3 Indian Americans get key jobs

Raghav Vajjhala, Priyanka Hooghan and Shivani Vakharia get new jobs in government and a think tank

Three Indian Americans have got new jobs – two in government and one in a leading think tank.

Raghav Vajjhala has joined the US Securities and Exchange Commission as its senior officer and associate director for enterprise IT operations.

Priyanka Hooghan is now chief of staff for the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management at the Department of Energy, while Shivani Vakharia has joined the Center for Strategic and International Studies as associate director for congressional and government affairs.

Read: Biden renominates several Indian-Americans to key administration positions (January 4, 2023)

Vajjhala most recently was chief information officer and chief data officer at the FTC. In that role, he “modernized all aspects of information technology and data management programs, and rebuilt cyber-security programs,” according to his LinkedIn profile.

Before joining the FTC, he was chief technology officer at the US Department of the Treasury. There, he established an IT Strategy and Technology Management Office to oversee the agency’s $3 billion in annual spending for technology services and manage agency-wide programs,” it says.

He has a BSc in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas, Austin, and an MBA from Georgetown University.

Hooghan previously was staff director on the Subcommittee on Environment on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

She is “skilled at applying technical knowledge of environmental regulations, field experience, and interpersonal skills from the environmental services industry to the development of public policy recommendations,” according to her LinkedIn profile.

Prior to joining the US House of Representatives as a staffer, Hooghan was an APAICS STEM Fellow and an Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) STEM Legislative Fellow.

Before that, she worked as a Regional Environmental Engineer at SunCoke Energy, and as an Environmental Engineer with Conestoga-Rovers & Associates. She has an MSc in Environmental engineering from Stanford and a bachelor’s degree from Southern Methodist University.

Read: Biden renominates several Indian-Americans to key administration positions (January 4, 2023)

Vakharia previously was a congressional affairs officer at the National Endowment for Democracy, where she served as “a storyteller” talking about “the importance of democracy assistance work led and championed by civil society organizations around the world.”

Before that, she spent five years in the US House of Representatives as an intern in 2014, raising up the ranks as a staff assistant, legislative correspondent and press assistant.

She has a BA in International Affairs, Political Science, and Spanish from The University of Georgia, and an MA in International Affairs and International Economic Relations.