Adnan Bokhari is an accountant by profession and a political, community activist by interest. He is not only professionally accomplished in his official career, but has made quite an impact at the local and community level with his political campaigning. He is at the helm of Pakistani community members who are getting more involved and actively supporting local American politics, at the state and national levels. He has supported the campaign for successful political candidates like Jim Webb and has rallied the Pakistani and Muslim communities to express their opinion in the true democratic fashion, i.e. by voting. Within 13 short years in the US, Adnan has assimilated in an admirable manner, balancing professional success and growth with social, political, and community participation that makes him an example for other young immigrants to follow. We are very proud of people like Adnan and hope that you find his views and experiences as interesting as we do! 

1. How would you describe yourself as a professional to our readers – where are you working, what do you do, and how did you get into this profession?

I am a Senior Manager at McQuade Brennan, LLP, a public accounting firm, in Washington, DC. In the years when a degree in Computer Information Systems was the trend, I selected Accounting as my undergraduate major. This was a well thought decision that, though out of the norm, proved to be a right one. Today, colleges and universities throughout the country are not producing enough accounting graduates. On the other hand, the demand for professional accounting services is rapidly increasing, largely attributable to increase in accounting regulations that continue to expand as a result of major accounting scandals. The shortage continues to get worse because of the recent requirements of a masters degree or equivalent in all major states to sit for the CPA exam. This scarcity of qualified young accountants makes us in greater demand where the firms are competing against each other to recruit the best of us. In my view, the young accountant of today and tomorrow has become invaluable and the future of the profession heavily depends on them.

2. How about the personal, family side – what would you like to tell us about where you grew up, went to school, your family, etc.?

I was born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan. For my father, education was an asset that remained with you for life. Therefore, education was highly emphasized in my family. I was fortunate enough to receive education at Aitchison College Lahore, one of the most prestigious schools in Pakistan. I came to the United States in 1994 for higher education and have remained here since. Currently, I live in Springfield, Virginia with my wife and two kids..

3. You are a very active member of the Pakistani American community. What are your different involvements and activities?

Most of my activities outside of work are in the U.S. political arena. They say politics is not a spectator sport, naturally, I am deeply entrenched. I am a member of several Pakistani-American, Muslim-American and mainstream organizations. I write columns on political activism that are published in the Pakistan Post, a major Pakistani-American newspaper.

4. What inspires you to work so actively for the community in addition to keeping a full time job and giving time to your family?

It is all about an individual’s perspective. I view the community as my extended family, which is currently facing many challenges. I must do my part to help ameliorate the status quo.

5. Do you think that the mainstream view of Pakistani Americans has improved somewhat or are we still facing the same negative stereotypes that came about in the wake of 9/11?

The answer depends on the source of information of the person you ask. If the person you ask receives his or her information about Pakistan through mainstream media, then our image continues to deteriorate. However, if that person’s information source is a Pakistani-American who has taken the initiative to clarify the negative stereotypes, then that person will not only think positively about our community but in most instances become our staunch supporter.

6. What are some of the biggest issues or initiatives on which you are focusing on behalf of the Pakistani American community?

Our community is a viable immigrant community. However, there are several challenges that it is currently facing.

Immigration is on top of the list. We are actively lobbying on behalf of the community to make sure that our concerns are heard and reflected in the language of the proposed legislation. Our efforts relating to immigration are widespread and include working for specific matters such as delay in citizenship cases to opposing enforcement of immigration laws by local police. In this regard, we continue to remain in touch with the local community, not only to keep them apprised but also to mobilize them, if necessary.

Civil rights is another issue that we have taken up with the legislators and are working closely with their staff to represent the viewpoints of our community.

In addition to attending to issues as they arise, I am working on some out of the box initiatives. In my view, the community lacks a long term strategy. We desperately need a body to observe us from the outside, as a whole, and advise our actions accordingly. I am currently busy in this effort to assemble a group of Pakistani-Americans that would fill this damaging void.

Not a current initiative, but my goal for Virginia’s next gubernatorial elections (2009) is to unite the entire community behind the candidate who would best understand our concerns. This will be of unprecedented nature as it will entail an organized effort by the entire community, our participation would be highly noticeable and very goal oriented. I envision historical successes for the Community through this initiative.

7. What is your strategy for resolving these issues?

When dealing with any issue, we operate according to a two pronged strategy; one, allocating efforts at the issue level, and two, channeling resources into addressing the root cause of the issue. For instance, when faced with the issue of using Virginia’s police to enforce immigration laws, not only did we voice our community’s opposition to the proposal but also conducted grassroots activities to enhance the community’s involvement in the mainstream legislative process. As a result, we were able to defeat passage of the bill as well as generate interest in political mobilization within the community. I believe that many of our challenges will disappear if the community strengthens itself through increased political participation.

8. What are some major accomplishments you would like to mention as far as your community work is concerned?

Activities without goals are a waste of time. To me, every victory is major if it contributes to empowerment of the community. Our accomplishments range from impacting the result of proposed legislation (passing or defeat) to key U.S. political appointments of grassroots Pakistani and Muslim-Americans. But the biggest accomplishment is when we exhibit the importance of our community’s vote to elected officials.

Although I wouldn’t discount the accomplishments, there is an enormous amount of work that needs to be done which I am currently focused on.

9. How do you think we can organize ourselves better as a community and develop a broader, more mainstream presence in the US?

In the course of my political activities, I come across numerous Pakistani-Americans who are participating increasingly in the mainstream. Although a welcome beginning, however, in the absence of a coordinated strategy, we will not receive the importance and attention commensurate to our effort.

I am sure there are several ways to better organize ourselves and expand our involvement in mainstream U.S. activities. This is one way of achieving it:

1. Identify activities that would increase our presence in U.S. mainstream politics, to include:
• Contesting elections.
• Serving on various citizens boards and commissions (local, state and federal).
• Joining one of the major political parties.
• Under one umbrella, working for selective political campaigns.
• Under one umbrella, funding selective political campaigns.
• Leveraging our resources to further strengthen the community.
• Launching a focused public relations campaign to improve the image of the Community.
2. Identify geographic areas that contain a large concentration of Pakistani-Americans (ex. Houston, Queens, Metro DC).
3. From those areas identified, select one, as a pilot, where the most optimal environment exists to accomplish activities identified above.
4. Utilize resources from throughout the country to make it a success
5. Learn from the experience and replicate it in the next best location.

The above is not an easy task to achieve but it reminds me of one of my favorite quotations, “All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin!” (JFK)

10. Which community or professional organizations do you recommend which Pakistani Americans should join and why?

One thing we don’t have a shortage of is Pakistani-American Organizations. In choosing which organizations to join, I would look at their mission, goals and activities. As long as they are in the benefit of our community, I enjoin to support their cause. Amongst the national organizations, I recommend Pakistani American Leadership Center (PAL-C) and National Association of Pakistani Americans (NAPA). These are both DC based organizations, I am sure there are several excellent Organizations that I am not closely associated with and therefore don’t carry an opinion about them. Amongst the local organizations, I recommend joining Virginia Muslim Political Action Committee (VMPAC).

11. Finally in your years of experience what are the biggest personal and professional qualities that you consider to be critical for success in one’s professional life?

Honesty, hard work and an unrelenting desire to achieve. Know what you want and go after it. There are no barriers to our success; if there are any, they exist only in our minds. But remember, with success comes great responsibility – the foremost being that now you must help someone else become successful.

12. Any other comments?

It has been a pleasure giving this interview. I thank the Saturday Post for pioneering change of on-line Pakistani media and attracting such diverse audience from throughout the world.