Frequently Asked Questions:

Election Campaign KOA Zone 5, 2025

General Questions

1. What is the purpose of this election?

The Kashmiri Overseas Association is a national nonprofit organization with a board of directors composed of representatives from 10 zones. These representatives are elected by the membership of their zones, and serve for a term of two years, with the ability to be re-elected for subsequent 2-year terms. In Zone 5, the current Director, Anjana Kaul, was elected by a big 70-30 margin to serve her first 2-year term from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2025. Therefore, she (and others that might choose to run for this position) is up for re-election. The election process aims to engage our members, encourage participation, and ensure representation of diverse perspectives within our board or leadership structure.

2. What position is up for election?

In Zone 5, the position up for election is the position of Director, Zone 5, representing the states of Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. Our current Director, Anjana Kaul, was elected by a big 70-30 margin to serve her first 2-year term from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2025. Therefore, she (and others that might choose to run for this position) is up for re-election.

3. Who is eligible to run for the position of Zone 5 Director?

Candidates for this position must be active Zonal members in good standing, fulfill zonal residency requirements, and have demonstrated a commitment to the KOA’s mission, values, and programs. Specific requirements may be outlined in the official call for nominations by the NEC.

4. When and where will the election take place?

Per the information shared by the KOA National Election Committee (NEC) in their October 1, 2025, email to membership, the elections will take place electronically during the period of November 1-November 21, 2025. Results will be tabulated and shared no later than December 1, 2025. If there are no paper ballots requested, the results will be shared by November 22, 2025.

5. Who can participate in this election?

Current dues-paying members (those who are lifetime members or those who have paid their annual membership dues on or before August 31, 2025) can participate in this election. If you are a current and/or lifetime member but do not receive a voting link, please reach out to the NEC at NEC@koausa.org. NEC members are: Soman Dhar, Sanjila Kaw Razdan, and Raj Koul.

6. Can new members join and vote during the campaign period?

Only members who have paid their dues on or before August 31, 2025, are eligible to participate in this election. Members joining during the campaign period are not eligible to vote.

7. What is the voting process?

Members will receive ballots either electronically (at their registered email address – please note spouses need unique email addresses) or in-person (if requesting a paper ballot). Each member can cast one vote. Family memberships will receive two unique voting links. Detailed instructions, including how to mark and submit ballots, will be provided in advance. Please refer to official communications from the NEC (nec@koausa.org) for additional information on the election process and for instructions for online voting. Votes are confidential, and only authorized personnel will have access to the tallying process.

8. How will the results be announced?

The results will be announced on or before December 1, 2025, shortly after the votes are counted and verified. Announcements will be made via email and KOA website.

9. How can I learn more about the candidates?

Candidate profiles, including biographies, statements of intent, and answers to key questions, will be provided by the candidates to the NEC, who will share these with the eligible members. Candidate communications, forums, debates, and information sessions provide further opportunities to engage and ask questions directly.

10. What should I consider when voting?

KOA is a mission-driven, non-profit, organization. Treat this election like any other where you care about the success of the organization. Ask the candidates WHY they are running. Why NOW? Consider each candidate’s commitment to KOA’s mission, their vision for Zone 5 and for KOA, their track record, commitment to values, and proposed initiatives. We encourage you to attend candidate events, review profiles, and reach out with any questions before casting your vote.

11. Is my vote anonymous?

Yes. The KOA voting process is designed to ensure strict confidentiality. Individual votes are never disclosed, and all data is securely managed.

Questions related to Zone 5 and Anjana Kaul

1. What are Anjana’s qualifications for the position of Zone 5 Director?

Anjana is the current serving Zone 5 Director. She came into this position 21 months ago, with three challenges facing KOA – community engagement through connecting, zonal alignment with the national KOA mission, open and consistent communications, and delivering results through collaboration.

