I’ve been interested in politics for a long time, through the dual lenses of both current events and history. I grew up in a household where the news was always on and where I was taught the importance of voting and being politically engaged. As a kid, I had a placemat of all the U.S. Presidents, and I became obsessed with it to the point where I could recite them in order. I started learning more about who these people were -- about the lives they led, the decisions they made, and how they shaped our country.

Politics is ordinary citizens demanding both excellence and accountability from their leaders. And, if and when those demands are disregarded, it’s answering the call to lead themselves. It’s about having the integrity of purpose to commit to causes that don’t affect you directly; to elevating the voices of the underserved and the underrepresented.

Politics matters whether we choose to engage with it or not. What lies ahead—for our friends and families, for our communities and our country—is wholly dependent on the degree to which each and every one of us is willing to make it matter.

It’s been said that in politics, the most meaningful change happens at the local level. As someone who spends most of her days advising state and local candidates – and whose husband is a former city council hopeful – that statement rings true. The passion that I bring to this work was sparked in me at an early age and it all started right at home.

As a child born in Bangladesh, I became aware at a young age that the political system there was corrupt and broken, and that people didn’t trust politicians. Civil society lacked the institutions needed to help foster a vibrant democracy, and the political dysfunction led to a general sense of hopelessness and apathy.

My family came to the United States as undocumented immigrants when I was 7, not knowing what to expect, but hoping that we would have a better future in the “land of opportunity.” My parents envisioned me becoming a doctor, so I started college intending to study biology and did two internships at Mount Sinai hospital in New York City.

At New Politics Leadership Academy, we dedicate every day to training servant leaders and transforming our politics, but in my personal life, I didn’t always understand the urgent need for political change.

I grew up in an upper middle class suburb in New Jersey, where it felt like everything around us was the same: nice neighborhoods with colonial homes and quarter acre yards. Each day seemed routine: some kind of practice before and after school, dinner at six, homework, and then bedtime. The most injustice I saw was the plight of stray animals. Because of this, I devoted myself to animal welfare.