Mangaluru, January 28: During the visit of Barack Obama to India this week, he was accompanied by officials from various departments from his administration. One among these officials was Shilpa Hegde of Mangaluru origin.
Shilpa is employed as a senior assistant staff secretary at the White House, the seat of the US President, and has been serving there for years in different capacities. When Obama travels abroad, she becomes part of the crew that accompanies him. Shilpa Hegde had visited India during the US President’s recent trip.
Shilpa was born and brought up in the USA, but she visits Perdoor and Mangaluru yearly with her parents, said sources close to Shilpa.
Shilpa joined the Democratic Party after her studies in political science from University of North Carolina. She was part of ‘Obama for America’, the presidential campaign of Barack Obama in 2008 in North Carolina area in the capacity of field organizer. In 2009, she worked as a research analyst with the Atlas Project and in April 2010, she became the assistant director in the White House and served in this position till August 2011. Thereafter, she served as the assistant staff secretary in the White House for two years, after which she was promoted as senior assistant staff secretary in July 2014.
She is the daughter of the couple Vidya Hegde and Dr Sadananda Hegde, who is the brother of B Vasanthi S Shetty, former HoD of OBG department at K S Hegde hospital in Deralakatte, basically hailing from Perdoor in Udupi.
Her father Dr Sadananda Hegde, an alumnus of KMC, is a renowned doctor in the US.
