Another Indian American has announced an intention to run for office.
Vinson Xavier has said he will run for an at-large seat on the Fairfax School Board in Virginia.
Vinson has been a resident of McLean, Virginia, in Fairfax County for over 21 years.
Originally from Kochi in Kerala State, India, Vinson is a serial entrepreneur, Asian American community leader and a free market advocate, according to his bio.
He has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from India and master’s degree in engineering from University of Nevada at Reno. He has run multiple small businesses in the U.S. and was the winner of the SBA Small Business Exporter of the Year award in 2013.
According to his campaign site, www.vinsonforschoolboard.com, Vinson lives with his wife and technology leader Asha. They have two children, Xavier and Stephen, who both graduated from McLean High School and later the University of Virginia. Xavier graduated in 2015 and Stephen will graduate in 2021.
During his children’s school years, the candidate has been a mentor to many students and has volunteered many hours in Fairfax County school programs, said his campaign site. Such activities include being a yearlong instructor for the ‘Hands on Science’ program at Haycock Elementary School, providing parental guidance to student teams in the Science Olympiad at Longfellow Middle School, and helping his son founding and successfully launching the Science Olympiad team at McLean High School.
His site says he is a problem solver. Vinson is a technology entrepreneur, founding Amaram Technology, and executive director of the Indo-American Center. He has vast experience with engineering and technology industries over the last three decades, that ranges from buildings and road construction to block chains and artificial intelligence, the site said.
As an insider in the technology industry, the Indian American has access to the network and knowledge hub enabling him to be a good mentor providing guidance to youth, noted the campaign page. He serves as a career counselor to many, especially STEM graduates, providing insights into industry workings and knowledge on best-suited career paths.
Vinson has substantial experience in providing IT training to individuals from across different disciplines. He has successfully facilitated the move of professionals from different fields who are interested in and wanted to pursue different types of IT jobs, without having to earn a degree in technology, his bio said.
His vision for STEM education is driven by an idea of blended educational programs that cover technical, psycho-social and experiential trainings, his page said. Such an approach liberates classrooms of traditional learning and nourishes informal learning environments that are technologically stimulating, it added.
Vinson engages closely with the Indian diaspora, and intends to leverage this expertise and help perpetuate it to mainstream America, according to his campaign site.
Vinson is a proactive leader in Indian American community activities nationally. In 2015, he started the nonprofit Indo-American Center, a free-market think tank spreading the message of liberty and small government ideals in both India and the U.S.
He is “determined to do whatever it takes to ensure that the socialist communist principles and a centrally controlled economy that he had to run away from in India for better opportunities in U.S., doesn’t follow him and take a foot hold in his adopted land,” the campaign site said.
The candidate has received several notable endorsements recently, including from former state Governor and U.S. Sen. George Allen and Susan Allen; Tamil Sangham leader Babu Vinayagom; St. Jude Syro Malabar Catholic Church community leader Bejoy Thomas; and Suburban Virginia Republican Coalition founder Mike Ginsberg.