by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
Frank Islam
“There were many things that amazed me in my early days in this country. But, one of the things that truly stuck out for me was the freedom of the press. The journalists and reporter’s ability to listen, to watch, to observe, to investigate and to write about anything was a wonderment to me. I saw their ability to speak truth to power as a defining hallmark of this great democracy” says Frank F. Islam while delivering a speech on “Democracy and the Role of the Free Press” organized by Pakistani American Press Association.
In beginning of his speech he said “Thank you for your warm welcome and your hospitality,I want to express my deep gratitude to Khurram Shahzad for inviting me to speak on this occasion. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize Ambassador Chaudhary and Secretary Qarni for their leaderships. Let us give them a big round of applause.”
Praising Pakistani American Press Association he said “It is my pleasure to speak with you members of the Pakistani American Press Association tonight. I am honored to be here because although I am not in nor of the press – I am for the press. And, I have been so since coming to the United States from India to go to school to study computer science at the University of Colorado in Boulder.”
At the time, I didn’t know why that capacity existed. Later in my life, as I have studied and learned more, I have come to understand that the source of this freedom comes from the American constitution, the bill of rights, and the wisdom of our founding fathers.
Thomas Jefferson was one of those founding fathers and the third president of the United States. In 1787, the year the Constitution was adopted in Philadelphia, Jefferson wrote,
“The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should say I would not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
Think about that (pause) – Jefferson elevated the need for a free press above the need for government. His opinion was not atypical after the Constitution was drafted.
Many citizens feared that the Constitution gave too much power to a central government and might lead to tyrannical rule. So, they demanded the addition of a bill of rights in order to get the Constitution ratified by the states.
James Madison, another founding father, drafted the Bill of Rights which contains ten amendments. The first amendment of that Bill of Rights reads as follows:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
What makes this statement unique as it relates to “freedom of the press” is that it is an unqualified right: Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of speech or of the press. This is why the press and the media in the United States has such a powerful platform upon which to stand.
Let me contrast that to what the Constitution of Pakistan says about freedom of speech and the press. Article 19 of the Pakistan Constitution states:
Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defense of Pakistan or any part thereof friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relations to contempt of court, [commission of] or incitement to an offence.
Wow, that is a mouthful. More importantly it is a very restricted right. It’s almost like saying you have this right but with your mouth taped shut and your hands cuffed behind your back.
That is why Freedom House, the organization that looks at freedom of the press around the world, rates the Press Freedom Status in Pakistan as Not Free. In the Executive Summary for its 2017 report for the year of 2016, Freedom House notes the following reasons for its assessment:
Restrictive laws including ones penalizing defamation and blasphemy; threats directed at journalists from a variety of actors, including the military and intelligence agencies and militant groups; and the threat of violence contribute to a hostile operating environment for Pakistan’s journalists.
As journalists, members of the press, who have come to the United States, you are much more familiar with that hostile operating environment than I am. And, I am sure it extends across the oceans and impacts your work here as well.
The question becomes what do you do about it – especially being here in the United States in this era of “fake news” when the President, who is certainly the most powerful purveyor of fake news in this country labels the real news inauthentic and those professional practitioners in the press as liars.
What should you do? I say you must stand up and speak truth to power – just as the courageous and honest members of the U.S. press are doing. There has never been a more important time for the need for truthful news than now at this crisis point in the 21st century.
Those of you here in this room must be the message barriers and the critical commentators. Let me highlight why making this commitment this is more essential today than it has been in a long time.
President Trump uses twitter to send out the majority of his fake news. A study recently released by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that false stories travel six times faster than the truth and reaches far more people. True stories almost never got retweeted to 1,000 people while the top 1 percent of false ones got to as many as 100,00 people.
This is a staggering difference. It puts the spotlight on the need for more truth. It demands that all those in the truthful news business write more truth. By doing so, you will not eliminate that gap but you can flood the twitter-waves with honesty to offset the torrent of what I call twisted twitters that are stifling the free press and democracy.