Over the last 21 months, Anjana has energized the Zone 5 community by increasing engagement by orders of magnitude, from Utah to Kansas and from Colorado to Louisiana. She has spent this time actively implementing the KOA mission and programs in Zone 5 and has engaged the Zone 5 community (members and non-members alike) in KOA and zonal programs, activities, and initiatives, raising the profile of the organization in the Zone. As a result, membership has increased by 100%, and the seven states of Zone 5 are for the first time engaged with each other actively. Anjana is an architect by profession (from the J. J. College of Architecture, Mumbai), and works as a practicing architect, in addition to executing her responsibilities as the Zone 5 Director. She lives in Austin with her husband, Sharad, and her puppy Inca. Her two sons Sidhant and Arye live in Canada.

2. What was Anjana’s vision and mandate when she was first elected?

When Anjana ran for the position of Zone 5 Director in 2023, her vision for the zone and the national KOA included the following:

▪ Organize the first ever national KOA camp in Zone 5;

▪ Develop and launch a Kashmiri Language Literacy Program in Zone 5;

▪ Develop and launch a Kashmiri Cultural Education Initiative in Zone 5;

▪ Develop and launch an initiative to engage the senior members of our Zone 5 community with each other and promote intergenerational engagement; and

▪ Increase zonal and community engagement through increased membership.

3. What part of her vision and mandate has Anjana accomplished in the last 21 months?

The vision Anjana shared with the Zone 5 community resonated strongly with members and non-members alike, and she recognized that implementing this vision required a village. So, she hit the ground running right after being elected, starting by pulling together a team of committed volunteers from each of the seven states in Zone 5 (Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah).

▪ Communications.

o The first order of business was to set up a solid communications network for the entire Zone 5 community (members and non-members) to connect with and get to know each other. This communications network included the first ever Zone 5 WhatsApp group, the Zone 5 Facebook and Instagram pages, and the Zone 5 email communications. We are happy to report that these platforms are actively used by our zone 5 community for discussion, conversation, and engagement.

o At the end of her first quarter as director, Anjana launched a quarterly zonal newsletter to report to the members events, activities, celebrations and recognitions, and other highlights from each state in the Zone. This beautifully crafted newsletter allows the Zone 5 community to learn about what is happening in the zone and nationally, to share their news, and to get to know each other. As of today, Anjana, with help from her amazing volunteers, has published seven issues of the newsletter. See the latest “Harud” newsletter here.

o Joining communities outside Texas in their celebrations

▪ KOA National Camp. In July of 2024, the Zone 5 team, led by Anjana and an incredible team of volunteers from across the zone and especially Colorado, successfully organized (in just four months) the first ever KOA National Camp in Zone 5. This camp was attended by over 300 people from all over the US, and included cultural programs, discussions, and recreational events.

▪ Kashmiri Language Literacy. Anjana believes in the sanctity of preserving our language. In June of 2024, Zone 5 launched the first ever Kashmiri Language Literacy Program. This program included bi-weekly online classes, which were attended by youth and adults alike from across the zone and nationally. This program has since been adopted by the KOA Heritage Committee as a national program and continues today.

▪ Kashmiri Cultural Education. Complementary to the Language Literacy class, Anjana engaged a team of volunteers to lead a Kashmiri Cultural Education Initiative with online presentations on topics ranging from Kashmiri Architecture to ancient temples, to the Sharda Lipi, and more. This program brought in audiences not just from the Zone 5 community but from across the country.

▪ Engaging visiting or resident parents and Elders. Zone 5 launched its first ever formal Elderly Drive, with in-person and virtual gatherings of senior members of our community across the zone, providing them with a voice and a platform to engage in conversations and storytelling about their lives in the Valley, the culture they were steeped in living in their homeland. The intergenerational nature of this elderly drive allows our seniors to share these experiences with our youth, offering them a view into what it meant to be a Kashmiri Pandit in Kashmir. Most importantly, this program offers our seniors a sense of camaraderie and a sense of belonging in a foreign land.

