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| Affiliation | Democratic |
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2011-01-01 |
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| Name | Ameya Pawar |
| Address | 4440 N. Campbell Ave
Chicago, Illinois , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | [Link] |
| Born |
April 22, 1980
(43 years)
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| Contributor | Craverguy |
| Last Modifed | RBH
Jan 08, 2019 02:06am |
| Tags |
Indian -
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| Info | Running for public office is something I have dreamt of since 2004, when I found myself becoming increasingly disappointed with the divisive nature of our politics. I often wonder at how politics always seems to trump the idea of public service, a dichotomy that truly mystifies me.
This past summer, I had the opportunity to spend 10 weeks in Jaipur, India, as part of the State Department’s Critical Language Program. As a State Department Scholar, I learned from some of this country’s brightest minds. In India, I had many interesting conversations about politics. One question continually arose: “Wouldn’t it be great if we could just set politics aside for once and focus on what is needed?” It reminded me of many late-night discussions in college, and it renewed the promise of my youthful idealism. So today I am running for alderman without a political agenda and with a focus on improving the city.
My name is Ameya Pawar and I was born and raised in the Chicagoland area. I earned my B.A. in Religion and Philosophy from Missouri Valley College, but returned to Chicago to receive my M.P.A. at the Illinois Institute of Technology. While attending IIT, I interned with the Village of Riverside. As a management intern, I worked directly with the City Manager, department heads and various elected officials.
Following graduation from IIT, I enrolled in the University of Chicago’s M.Sc. in Threat and Response Management Program. This experience really changed my life.
My first lesson in emergency management was the foundation for all my current work and serves as the foundation for this campaign. That first lesson was: All response is local.
I spent the next two years studying the interplay between social vulnerability, disasters, and systemic local issues that impact emergency management. Specifically, I was interested in developing mechanisms to help municipalities mitigate social vulnerability. I presented ideas related to disaster and vulnerability at the 2008, 2009, & 2010 FEMA Higher Education Conference, the 2008 American Sociological Association National Conference and the 2009 American Society for Public Administration National Conference. As a result of that work, my capstone group was offered a contract by Taylor & Francis to write a textbook. The book will be published in mid-2011.
I graduated from the Threat and Response Management program in June 2009. After I returned from the State Department program in India, I began work in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. Through this program, I hope to gain a solid foundation in social policy and clinical social work that I can apply in the City Council.
Today, I work at Northwestern University as a Program Assistant in the Office of Emergency Management. My work involves assisting in the development of a comprehensive, university-wide business continuity program.
Due to my interest and concern for vulnerable populations, I joined the Board of Directors for the Illinois Center for Violence Prevention (ICVP) and, more recently, the Common Pantry. My time with ICVP has reinforced my commitment to mitigating violence through prevention. As a volunteer at the Common Pantry, I’ve learned first-hand about the hardships many families face each month simply to put food on the table.
“All response is local.” The moment I learned that phrase was one of the crystallizing moments of my life. I know that we can address many of our most pressing problems in Chicago by responding at a local level. We can work to mitigate the circumstances that stress our municipal services. We can renew our faith in government and demand that our leaders focus strictly on public service. I am idealistic and I am running with the so-called “naïve” outlook that idealism can change the world. I love this City and I know you do too. I don’t have all the answers, but I know that we can find them together.
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