As part of speaking with you tonight, I was asked to share some thoughts on what Pakistani American Press Association could do to provide a platform for Pakistani Americans to speak up and how this association could help journalists in their profession grow.
I do so with a little hesitancy as I am not a media expert. With that disclaimer, though I do have a few general ideas for your consideration:
- Set up letter to or voice of column dedicated to an important topic a week on which Pakistani Americans can provide their opinions, observations and recommendations
- Build alliances and networks among yourselves and do joint analysis and reporting on issues that matter
- Don’t be isolationists. Find ways to collaborate and participate with journalists from the United States and other countries stationed here in the United States, develop stories that matter here, in Pakistan and abroad to stories that will be of interest here in the states
- Establish mentoring programs for those who come here from Pakistan and do on-line educational and training programs for those journalists back home in Pakistan who are seeking professional development assistance
At the outset of my remarks, I commented that although I am not in nor of the press – I am for the press. I want to assure you those are not just idle words. I am for the free press in a big way. The free press matters in a free society.
Last year and again this year, my wife Debbie and I have sponsored fellowships through the Alfred Friendly Press Partners affiliated with the University of Missouri School of Journalism to bring deserving journalists from India to the United States for classroom education and to work in an American newsroom. Finally, I have pledged $5,000 to this association to support your initiatives.
You might ask why I place such a strong emphasis on the free press. It is because I understand that without a free press there can be no real democracy. And, if there is no democracy, the free world as we know it will cease to exist.
From that perspective, let me close with a quote that is etched in the entry to the Newseum here in Washington, D.C. That quote reads as follows:
“The free press is a cornerstone of Democracy. People have the need to know. Journalists have the right to tell. Finding the facts can be difficult. Reporting the story can be dangerous. Freedom includes the right to be outrageous. Responsibility includes the right to be fair. News is history in the making. Journalists provide the first draft of history. A Free Press, at its very best, reveals the Truth.”
It is my privilege tonight to be with you Pakistani truth tellers. I came here to praise the free press, not to bury it. There are others in this town who want to do the opposite.
Time will tell how this story will end. The fate of the American democracy and of democracies around the world hinge in the balance.
Please do not stop asking the hard questions and writing the tough stories. We need you more than ever.
In closing, you journalists here today, through your words, you can call us to action. Through your words, you can document our success and failures. Through your words, you can keep us keeping on.
Thank you for spending this time with me. God bless each and all of you as you strive to do all that you can to strengthen our democratic ties.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Frank Islam
Frank F. Islam Remarks at India Republic Day Event Hosted by NCAIA
Thank you for that kind introduction. Thank you for your warm welcome. I want to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Banik for inviting me to speak on this special occasion. Let me extend my warmest Republic Day greetings to all of you.
On this occasion of Republic day, I wish all of you and India a wonderful, prosperous, and peaceful 2018 and one Nation under God. As one Nation under God, India will be a land of big dreams, small treasures, brave people, kind deeds, and tender mercies. We can do this not by looking to the heavens and to the Gods whom we worship. But by looking at the earth and the people and the family that we are.
Le me now get back to my speech.
I have spoken to NCAIA gatherings and other audiences to celebrate India’s Republic and Independence Days on several occasions. I must state unequivocally, however, that I have never given a more important speech on any of those days than the one that I will deliver this evening.
That is so because of my topic which is women’s empowerment. Or, as I have titled my remarks: Women’s Empowerment: The Need for Silence Breaking and Interdependence.
Let me begin by talking about the need for silence-breaking.
Time magazine this year named the women who disclosed the sexual harassment that had been committed against them by the rich and powerful as its persons of the year for 2017. Time labeled these women the silence breakers.
They came out of the shadows to call attention to a form of harassment that should never have been tolerated but it was. They were engaged in silence breaking.
Because of the status of Indian women today, there is a critical need for silence breaking. This silence breaking should not be about sexual harassment but about an invisible socio-economic system of barriers, obstacles and limitations that prevents Indian women from learning, advancing and achieving their full potential. This is true especially in terms of business ownership and entrepreneurship.
