44 min
97 | theTYPEAhippie Podcast | ChiCast: Running for Michigan State Senate (Anuja Rajendra) theTYPEAhippie Podcast | ChiCast
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- Society & Culture
I remember the first time I heard Anuja Rajendra speak. I thought, I must have her on the podcast. She spoke of being a mother to four, a wife, a businesswoman and that she was running for Michigan State Senate. And I thought, "Oh yes you are!" Fast forward several months, I received a mailer about Anuja Rajendra running for Michigan State Senate. I reached out and you get to hear our conversation.
As the daughter of immigrants, a mother, a small business owner, and an activist, Anuja Rajendra's unique life experiences speak to the fabric of Washtenaw County’s vibrant community. She's a problem-solver and she will bring a fresh voice to the Michigan State Senate.
Her father came to Michigan from India with little other than a dream of a better life for their family in 1970. He earned his PhD from Michigan State University and worked as an engineer. Her mother was a schoolteacher in India and later stayed home with her three children.
She was the first in her family to be born in America. But her parents struggled to make ends meet — something that many working families still know all too well today. So her grandparents cared for her in India for several years and she returned to Michigan at age six.
She has enormous gratitude for what this great state and country offered to her family. That’s why this was the only place she wanted to raise my children. She grew up in Okemos and graduated from public schools there. She was the vice-president of the local chapter of Young Democrats. She went on to earn both an engineering degree and an MBA from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she played rugby.
Anuja's husband, Vijay Sankaran, was from New Jersey, but she convinced him to move to Michigan. They have lived in Ann Arbor for over two decades. They are the parents of two sons and two daughters we adopted after they were abandoned at a train station in India. Her children certainly provided her with plenty of material when she wrote the “Mom” column for The Ann.
In her career in both the private and non-profit sectors and as a volunteer and activist, she has tried to help nurture diverse communities. It has always been important to her to build spaces where people of all ages, races, socioeconomic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and genders have come together to find common ground and raise each other up.
Many people in Michigan and across the country are deeply frightened right now. The basic rights of women, LGBTQ folks, and people of color are under attack from the president, Congress, and our state government. Immigrants and refugees now live in fear that they or their loved ones will be hauled away and sent back to war-torn countries.
But even in these trying times, there is hope. It has brought out the best in people. She saw that when she took her eight-year-old son to the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. in January 2017. She saw that fighting to keep our kids safe as a member of Washtenaw County's Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
And that’s why, like so many women and people of color, Anuja was inspired to run for office for the first time in 2018. We need progressive, diverse, and inclusive leadership in state government. Washtenaw County should lead by example.
In the State Senate, she won’t be afraid to make bold decisions. Her first bill will be banning most concealed weapons in Michigan. It’s time for progressives to stop playing defense on issues and stand up for our values.
One of my core beliefs is that everyone must have a seat at the table. As a State Senator, Anuja will focus on inclusion to bridge and heal the diverse communities that make up Washtenaw County. And she will be proud to represent an area that she believes can be a model of progressivism, innovation, and intersectionality for all of Michigan.
We all have struggles. Like so many, her parents came here in search of the American
I remember the first time I heard Anuja Rajendra speak. I thought, I must have her on the podcast. She spoke of being a mother to four, a wife, a businesswoman and that she was running for Michigan State Senate. And I thought, "Oh yes you are!" Fast forward several months, I received a mailer about Anuja Rajendra running for Michigan State Senate. I reached out and you get to hear our conversation.
As the daughter of immigrants, a mother, a small business owner, and an activist, Anuja Rajendra's unique life experiences speak to the fabric of Washtenaw County’s vibrant community. She's a problem-solver and she will bring a fresh voice to the Michigan State Senate.
Her father came to Michigan from India with little other than a dream of a better life for their family in 1970. He earned his PhD from Michigan State University and worked as an engineer. Her mother was a schoolteacher in India and later stayed home with her three children.
She was the first in her family to be born in America. But her parents struggled to make ends meet — something that many working families still know all too well today. So her grandparents cared for her in India for several years and she returned to Michigan at age six.
She has enormous gratitude for what this great state and country offered to her family. That’s why this was the only place she wanted to raise my children. She grew up in Okemos and graduated from public schools there. She was the vice-president of the local chapter of Young Democrats. She went on to earn both an engineering degree and an MBA from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she played rugby.
Anuja's husband, Vijay Sankaran, was from New Jersey, but she convinced him to move to Michigan. They have lived in Ann Arbor for over two decades. They are the parents of two sons and two daughters we adopted after they were abandoned at a train station in India. Her children certainly provided her with plenty of material when she wrote the “Mom” column for The Ann.
In her career in both the private and non-profit sectors and as a volunteer and activist, she has tried to help nurture diverse communities. It has always been important to her to build spaces where people of all ages, races, socioeconomic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and genders have come together to find common ground and raise each other up.
Many people in Michigan and across the country are deeply frightened right now. The basic rights of women, LGBTQ folks, and people of color are under attack from the president, Congress, and our state government. Immigrants and refugees now live in fear that they or their loved ones will be hauled away and sent back to war-torn countries.
But even in these trying times, there is hope. It has brought out the best in people. She saw that when she took her eight-year-old son to the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. in January 2017. She saw that fighting to keep our kids safe as a member of Washtenaw County's Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
And that’s why, like so many women and people of color, Anuja was inspired to run for office for the first time in 2018. We need progressive, diverse, and inclusive leadership in state government. Washtenaw County should lead by example.
In the State Senate, she won’t be afraid to make bold decisions. Her first bill will be banning most concealed weapons in Michigan. It’s time for progressives to stop playing defense on issues and stand up for our values.
One of my core beliefs is that everyone must have a seat at the table. As a State Senator, Anuja will focus on inclusion to bridge and heal the diverse communities that make up Washtenaw County. And she will be proud to represent an area that she believes can be a model of progressivism, innovation, and intersectionality for all of Michigan.
We all have struggles. Like so many, her parents came here in search of the American
44 min