Radha Adhar joins EPA from the Office of Senator Tammy Duckworth where she served as Senior Policy Advisor for Energy, Environment and Science.
In 2016 and 2017, Radha was an Advisor to the Jobs Strategy Council in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy. She has also worked at the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council, focusing on the Beyond Coal Campaign and the 2012 Earth Summit.
Radha holds a M.S.in Energy Policy and Climate Change Science from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S.in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Mala Adiga has been appointed to serve as Policy Director to Dr. Jill Biden.

Sonia Aggarwal was appointed to serve as the Senior Adviser for Climate Policy and Innovation for President Biden. Previous to this, she was the Vice President of Energy Innovation where she leads all of the firm’s programs. For example, in 2012, Sonia spearheaded the creation of America’s Power Plan, Energy Innovation’s platform for innovative thinking on policy solutions for clean, reliable, and affordable electric power in the United States, by bringing together 200 of the nation’s leading experts on electricity policy. In addition, Sonia led EI’s work identifying and designing the top energy policies to reduce emissions in the largest-emitting countries around the world.
Before Energy Innovation, Sonia managed global research at ClimateWorks Foundation, where she worked on the McKinsey carbon abatement cost curves, worked with the Major Economies Forum, Japanese and Chinese governments, several U.S. Senators, the White House, helped to establish the American Energy Innovation Council, and advised the International Energy Agency’s “Accelerating Technology Transitions” project. Before ClimateWorks, Sonia advised clean energy companies on technology and financial communications, and worked in accident prevention design engineering at a nuclear power plant.
Sonia was the 2019 recipient of a national award from the U.S. Department of Energy for her leadership in clean energy advocacy, and was named to Energy News Networks top 40 under 40 list. She holds a B.S. from Haverford College in astronomy and physics, and an M.S. from Stanford University in engineering, focused on energy.

Viquar Ahmad served as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives over the past four years; his responsibilities included management of Congress’ operating budget.
He has been recognized with excellence awards, including the U.S. Coast Guard’s Distinguished Public Service Medal. He was awarded an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
He earned a bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree in Public Administration from the George Washington University.

Kiran Ahuja Ahuja previously served as OPM’s chief of staff from 2015 until 2017 and would be the first South Asian to lead the federal government’s HR shop. Prior to joining OPM, she was the executive director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during the Obama administration, responsible for directing the efforts of the White House Initiative and the Presidential Advisory Commission on AAPIs to advise federal agency leadership on the implementation and coordination of federal programs as they relate to AAPIs across executive departments and agencies. The White House Initiative on AAPIs works with these entities to improve the quality of life and opportunities for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through increased access to, and participation in, federal programs in which they may be underserved.
She began her career in government as a civil rights attorney in the Justice Department. Since leaving government, she worked as CEO of Philanthropy Northwest, a network of nonprofit organizations in the Pacific Northwest. After last year’s presidential election, Ahuja led Biden’s transition team at OPM. For almost twenty years, Ms. Ahuja has dedicated herself to improving the lives of women of color in the U.S. Well-known as a leader among national and grassroots AAPI and women’s rights organizations, Ms. Ahuja served as the founding Executive Director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) from 2003-2008. Through her leadership, Ms. Ahuja built NAPAWF from an all-volunteer organization to one with a paid professional staff who continue to spearhead successful policy and education initiatives, expanded NAPAWF’s volunteer chapters and membership, and organized a strong and vibrant network of AAPI women community leaders across the country.
She attended Spelman College, a historically black college, and the University of Georgia School of Law. Following law school, she was chosen as one of five Honors Program trial attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, where she litigated education-related discrimination cases and filed the Department’s first peer-on-peer student racial harassment lawsuit.

Deputy Director of the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA), Supreet Anand works to supervise the National Professional Development grants, Native American and Alaska Native Children in School Program, and the Asian American Pacific Islander Data Disaggregation Initiative program. She focuses on informing policy decisions regardign English learners and supervises the OELA’s role in disseminating information and educational research, practices, and policies for English learners. Supreet has previously lead a state support group as a supervisory group leader at the Office of State Support within the same department. She also served as the Title III specialist for the Maryland State Department of Education, and as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages methodology courses to graduate students. She was also the supervisor of the ESOL program at Prince George’s County Public Schools, and taught ESOL in grades K-12 for over 10 years in India and the US. Supreet holds an M.S. in Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University, and an M.A, in English Literature from Punjab University, in India.

