Sonal Shah was born in Mumbai, India. She moved to the US in 1972 at the age of four, and grew up in Houston, Texas.[6] She graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in economics in 1990 and received a master's degree in economics from Duke University.[7][8]
Career
Public service
Shah held a variety of U.S. Department of Treasury positions from 1995 until 2001. She was the director of the office overseeing strategy and programs for sub-Saharan Africa, which included debt relief, development programs and World Bank/International Monetary Fund strategies. She worked with the Ministries of Finance in Bosnia and Kosovo to design the post-war banking system. During the Asian financial crisis, she served as a senior adviser to U.S. Treasury officials who were coordinating the U.S. response.[9]
In November 2008, Shah was appointed a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Project to prepare President-elect Obama to assume the presidency on January 20, 2009.[10] After her appointment to Obama's team, Shah rejected reports that linked her to Hindu nationalist groups.[11]
In April 2009, Shah was appointed director of the newly created White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation.[12] The objective of this office is to coordinate governmental efforts to aid innovative nonprofit groups and social entrepreneurs to address pressing social problems.[13] Shah is also working with the National Security Council to bring a global perspective to these efforts.[12]
In July 2019, Shah joined the presidential campaign of South Bend Mayor, Pete Buttigieg as national policy director.[14]
In February 2022, Shah was sworn in as Chief Commissioner of the newly created President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (PACAANHPI).[16] In March 2022, Shah was appointed as a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council.[17][18]
Private and nonprofit sector
From 2001–2003, Shah served at the Center for Global Development as Director of Operations and Programs, helping set up all aspects of the strategy, infrastructure and operations.[5] In 2001, with her siblings Roopal and Anand, Shah founded the nonprofit Indicorps, which, akin to the Peace Corps, is a service fellowship for young Indians in the diaspora to perform grassroots and community volunteer work in India.[19][20][21]
From 2003–2004, she worked at the Center for American Progress as an associate director, advising current and former congressional and government executives on a wide variety of issues including trade, outsourcing and post-conflict reconstruction.[22]
In 2004, Shah joined Goldman Sachs as a vice president, where she worked on green initiatives, which included informing clients and bankers on alternative energy opportunities and advising them on how to implement environmental, social and governance criteria for all investments.[23][24]