Various studies have shown that Indian women entrepreneurs are among the most disadvantaged in the world. They are under paid, undervalued, and exploited. In spite of an increase of women business owners and operators over the past several years, entrepreneurship still remains a male bastion.
A recent study by the National Sample Survey Organization found that only 14% of Indian business establishments are run by females. The same study disclosed that most of the women-run businesses get very little support from financial institutions with about 79% being self-financed.
These are bothersome findings. Even more bothersome is what is discovered when the status of Indian women entrepreneurs is compared to that of woman entrepreneurs around the world.
In 2015, The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute (GEDI) issued a report containing its Female Entrepreneurship Index ranking countries “with respect to the conditions present that will fuel high potential female entrepreneurship development.” India was near the bottom on that Index – ranking 70th out of 77 countries.
In 2017, MasterCard issued its Index of Women Entrepreneurs ranking countries based on an assessment of: Women’s Advancement Outcomes; Knowledge Assets and Financial Access; and Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions. India ranked 49th out of 54 countries on the MasterCard Index.
The MasterCard report reinforced the dismal findings of the other studies. But, that report offered a glimmer of hope by observing “… there is significant potential to harness the untapped potential of Indian women’s entrepreneurship.”
I firmly believe that we can harness that “untapped potential” by working together to move Indian women to a state of interdependence.
I will devote the rest of my time to talking about what we, and what you can do to help create that state of interdependence.
In my opinion, there is an empowerment continuum with three points on it:
- Dependence in which a woman has no power or control over her life or outcomes
- Independence which is the mid-point where a woman has developed the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes to be liberated and self-actualizing
- And, interdependence where a woman is empowered to sit in full equality with men to influence and make decisions and establish directions for a family, a business, a community, a region, or a nation.
How do we collaborate to help create a state of interdependence for Indian women? I recommend doing it by applying a 3-E formula: Those E’s are education; enlightenment; and entrepreneurship.
These E’s are intertwined. But, the empowerment of women and movement toward a state of interdependence must begin with education – especially for those from the weaker sections.
The 2011 census showed that the literacy rate in India was just over 74%. The rate for males was slightly above 82% and the rate for females was only 65.46%. That is not good news in terms of having a sound universal platform for the empowerment of women.
In education, literacy is the starting line and higher education is the finish line for becoming fully empowered. These statistics indicate that not enough women even get to the starting line and very few get to the finish line.
This must change. Women must be able to participate along the entire educational continuum. This participation is pivotal for the future of a country.
For the individual woman, education itself is empowering. It removes the shackles of ignorance. It builds self-esteem and confidence. A good education is the key to opportunity and a bridge to the future. It is a powerful equalizer to lift women out of poverty.
For the family, education prepares the woman to be a change agent. Too many families especially families from the socially and economically disadvantaged sections are trapped in poverty because of a lack of education. With her own education, the woman can educate and equip her children to escape that trap.
For India, education delivers on the promise of the largest representative democracy in the world. Central to that promise are equality, opportunity and inclusive economic mobility. Education levels the playing field and makes that promise a reality.
We as Indian Americans with a love for our motherland and our own mothers have an obligation to reach out to assist the public and private sectors in India in providing the appropriate education at the primary school level to ensure the necessary foundation for empowerment of women.
That’s the first E – Education. The second E is Enlightenment which comes in part through higher education
In the 21st century, higher education is becoming more important for climbing the ladder of success and empowerment.
Enlightenment usually occurs in higher education because it is there that a person gains not only the knowledge, skills and abilities that are necessary for success but can also come to the recognition of what is possible and realize that by aiming high and working hard that they can accomplish the possible and control their own destiny.
Personal enlightenment is an essential requirement for the empowerment of women.
When we empower and educate women, they will be in the forefront of empowering other women who will then educate and empower other women — and the cycle will continue.
This brings me to my final E. Entrepreneurship. I highlighted the sad statistics on Indian women business entrepreneurs near the beginning of my speech.
But, entrepreneurship is not limited to business. It can and must occur in all fields and professions: education, engineering, health sciences, law, politics and information technology to name just a few.
