Dilawar Syed

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Dilawar Syed
Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration
Nominee
Assuming office
TBD
PresidentJoe Biden
LeaderIsabel Guzman
SucceedingAlthea Coetzee
Personal details
BornPakistan
EducationUniversity of Texas at Austin (BA)
University of Pennsylvania (MBA)

Dilawar Syed is a Pakistani-American businessman and entrepreneur.[1] On March 3, 2021, he was nominated to serve as deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration.[2]

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.[3]

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.[4] He was the president of Freshworks,[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] He served on the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) from 2010 to 2014[8] 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.[3] Since 2018, he has been the president and CEO of Lumiata, an artificial intelligence for healthcare company.[8]

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.[9] Since then, Republican members have repeatedly not attended committee meetings denying the quorum needed to take a roll call vote on his nomination.[10] Republicans have conditioned his roll call vote on the SBA taking action on loans Planned Parenthood affiliates received under the Trump Administration.[11]

Syed’s nomination has been backed by more than 200[12] business, civil rights, and faith groups. In addition, he has been endorsed by the US Chamber of Commerce.[13] If confirmed, he would be the highest ranking Muslim-American in the Biden administration.[14]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Nomination Sent to the Senate". The White House. 2021-03-03. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  2. ^ "President Biden Announces Key Nominee for the Small Business Administration". White House. 2021-03-03. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "The Daily Startup: Freshdesk Raises $50 Million to Court Millennials". Wall Street Journal. 2015-04-20. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  6. ^ Meacham, Jody. "California governor launches task force to back small businesses, local entrepreneurs". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  7. ^ "Here's a list of leaders on Silicon Valley's COVID-19 economic recovery team". The Mercury News. 2020-05-05. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  8. ^ a b Smith, Jordan (March 4, 2021). "SBA Deputy Nominee Dilawar Syed Bringing AI Experience". www.meritalk.com. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  9. ^ "The cowardice of Senate Republicans blocking a qualified Muslim's confirmation". The Washington Post. October 19, 2021.
  10. ^ "For Fifth Time, GOP Boycotts High-Ranking Muslim Nominee Dilawar Syed". HuffPost. 2021-11-17. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  11. ^ "For Fifth Time, GOP Boycotts High-Ranking Muslim Nominee Dilawar Syed". HuffPost. 2021-11-17. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  12. ^ "Business, Civic, & Community Organizations Endorsements & Letters of Support for Dilawar Syed" (PDF).
  13. ^ "U.S. Chamber Letter on the Syed Nomination for Deputy SBA Administrator". April 20, 2021.
  14. ^ 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.

External links[]

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