Jainey Bavishi has been tapped to be the Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere in the Department of Commerce. Bavishi serves as the director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate Resiliency, where she leads a cross disciplinary team that prepares the city for the impacts of climate change through science-based analysis, policy, program, and project development.
Under the Obama administration, Jainey served as the associate director for Climate Preparedness at the White House Council on Environmental Quality and director of External Affairs and senior policy advisor at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She was also the founding director of the Equity and Inclusion Campaign, a coalition of community based leaders in the Gulf Coast region that focused on recovery from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike.
Jainey has her master’s degree in city planning from MIT, and a bachelor’s degree in public policy and cultural anthropology from Duke.

Arpita Bhattacharyya serves as the Chief of Staff to the deputy Secretary at the US Department of Energy. She has been tapped to help the Biden-Harris Build Back Better agenda.
Arpita was previously one of several Indian Americans selected by the Biden administration for leadership roles, has previously worked at SunPower, a leading renewables company in San Francisco. She has also worked closely with the US and international governments on collaborative climate partnerships at the Center for American Progress.
She holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA from Carleton College.

Amit Bose serves as the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration. Previously, Bose worked at HNTB, an architectural and engineering firm, where he also served as board chair of the Coalition for the Northeast Corridor and on the New Jersey Restart and Recovery Advisory Council. He has previously served in the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) as Deputy Administrator, Chief Counsel, Senior Advisor and Director of Governmental Affairs; U.S. Department of Transportation as Associate General Counsel and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Governmental Affairs; New Jersey Transit; and New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Sohini Chatterjee is a Presidential Appointee at the US Department of State serving as Senior Policy Advisor to the US Ambassador to the United Nations. Previously, she was an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University School of International & Public Affairs, Legal Advisor to Independent International Legal Advocates, and a Senior (Non-resident) Associate at the Center for Strategic & International Studies.
She served as a Presidential appointee and Senior Advisor in the Obama Administration where she led multiple White House and Department of State initiatives and directives on global development. Her work was focused on governance, conflict, and human rights. Prior to that, she worked for the World Bank’s Development Economics Prospects Group on long-term scenario planning. Early in her career, she was an attorney specializing in international law and worked on the first ever international trade case before the U.S. Supreme Court. She has consulted on international human rights and rule of law issues for Humanity United, the U.S. Department of State, Chemonics International, the Asia Foundation, and the World Bank.
Sohini holds a law degree from Duke University, a master’s degree in international relations and international economics from the School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University, and a B.A. from Columbia University. She regularly practices vinyasa yoga and is a great lover of 19th century literature and poetry.

Ronnie Chatterji is an economist with a Ph.D. and a chaired professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Sanford School of Public Policy. His expertise is in business strategy, entrepreneurship, socially responsible investing, and the intersection of business and public policy.
He is currently on leave from Duke, serving as the Chief Economist of the U.S. Department of Commerce in the Biden Administration. In this role, he is the principal economic adviser to the Secretary of Commerce and responsible for policy development related to U.S. competitiveness, innovation, trade and economic growth. He previously worked for President Obama as a Senior Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). During his sabbatical leave in 2020, Ronnie ran for State Treasurer of North Carolina, winning a statewide primary election and earning the endorsements of President Biden, Vice President Harris and former President Obama.

Dr. Chaudhary previously served as a Senior Executive at the U.S. Department of Transportation where he was Director of Advanced Programs and Innovation, Office of Commercial Space, at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In this role, Dr. Chaudhary was responsible for the execution of advanced development and research programs in support of the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation mission. While at DOT, he also served as the Executive Director, Regions and Center Operations, where he was responsible for integration and support of aviation operations in nine regions located nationwide.
Dr. Chaudhary is a former Air Force officer and pilot, serving on active duty from 1993 to 2015. He has completed a variety of operational, engineering, and senior staff assignments in the Air Force. Dr. Chaudhary also served as a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during the Obama Administration. In this role, he advised the President on executive branch efforts to improve veterans support for the AAPI community.
He holds a Doctorate specializing in Executive Leadership and Innovation from the Georgetown University D.L.S. Program, an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from St. Mary’s University as a NASA graduate fellow, an M.A. in Operational Arts and Military Science from Air University, and a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Dimple Chaudhary joins EPA after serving as Deputy Litigation Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Her work included litigation and advocacy to protect communities from drinking water contamination and exposure to toxics. Dimple was lead counsel for community groups in Flint, Michigan, in a case brought to address lead contamination in the city’s drinking water, which led to a settlement requiring the replacement of all Flint’s lead service lines within three years. Prior to joining NRDC, she was an associate at WilmerHale and a law clerk for the Honorable Carol Bagley Amon of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a master’s degree in urban planning from the London School of Economics, and a J.D. from Columbia Law School.

