Dilawar Syed

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Dilawar Syed
Dilawar Syed, State Special Representative.jpg
U.S. Department of State Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs
Assumed office
February 14, 2022
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byPosition established
Personal details
BornPakistan
EducationUniversity of Texas at Austin (BA)
University of Pennsylvania (MBA)

Dilawar Syed is a Pakistani-American businessman, entrepreneur, and government official.[1] He currently serves as Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs at the United States Department of State. [2] He is President’s Biden's nominee to serve as deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration.[3]

Early life and education

Syed immigrated to the United States from Pakistan as a college student to attend the College of Wooster in Ohio. Syed earned his Bachelor of Arts in economics and computer science from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.[4]

Career

Syed has been an entrepreneur for 20 years; he has built and run companies in the fields of software, consumer, and now health care and artificial intelligence.[5] He was the president of Freshworks,[6] where he helped scale the software company's products to thousands of small and medium businesses. He is also the founding chair of the California Entrepreneurship Task Force within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development.[7] During the COVID-19 pandemic, he served as a member of the Silicon Valley Recovery Roundtable and was tasked with helping lead the region's economic recovery.[8] He served on the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) from 2010 to 2014[9] and chaired the White House Initiative on AAPIs' Economic Growth Committee. In that role, Syed led the administration's engagement with small businesses across the U.S. after the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Syed also served as a liaison with the Small Business Administration and the United States Department of Commerce on federal initiatives such as the President's Export Council.[4] Since 2018, he has been the president and CEO of Lumiata, an artificial intelligence for healthcare company.[9]

Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration

On March 3, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Syed to be the deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration. His nomination was then sent to the Senate and is pending before the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.[1] In June his nomination was favorably voted out of the Committee in a voice vote but the parliamentarian ruled a roll call vote was required.[10] Since then, Republican members have repeatedly not attended committee meetings denying the quorum needed to take a roll call vote on his nomination.[11] Republicans have conditioned his roll call vote on the SBA taking action on loans Planned Parenthood affiliates received under the Trump Administration. Republicans suggested that Syed's Muslim faith and work with Emerge Action implied he might be anti-Israel, but Jewish and other religious and civil rights organizations defended Syed, and GOP senators discontinued this allegation.[12]

Syed's nomination has been backed by more than 200[13] business, civil rights, and faith groups. In addition, he has been endorsed by the United States Chamber of Commerce.[14] On January 3, 2022, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.[15] On January 4, 2022, his renomination was sent to the Senate.[16] His nomination is pending before the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.[17] If confirmed, he would be the highest ranking Muslim-American in the Biden administration.[18]

In February 2022, Syed was appointed as the special representative for commercial and business affairs in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at the Department of State.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b "Nomination Sent to the Senate". The White House. March 3, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  2. ^ "President Biden Announces Key Nominee for the Small Business Administration". White House. March 3, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  3. ^ "PN231 - Nomination of Dilawar Syed for Small Business Administration, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. January 3, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "President Biden Announces Key Nominee for the Small Business Administration", White House, March 3, 2021 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ "Testimony of Dilawar Syed: Nominee for Deputy Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  6. ^ "The Daily Startup: Freshdesk Raises $50 Million to Court Millennials". Wall Street Journal. April 20, 2015. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  7. ^ Meacham, Jody. "California governor launches task force to back small businesses, local entrepreneurs". www.bizjournals.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  8. ^ "Here's a list of leaders on Silicon Valley's COVID-19 economic recovery team". The Mercury News. May 5, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Smith, Jordan (March 4, 2021). "SBA Deputy Nominee Dilawar Syed Bringing AI Experience". www.meritalk.com. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  10. ^ "The cowardice of Senate Republicans blocking a qualified Muslim's confirmation". The Washington Post. October 19, 2021. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021.
  11. ^ "For Fifth Time, GOP Boycotts High-Ranking Muslim Nominee Dilawar Syed". HuffPost. November 17, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  12. ^ "For Fifth Time, GOP Boycotts High-Ranking Muslim Nominee Dilawar Syed". HuffPost. November 17, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  13. ^ "Business, Civic, & Community Organizations Endorsements & Letters of Support for Dilawar Syed" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 12, 2021.
  14. ^ "U.S. Chamber Letter on the Syed Nomination for Deputy SBA Administrator". April 20, 2021. Archived from the original on November 3, 2021.
  15. ^ "PN231 - Nomination of Dilawar Syed for Small Business Administration, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. January 3, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  16. ^ "Three Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 4, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  17. ^ "PN1605 - Nomination of Dilawar Syed for Small Business Administration, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. January 4, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  18. ^ Sohrabji, Sunita (March 3, 2021). "Biden Nominates AAPI Victory Fund Co-chair Dilawar Syed as Deputy Administrator at Small Business Administration". India West. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  19. ^ "Announcement of Dilawar Syed as the State Department's Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs". United States Department of State. February 15, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.

External links

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