The development of women entrepreneurs in all of those fields will ensure multi-pronged progress in terms of the pursuit of interdependence for women across the board. We need to encourage and support this development.
I recommend a three-pronged approach for that development. Those prongs should be:
- Educate and empower women to become entrepreneurs
- Ensure adequate financial resources to support their entrepreneurial ventures
- Provide mentoring to promote success in the entrepreneurship
The education for women to become entrepreneurs should be multifaceted stressing not only “book learning” but also providing the hands on skills and abilities required to run a business. It should also be directed toward preparing women to enter fields in which there are too few female business owners today such as information technology, manufacturing, and engineering.
Numerous studies have found that women in emerging markets have much more difficulty in securing loans than men and have to rely on their own financing. We need to provide venture capital support to help women start and grow businesses.
Unless they come from a family that has a business or have worked in a business, women entrepreneurs have seen no role models and have had no coaching on how to start, run and build a business. A mentoring program can fill that gap.
I hope that many of you in this audience have made commitments to support the empowerment of women. There is an urgent need for women’s inclusion at all levels in our economy.
In closing, thank you for being here today and listening to me. I hope that I have given you additional food for thought on women’s empowerment and that you will be willing to join me in this journey as a partner in the silence breaking and increasing the interdependence of Indian women.
God bless you all! And, let us together make India and U.S. leaders internationally in the empowerment of women.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
By Frank F. Islam,
This is written from my adopted homeland of the United States of America to celebrate Republic Day in my motherland of India. It is a love letter to acknowledge the enormous privileges and benefits that I received growing up in India and then maturing in the US — the two largest democratic republics in the world.
Because of that duality, I have come to understand that these two great nation states have travelled somewhat parallel paths constitutionally to become the bulwarks of democracy that they are. Republic Day in India is held on January 26 to commemorate the date on which the Indian Constitution came into effect in 1950 — roughly two-and-a-half-years after the country’s independence. In the United States, Constitution Day is observed on September 17 to commemorate the adoption of the statute in 1787.
Both India and the United States took considerable time to draft and adopt the constitutions that created their democratic systems of government.
In India, the first draft of the Constitution was created on November 4, 1947. That draft was debated in 166 sessions open to the public, amended, and finally approved by the 308 members of the Constituent Assembly drawn from the provinces of India on November 26, 1949.
In the US, 55 delegates convened in May of 1787 in a Constitutional Convention and on September 17 of that year had a version of the Constitution that was approved. That version was not ratified by the necessary states, however, until May of 1790, after a Bill of Rights with 10 amendments was added.
Neither the US nor the Indian constitutions are perfect documents. But, they are crucibles for democracy providing the frameworks for the democratic governing process.
Fifteen amendments have been added to the US Constitution since the original 10 so now there are a total of 25 amendments. In addition, the Code of Federal Regulations, which spells out the general and permanent rules established by the federal government, totals more than 185,000 pages.
The Indian Constitution is the longest in the world. At its inception, it consisted of 395 Articles arranged under 22 Parts and eight Schedules. Today, after many amendments, it has 447 Articles arranged under 26 Parts and 12 Schedules.
The constitutions of India and the United States give citizens the rights to vote. In India, the right to vote is guaranteed to all citizens over the age of 18 and is provided by Article 326 of the Constitution and the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951.
The right to vote in the US has been more evolutionary. Limited rights were specified for males and land-owners in the original version of the Constitution. The right for those of colour was added by the 15th amendment in 1870 and the right for women added by the 19th amendment in 1920.
Neither country’s constitution mandates compulsory voting. The turnout in the last general election in India in 2014 was over 66 per cent — meaning over 530 million Indian voters went to the polls, the largest number in the history of the world. The turnout in the last general election in the United States was approximately 55.5 per cent with a total of more than 138 million eligible voters coming to the polls.
The turnouts in the US and India, with those large numbers of citizens participating without being compelled to do so, provide lessons in democracy. They also attest to the strength of the countries’ constitutions.
