Swati Dandekar, an Indian-American announced her candidature for US Congress

Swati Dandekar, an Indian-American of Democratic Party on 3 September 2013 announced her candidature for the 1st Congressial District of Iowa. Nagpur born, Dandekar, a former legislator represents the Marion area in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2003-09. She served in the Iowa Senate from 2009-11

About Swati Dandekar

• Dandekar is a naturalized citizen of USA
• Swati Dandekar of Marion, Iowa was first elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 2002
• She served the Marion, Iowa area in that capacity until she was elected to represent them in the Iowa Senate in 2009
• She was the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, vice chair of the Economic Development Budget subcommittee, and was elected President of the National Foundation of Women Legislators in 2011
• In 2011 Dandekar was appointed as the Democratic member of the Iowa Utilities Board
• Until her resignation from the Board she was a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and served on the NARUC Committee on Telecommunications and the Committee on International Relations
• Dandekar was also a member of the Mid-American Regulatory Conference and served on the Advisory Council of the Iowa Energy Center in Ames
• In addition, she serves on the advisory board of the National Science Foundation’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research and is a member of the Federal-State Joint Conference on Advance Telecommunications Services and on the board of directors for the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel
• Dandekar holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Nagpur University and a post graduate diploma in dietetics from Bombay University in India  

Honors bestowed upon Dandekar

• The 2000 J.C. Penney Education Golden Rule Award
• India Abroad 2002 Person of the Year
• 2003 Pillar of the Community Award from Waypoint
• Asian Alliance of Iowa 2003 Person of the Year
• 2004 Flemming Institute Fellow
• Iowa’s 2006 Passport to Prosperity Award
• Asian Week’s 2008 Asia Pacific American Person of the Year