User:Denver4All/sandbox

Neal K. Walia (born 1988), is an American politician and activist. He is a candidate for U.S. Representative for Colorado's 1st congressional district as a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes all of the City and County of Denver, and the nearby suburbs of Glendale, Englewood, Sheridan, and Cherry Hills Village in Arapahoe County.

He advocates a progressive platform that includes support for a Green New Deal, Medicare for All, a housing guarantee, a federal jobs guarantee, and an end to the War on Drugs.

Early Life

Walia's parents emigrated from India to the United States before he was born. A student when the September 11, 2001, attacks occurred, the following weeks and months shaped his views of race relations in the U.S. Overnight, friends and neighbors suddenly saw him and his family as people who “looked like a terrorist.” That drove him to become more involved with Indian and AAPI organizations, both for solace and to bridge racial divides, work that would eventually bring him to become a program coordinator for (then) Governor John Hickenlooper’s office, focusing on ending homelessness.

Background

Walia interned for former Congressman Mark Udall and worked for (then) Governor Hickenlooper on addressing homelessness, and in a community outreach position to the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community before working for the National Governors Association.