for her management skills, describing her as a “seasoned manager who has a proven track record of success and a well-documented history of fighting for our Democratic values, whether it’s on immigration, civil rights, or leveling the playing field for our workers.”
The former head of the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Nanda also worked on the DNC transition team for Perez after the 2016 election and, most recently, for the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
Nanda steps into the DNC during a wave of activism that is catapulting women into key roles in elective politics. “Women are not only making their voices heard,” said DNC communications director Xochitl Hinojosa, “but this hire also signals that women are leading the Democratic Party, and I couldn’t be prouder of that.”
Given Nanda’s background, it is no surprise that she stands behind democratic principles. As she told Glamour in a statement, “People are hurting all across our country. I believe that Democrats are offering the positive solutions so desperately needed right now—solutions forged by the strength of our diversity, the rigor of our ideas, and the decency of our values.”
“As we head toward a crucial election,” Perez said in his statement, “I’m one hundred percent sure that Seema’s leadership will help the DNC capitalize on the unprecedented grassroots energy and enthusiasm surging throughout the country.”
Read more in Politico, Glamour, and The Quint.
Photo courtesy of Seema Nanda