Events

OPEN Silicon Valley is hosting a series of webinar to highlight candidate who have dedicated their time to serving communities they live in. This is an opportunity to meet the candidates and learn what drives them to public service and how they aspire to make positive impact in the communities they serve.

Omar’s parents immigrated to the United States from Pakistan in 1983. His first exposure to politics was going with his siblings while in elementary school to protests against the Iraq war. Throughout his upbringing, his family would never shy away from politics and the belief that the most patriotic thing a person could do was fight to make government better. This ethos stayed with him as he went to De Anza Community College where he managed a student budget of $1.2 million. It was also then that he was appointed one of the youngest commissioners in Sunnyvale city history to the Parks and Recreations Commission. He completed his degree in public policy at Cornell University. He intend to use the knowledge he gained from those experiences, and from working for Assembly member Evan Low and Congressmember Mike Honda, for the City of Sunnyvale.

OPEN Silicon Valley is hosting a series of webinar to highlight candidate who have dedicated their time to serving communities they live in. This is an opportunity to meet the candidates and learn what drives them to public service and how they aspire to make positive impact in the communities they serve.

Samir’s passion for public service started at the age of 13 when he came to the USA 38 years ago. He got involved in local politics and since then had a dream of becoming a US Congressman. He hopes that his candidacy will motivate all diverse ethnic groups and younger generations to take part in the political process.

The City of Dublin is a place that his family and he have proudly called home for the past nine years. His wife, Sobia Qureshi and he have raised four children who have attended and are still attending Dublin public schools.

He is running to give back to this community. He has always had a passion to be in public service and during his life he had the privilege to serve on the Environmental Commission, Human Services Committee, Zoning Board, School Board in other states and more recently the Dublin Planning Commission.

For more info, visit – https://samirfordublin.com/

PEN Silicon Valley is hosting a series of webinar to highlight candidate who have dedicated their time to serving communities they live in. This is an opportunity to meet the candidates and learn what drives them to public service and how they aspire to make positive impact in the communities they serve.

Maimona helped develop and implement inclusive curriculum and helped craft anti-bullying policies. She advocated for state legislation and trained educators on fostering safer schools. Witnessing inequity as a special education teacher and experiencing injustice as a visible muslim compelled her to run for a school board vacancy where she became the only woman to serve on the school board at the time. She won her election in November 2018, and is now the first hijabi Muslim and the youngest woman serving as an elected official in San Jose and all of Santa Clara County. In her role as school board member, Maimona oversees a $100 million dollar budget and advocates for the best interest of 7,000+ students in the district. Maimona is uncontested in the 2020 election. Hence, she will be re-elected to serve another four year term.

For more information visit her website: https://www.votemaimona.com

Moderator:

Areeba Yaseen, Communications Director at Georgette Gomez for Congress

Areeba Yasin is currently a Junior at American University in Washington D.C. where she studies Economics and Political Science. She currently sits on the board of D.C. College Democrats as their Inclusivity and Accessibility Director where she works to improve the everyday dynamics of the organization to create equitable spaces for all identities and backgrounds. Additionally, Areeba serves as the Communications Director at Georgette Gomez for Congress, where the candidate is running for a seat in the United States House of Representatives to represent California’s 53rd district. While Areeba has certainly focused her time as an undergraduate student acquiring public policy knowledge and experience, ultimately she hopes to create a non-profit that helps K-12 public schools across the country reshape their curriculum to better serve, uplift and represent students from all walks of life in order to create a more inclusive future.

Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/areeba-yasin/

Aamir Hafeez Ibrahim has been the CEO of Jazz since 2016, Pakistan’s largest Telecom and Internet company with 60 million subscribers, and one of the country’s largest businesses. He is also a member of the Global Executive Committee of VEON (the ninth largest telecom operator in the world).

Prior to his current role, Aamir has held senior leadership positions in VEON, Telenor Group, Ford Motor Company, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Mobilink. His career spans 25 years, 7 countries, and in industries as diverse as telecommunications, automotive, and financial services. Aamir received his Bachelors in Business (Accounting) from The University of Texas at Austin. He also holds an MBA from IMD in Switzerland and an AMP Diploma from the Harvard Business School.