Occupation: I am the Senior Treasury Foreign Exchange Manager at Otis Elevator, Corporate; founder at World Heritage Cultural Center; Global Goodwill Ambassador for 217 countries and territories; on The Commonwealth: Board Committee on sustainable and economic development for Guyana, South America; and a member of Sweden’s Youth Sustainable food panel.

Family: I am the middle child and have an older sister and younger brother. My sister has four kids — three of them work at the Dodgingtown Deli & Market and the Dodgingtown Craft and Liquor store. One nephew is at the Newtown High School.

Pets: Maximilian Wolfie Persaud is my fluffy 4-year-old Bichon Frise.

How long have you lived in Newtown? We bought our first home in Sandy Hook in 2016! We love living here.

What do you like to do in your free time? My second job is as the founder of a global nonprofit organization called World Heritage Cultural Center (WHCC), mywhcc.org, that I founded in 2005. We are connected to 217 countries and territories through my Global Goodwill Ambassadorship. WHCC has built a common ground that allows people to embrace diversity through creativity and charity, bringing forth the realization that we are One Family, One Human Race, One World.

What is your favorite book? The Da Vinci Code. I really liked the movie as well, especially at the end where Tom Hanks takes a knee!

What is your favorite travel destination? Spain.

What is the best part about Newtown? The people that live here. We have a beautiful community.

What organizations are you part of in Newtown? I am working my way, through my nonprofit, in establishing collaborations with several organizations and being a liaison as Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador. My nonprofit is hosting a World of Colors Concert: A Universal Experience on October 1, 2022, at the Edmond Town Hall, with 20 countries on stage, promoting cultural awareness through dance and music. We are also launching the Sandy Hook International Film Festival in 2023. We’ve been in touch with the Town and transparent about our plans and greatly appreciate all the support so far.

Who or what has been the greatest influence in your life? My upbringing, my family. Family is crazy, but the bond we share can overcome any obstacles and I don’t just limit that to start at the front door and end at the backdoor … hence my nonprofit.

If you could spend the day with one person, who would you choose and why? Maximilian, my puppy, in human form to understand the secrets of the universe, as the myth goes that they witnessed God creating humans. (Dog spelled backwards is God).

Who is your favorite musical artist? I have many, some in languages I don’t even understand, but love the music and lyrics and artists. But if I had to choose, for I grew up listening to them, it would be Lata Mangeshkar (Indian singer of some of greatest songs written for Indian Cinema) and Madonna.

What is the greatest piece of advice you have ever been given? “Never forget where you come from, always be humble,” “Where there is a will, there is a way,” and “You never get what you want, but of what fate gives you, make it into what you want.”

What is something you cannot live without? Family. My immediate family of course, but also in the sense of the connection we have with other humans. If the pandemic made us realize anything, it’s the importance of how essential it is for us to stay connected, even if it’s going to the store and being around other people. The human bond is sacred, above any political or religious systems.

What is your proudest accomplishment? I have many proud, humble, moments. But the proudest is when my dream came through of finding my way to college, that first day will always live on in my memories, as if it just happened yesterday. Growing up in a country where women are married at 13 and grandmothers at 26, for the past eight generations, it was a long journey to forge a different path for myself. The Universe gave me a chance and America gave me my voice!