The US and India both commemorate their constitutions. Constitution Day in the United States is primarily ceremonial with little hoopla or hullabaloo. By contrast, Republic Day in India is a major celebration with a huge parade and many associated events in Delhi and other ceremonies across the nation.
Leaders from around the world attend the Republic Day parade. This year, for the first time, heads of states from 10 ASEAN nations will be in the reviewing stand for the parade. Heads of State who have been guests of honour at the parade in the past include Queen Elizabeth II of England, President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and President Francoise Hollande of France.
In 2015, the paths of the US and India crossed on Republic Day when President Obama and Prime Minister Modi sat together at the parade and participated in other related events. I had the distinct privilege to be a member of the Obama-US delegation for those ceremonies.
It was during that visit to India that I came to the realisation of how doubly blessed I had been by these two great democracies. They gave me freedom, opportunity and, most importantly, nurtured me to be who I wanted to be and become what I wanted to be.
I owe them a debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid. That is why my philanthropic ventures to date have been centred on investments to support self-actualisation in both countries and I have established the Frank Islam Institute for 21st Century Citizenship to promote civic engagement that will keep their democracies strong through this new century.
In his famous “Tryst with Destiny” speech delivered in 1947 upon India’s independence, Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, said: “The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.”
The future still beckons India. Significant progress has been made on the quest. Much work remains to be done.
As an Indian American, I am confident that India is up to this task to become a standard setter for democracy to the world because of what I have witnessed in my own life and life time.
Happy Republic Day, India.
(Frank Islam is an entrepreneur, civic and thought leader based in the Washington DC area. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at ffislam@verizon.net)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Entrepreneurship, World
Indian American philanthropist Frank Islam made these remarks during a ceremony where some 200 foreign nationals took the oath of citizenship.
Indian American philanthropist made these remarks during a ceremony where some 200 foreign nationals took the oath of citizenship.
Boston, Massachusetts: Successful entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist Frank Islam told his story of struggle and success in the US coming from India with just $35 in his pocket. Mr. Islam was speaking at a naturalization ceremony where immigrants took the oath and officially became US citizens. The ceremony was held today at historical John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum where about 200 people took the oath as new citizens of the United States.
New citizens along with their family members and others listened with rapt attention to Islam’s story of how studying at Aligarh Muslim University, he was encouraged to come to the US by a professor from Colorado to come to the US to study Mathematics. Mr. Islam came to the US at the age of 16.
During his college years, he worked at fast food restaurants in Colorado. He would eventually get into information technology and start his own business, the QSS Group. Over time, he grew the business from a single employee, himself, to more than 3,000 with annual revenues of more than $300 million.
“It is America that provided me with ladders of opportunity to succeed. I am a recipient of America’s kindness and generosity. My story reaffirms the notion that America is a land of opportunity. My story also shows that America is a nation of inclusion, openness, opportunity, democracy, and freedom. All of us can proudly and truly embrace these values and qualities of America,” Mr. Islam told the gathering.
The Indian immigrant called on the new citizens to be citizens of the 21st century by becoming active in their communities.
“President Kennedy said, ‘In a democracy, every citizen regardless of his interest in politics or holds office, every one of us is in a position of responsibility. The kind of government we get depends on how we fulfill those responsibilities,’” Islam said. “I ask you to fulfill those responsibilities by being a 21st Century Citizen.”
Islam encouraged the 200 in attendance to go out and help make America the nation it can be. “As immigrants and the future of America, I know that you will make great contributions to ensure that dream is even stronger and better for the citizens of this immigrant nation,” he told the crowd.
The ceremony was presided by the Honorable Judge Allison Burroughs, federal judge for the United States District Court, District of Massachusetts. Judge Burroghs while reading the names of all the countries represented today paused after mentioning Russia and said her own grandfather came from that country.
The Naturalization Oath Ceremony is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In celebration of their new citizenship, the Kennedy Library presented everyone with a commemorative edition of the Inaugural Address of President John F. Kennedy.
The ceremony is part of the year-long celebration of President John F. Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday on May 29, 2017.
