Aman Panjwani

Hi there! My name is Aman Panjwani, and I am a first-generation honors graduate from Harvard University where I studied economics and education policy and researched with Professors Larry Summers, Raj Chetty, and Martha Minow.

For most of my childhood, I lived in Kirbyville, Texas, a small, rural town with a population of only 2,000 individuals. This experience shaped my economic, political, and ethical values, and it convinced me that universal access to economic and educational opportunity is essential to crafting an equitable, inclusive, and just society.

In recognition of my beliefs and actions, I received the Diana L. Eck and Dorothy A. Austin Prize at Harvard, which is awarded to a “senior who exemplifies the qualities of curiosity, engagement, understanding, and respect that are fundamental to a pluralistic community.”

It’s also why I chose to study at Harvard the foundations of the U.S. education system, the changing landscape of economic opportunity across the nation, and political structures and incentives which hinder us from enacting economic and educational policies which will strengthen our communities. Although the pandemic hindered my plans, in furtherance of these interests, I received the Fulbright-Nehru Scholarship to research information gaps in student decision-making within the Indian higher education system.

Soon after graduation, I joined the fight to protect American democracy leading up to the 2020 presidential election by creating and leading Government Accountability Project’s Democracy Protection Initiative. After fundraising for the program and establishing formal partnerships with other DC-based advocacy organizations, I helped to recruit, educate, and protect federal employees at the highest level of government who reported corruption and abuse of power within the Trump administration. My organizing efforts also increased the number of advocacy groups publicly supporting the Protecting Our Democracy Act, one of Speaker Pelosi’s foremost priorities within the domestic democracy-agenda.

More recently I joined a seasoned team of education advocates and policymakers to help build the Campaign for Our Shared Future, a non-partisan effort to combat attacks on equitable student learning and preserve access to meaningful, high-quality content in our K-12 schools so that every student has an opportunity to succeed and thrive.

If you have questions about my experiences or would like to discuss issues related to economic and educational opportunity, please reach out to me at amanp@alumni.harvard.edu.