Washington: Shefali Razdan Duggal, an Indian-American political activist, has been confirmed by US Senate as the country’s next envoy to the Netherlands.
Shefali, 50, was confirmed by the US Senate by a voice vote along with two other confirmations to senior administrative positions. A Kashmiri Pandit, Shefali was born in Haridwar and moved with her family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the age of two. Thereafter she moved to Cincinnati, Ohio at the age of five, where she grew up. She graduated from Miami University and earned her master’s from New York University.
“I was born in India, but I was made in the United States,” Shefali told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during her confirmation hearing in July. Shefali is an experienced political activist, women’s rights advocate, and human rights, campaigner. She is a former presidential Appointee to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council and continues to serve as a Western Regional Advisor.
She is a San Francisco Committee member of Human Rights Watch, a member of the Wake Forest University Leadership and Character Council, and served on the National Board of Directors for Emily’s List.
“I have full confidence that kindness, empathy, honesty and sweat equity mean something in our country. It is the reason why people from all over the world see us as a beacon of hope and freedom. While my story is not unique, it is one that represents the infinite possibilities of the American spirit and the American dream,” Shefali said.