About the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is one of 14 presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. It is supported, in part, by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. The Kennedy Presidential Library and the Kennedy Library Foundation seek to promote, through educational and community programs, a greater appreciation and understanding of American politics, history, and culture, the process of governing and the importance of public service.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Ideas, Entrepreneurship, News, Social Entrepreneur
Frank F. Islam
By Frank F. Islam,
Mentoring can be critical to success in business. I say that because I was mentored at two pivotal points in my life.
My first mentor was Wolfgang Thron a college professor of mathematics from the University of Colorado. Dr. Thron told me that I had great potential and encouraged me to leave India and to go to school at the University of Colorado so that I could pursue expanded opportunities and get a cutting edge education in the emerging field of computer science.
I trusted Dr. Thron’s advice. So, even though it was scary, at the age of 16, I decided to leave my family and friends in India with just thirty five dollars in my pocket.
Time does not permit great detail on my college years. Suffice it to say that I loved Boulder and I got my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science to pursue my life-long dream of owning my own business.
I did not come from a family that owned a business. I had no personal experience or role model in business.
Therefore, I decided to do my apprenticeship and to learn the ropes by going to work for large IT companies. During that period, I had the good fortune to meet my second mentor, Dick Bishop.
He was my mentor in business. He taught me the ins and outs of managing information technology contracts with the government and inspired my entrepreneurship. Dick helped me develop the knowledge, skills and abilities required to succeed in business.
Based upon his mentorship, I felt ready to go out on my own and I acquired a company in 1994 for $45,000. With the help of a wonderful management team that I recruited over time, we built that business from 1 employee – me – to more than 3,000 employees with annual revenue of more than $300 million dollars. The team of talented managers were central to everything. Success in business is team sport. So, when people asked me how I became successful, it was not me but we who made it happen.
In 2007, after 13 years, I sold the company to Perot Systems. That sale allowed me to move on to the next stage of my career to philanthropy and civic engagement. In many ways, the process of sharing and giving back is much more rewarding than any of the money that I have earned throughout my business career.
In summary, mentoring has meant much to me. I would not be what or who I am without the mentoring that I have received on business and other fronts.
I recognize what a difference mentoring can make for the mentee and for the mentor. That is why I was thrilled when naisA Global informed me they were giving me this award.
I was even more thrilled when I did the research and saw the good work naisA has done. Seeing that it has 480 current mentors and over 2,400 active protégées is a testimony to what it has already accomplished and the platform that it has built for future success.
Given my own background and personal experience, I would like to throw one idea into the pot for naisA’s consideration. That is that it develops a mentoring program for Asian Americans who want to be entrepreneurs and start-up or build their own businesses.
There have been numerous studies over the past several years that show that the rate of business start-ups by Asian Americans has grown substantially. This growth has been especially strong in the engineering and technology fields. I am confident that if naisA developed a mentoring program focusing on would-be entrepreneurs it would drive that growth much higher.
In closing, let me tell you about another mentor of mine. That is President John F. Kennedy.
I never met President Kennedy personally. But, I grew up with him. He was a source of inspiration for me in my youth.
He has grown to be even more of an inspiration to me as I have learned more about him by serving on the board of trustees of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the advisory board of the JFK Library
In 1958, before he became President, John F. Kennedy wrote a book titled A Nation of Immigrants. In that book, JFK observed
The abundant resources of this land provided the foundations for a great nation. But only people could make the opportunity a reality. Immigrations provided the human resources. More than that, it infused the nation with a commitment to far horizons and new frontiers, and thereby kept the pioneer spirit of American life, the spirit of equality and of hope always alive and well
What makes America great is that we are a nation of immigrants.
President Kennedy also famously said in his inaugural address, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”
As we approach 2018, one of the key things that we can do to ensure that Asian Americans are fully prepared to answer that call to and to be leaders in moving the United States and its citizens to those “far horizons and new frontiers” is to support naisA Global and its programs.
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This is an abridged form of the speech that Indian-American entrepreneur, philanthropist and civic leader Frank F. Islam delivered while receiving naisA Global Award 2017.