Tarun Chhabra was appointed to serve as Senior Director for Technology and National Security. He was a Senior Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). Tarun is also a fellow with the Brookings Institution, where he co-directs an initiative on China’s growing global influence.
Tarun served on the White House National Security Council staff as Director for Strategic Planning and Director for Human Rights and National Security Issues, and at the Pentagon as a speechwriter for the Secretary of Defense. He also worked in the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary General. He has been a Visiting Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House and a Graduate Fellow at Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics.
Tarun received his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow for New Americans, an M.Phil. from Oxford, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and a B.A. from Stanford.

Acting Director Parag Chitnis is a key official of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Parag was appointed in July 2020. He leads strategic oversight and implementation of NIFA’s programs, which invest $1.75 billion for research and extension activities in food and agricultural sciences. Before his current appointment, Parag was NIFA’s Associate Director responsible for the agency’s Kansas City staff and functions.
Parag came to NIFA in 2015 as the Deputy Director for Institute of Food Production and Sustainability. Prior to joining NIFA, he was the Director for the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF). At both NIFA and NSF, he has led initiatives at the interface of different disciplines, including biological sciences, agricultural sciences, physical sciences, computer science, engineering, and social sciences. He was a professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology at Iowa State University, and was an assistant professor in the Division of Biology at Kansas State University. He has authored over 110 peer-reviewed or invited publications in the areas of plant biochemistry, photosynthesis, computational biology, and proteomics. He has mentored over 50 undergraduate students, MS and PhD students, post-doctoral fellows, and AAAS fellows.
Parag has a B.S. in botany/plant breeding from the Konkan Agricultural University in India, an M.S. in genetics and plant breeding from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, and Ph.D. in biology from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Rachit Choksi has been appointed as Director for Oversight at the Office of the Secretary in the Department of Commerce. He had previously served as Counsel to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, where he leads investigations into civil and criminal wrongdoing in the private and public sectors. Prior to this role, he served as Oversight Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, where he worked on oversight and investigations as well as nearly 20 nominations involving five cabinet level departments and seven independent agencies, including the EPA, GSA, NRC, FWS, White House CEQ, and FEMA.
Prior to his tenure in the Senate, Rachit served as Counsel to the Chairman at the Federal Maritime Commission, where he was the primary legal advisor to the head of an agency that enforces antitrust and consumer protection laws in the shipping industry. Before that, he was an APAICS Legislative Fellow for Rep. Judy Chu for whom he handled House Judiciary Committee matters. He also served as Research Assistant to the Hon. John J. Farmer, Jr., former Attorney General of New Jersey and Senior Counsel to the 9/11 Commission, for whom he conducted research and assisted with drafting of The Ground Truth. That book provided a timeline of the events on 9/11 and the events leading up to the “Underwear Bomber’s” failed attack. It also tracked implementation of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations. Between 2010 and 2014, he practiced law in New Jersey and New York. Rachit is an Aspen Institute Socrates Emerging Governance Leader and a Wilson Center Foreign Policy Fellow.

Rohit Chopra serves as the head Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission. He joined the Biden administration as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in January 2021.
Chopra earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Chiraag Bains was Director of Legal Strategies at Demos, a think tank that powers the movement for a just, inclusive, multiracial democracy. He was previously a senior fellow at Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Policy Program and a Leadership in Government fellow with the Open Society Foundations. He served as a federal prosecutor and then senior leadership official at the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division from 2010 to 2017.
Prior to joining the DOJ, Chiraag clerked for Judge Karen Nelson Moore on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Nancy Gertner on the federal district court in Boston. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was an Articles Editor on the Harvard Law Review; his M.Phil. in Criminology from the University of Cambridge on a Gates Cambridge Scholarship; and his B.A. magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Yale College, where he was a Harry S. Truman Scholar. Chiraag also completed the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs in New York City. His writing has been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, and Slate, and he has appeared on RadioLab, NPR, PBS NewsHour, and other programs.
He graduated from Yale College, the University of Cambridge, and Harvard Law School

Harin J. Contractor is a senior policy advisor on the White House National Economic Council. He is also the co-Chair of the Washington Leadership Program, a leadership development non-profit for South Asian American college students.
Harin was previously the Director of Workforce Policy at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and former Economic Policy Advisor to the U.S Secretary of Labor in the Obama Administration. Harin also served on the Federal Communications Commission’s Advisory Committee of Diversity and Digital Empowerment focusing on digital skills and equity.
Harin graduated with a BA from the University of Georgia and a Master’s from the University of Chicago. He lives in Arlington with his wife and two young kids.

Sharmistha Das has been appointed to serve as Deputy General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security.