Dozens of young and successful Indian Americans crowded the White Tiger, an upscale Indian restaurant blocks from the Congressional Office buildings in Washington, D.C. on a recent evening. They were all there for a cause.

The event that brought them together was a fundraiser for the Washington leadership Program (WLP), which has been placing Indian American college students in internships on Capitol Hill since 1994. Founded by Gopal Raju, the former publisher of News India Times who passed away last year, the program has since gone into limbo. The May 13th fundraiser was part of an effort by WLP alumni to rebuild the program after a yearlong hiatus.

The organizers sold tickets priced between $35 and $500 for the evening of Indian appetizers, networking and speeches. Alumni Sam Arora, a former aide to Hillary Clinton, was master of ceremonies and Ohio State Rep. Jay Goyal delivered the keynote address. Also attending were Maryland House Majority Leader Kumar Barve, Ralph Nurnberger, who serves on the WLP board, and Prakash Khatri, former ombudsman for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

A slideshow ran continuously throughout the event, flashing scenes of successful internships from years past and along with intermittent photos of Gopal Raju. A pioneer of Indian American publishing, Raju created the program under the Indian American Center for Political Awareness (IACPA), with the stated intention of “inspiring, encouraging and introducing Indian Americans to public service.” For more than a decade, the program brought young Indian Americans to Washington to hold summer internships in Congress, planting seeds of political participation amongst almost 200 students.

“When he passed away,” says Harin Contractor, a 2002 WLP alumni, says about Raju, “the program passed away with him.”
Contractor was one of the main forces behind rejuvenating the program. “It changed my life,” says Contractor, now a Senior Consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton.

Keeping the name Washington Leadership Program, Contractor and the other WLP alumni contributed enough money from their own bank accounts to enable five young Indian American students to hold internships on the Hill this summer. After their initial success, they began branching out to find more donors in the larger Indian American community. The May fundraiser was part of this effort and attracted more than 100 people.

Ralph Nurnberger, who was the director of the program from its inception in 1994 until 2004, and who now sits on the board of advisors, beamed at the youthful faces that surrounded him. “What makes this night so special,” says Nurnberger, “is the average age of the people here. These are young people willing to put up funds for the next generation. That’s what’s so wonderful about this.”

Unlike a typical fundraiser, the average age at White Tiger appears to near 35, and the majority of voices to be heard have not a trace of an Indian accent. Under Nurnberger’s watch, 180 students worked on the Hill as interns.

Raju recruited Nurnmberger to run the program because of his extensive experience as legislative liaison with the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee. “Raju saw a lot of similarities between the two groups,” explains Contractor.
Khatri, President and CEO of KPK Global Solution, LLC, noted WLP’s affect of the larger Indian American community. “What Ralph has done,” says Khatri, “is connected 180 kids into the system. With 180 kids, you’ve connected thousands of families.”

A frequent speaker at past WLP events, Khatri has spoken widely about the need for Indian Americans to get involved in public service.

“The only way in a democracy to really have an impact is to be there at the table,” he believes. “It’s not about sitting on the sidelines and giving money and hoping someone else does your job for you. It’s about participating in the democratic process.” Khatri believes that the second generation has a greater opportunity than their parents to really become incorporated into the mainstream.

“The first generation provided a huge funding,” he explains, “but because of their accents, etc., they were considered outsiders. Their children are the ones that managed to get accepted.”

Suresh Gupta, a physician and WLP sponsor who attended the fundraiser, also feels that the second generation can integrate into the mainstream more easily. “We worked hard,” Gupta says of his generation.

“We could not go into politics because we had to establish ourselves. We came here with nothing. We had to support our family back home and our children.”

A vocal supporter of WLP – he announced that he will sponsor an intern and made out a check for $1,500 – Gupta emphasized the need to support the next generation.

“I always felt it was important that our community support the children. They are our future; they are the ones who can take us places. If they do well, we do well.”

The May fundraiser, says Contractor, “was without a doubt a tremendous success. We hope to carry this momentum forward as we continue to branch out and look for support from the community around the country and not just in Washington, DC.” The event raised more than $15,000, including corporate sponsorships.

This years interns were selected through a “rigorous application and selection process that involved multiple rounds” and inputs from various alumni and the board of advisors, Contractor said. Orientation is set for June 15.

The alumni have been taking advice from the old guard, but are up for the task of reviving and operating this program on their own. Nurnberger is an advisor, but is not involved in the day to day operations. “We talk on the phone,” he says, “but they are doing it on their own. They know what they’re doing.”

It may be the ultimate proof of the success of WLP program; started less than 15 years ago, the program is now being operated by the very individuals whose careers it jumpstarted.

Contractor seems ready for the challenge. “They blazed this path,” he affirms. “Now we want to keep it going.”

originally published in News India Times, May 2009