▪ Building broad awareness of KP causes: As a passionate activist-leader, Anjana has also used her platform to raise awareness on critical issues and events related to our community in the Zone. Again, with steady support from her team of volunteers, she organized a BIG vigil at the Texas State Capitol to raise awareness about the Pahalgam massacre. Outreach by Anjana and the larger team of volunteers brought in almost a 100 people, including members of the Texas Jewish and Anglo community in addition to non-Kashmiri Indians to the vigil. In September of 2025, Anjana also reached out to other non-KP organizations to organize a vigil at the Texas State Capitol highlighting the brutal killing of Chandra Nagamallaiah in Dallas. Representatives from Hindu PACT, SAIVA, and the Indian American Association of Austin, and the Sai Baba Temple of Austin joined members from our Kashmiri community at this event.

▪ Engaging our Zonal Community. Since taking on her position, Anjana has organized the first ever annual Zonal in-person gathering, which is attended by members from across the states, in-person as well as virtually. This annual event is now another opportunity for our community members, especially the youth, to get to know each other. In addition to these specific events, Anjana has worked with Chapter Presidents from each state on local and statewide festival celebrations (Diwali, Herath, Zang Trai, annual Havan, etc.), opportunities for social engagement for the youth as well as the larger community, and the celebration of our national holidays like the 2024 and 2025 India Independence Day celebrations.

▪ Membership. Last, but perhaps most importantly, Anjana has made it her mission to connect with as many members of our community across the zone as possible. Through phone calls and in-person meetings, she has reached out to almost all of our KP family in the Zone. As a result of this personal engagement, she has been able to increase the membership of Zone 5 by over 100%!! At this time, Zone 5 stands as the largest KOA Zone in the nation.

4. What are Anjana’s strengths and how does she execute the vision?

Anjana is not a politician, she is a doer. Her homeland is her passion. Anjana’s biggest strength is her recognition that it takes a village to get anything done effectively. To that end, she shares her vision and invites the community to help with the implementation. As a result, Zone 5 has seen her engage the largest ever team of dedicated and resolute volunteers and leaders – chapter presidents, program coordinators, and helpers – who are committed to the mission of KOA. case in point the Kashmiri language propagation) We have all known for decades that the Kashmiri language is in an existential crisis. While we all sat with and “admired” the problem, Anjana did something about it. .....challenges within our community (, Anjana understands the problem, addresses the solutions with discussions with the volunteers, and delivers results. No idea is a bad idea, if combined with strategic thinking and an execution plan.

With Anjana, what you see is what you get. She comes to conversations with conviction based on her caring and passion for all things Kashmir but is open to discussion and to changing her mind if there is a better way to do things. And she has the rare humility to ask for forgiveness when her judgment may be flawed. Anjana thrives on open, respectful, discussion – that is how issues can be aired and resolved. And she invites disagreement and differing perspectives, and she believes firmly in everyone’s ability to share those perspectives without censorship of any kind. This is evident in the various issues, topics, and conversations on the Zonal communications platforms. In fact, the challenge for the Zone 5 Director position was also announced on this Zone 5 WhatsApp platform!! Anjana’s eye is always firmly and squarely on the ball – the KOA mission. Even as she invites discussion on any and all ideas, her filter is “what will work and support the KOA mission?” and she challenges everyone to not just talk about problems but come to the conversation with solutions.

Finally, and more than anything else, Anjana has the utmost respect for the committed volunteers who make the wheels turn in Zone 5. Her goal, through her work, is to respect the selfless work of these volunteers, and to ensure that this work is highlighted and not set aside because of politics.

5. How has Anjana engaged the Zone 5 community in implementing KOA’s mission?

Anjana leads with her Kashmiri heart on her sleeve. She approaches all tasks with two primary perspectives – one, that ownership by the larger community will result in better chances of success of any initiative and that it takes a village; and two, that she represents everyone in the Zone, regardless of their position about initiatives, programs, or about her. This approach has allowed her to reach across to community members who may have been on the opposite side of her before and engage them in the work of Zone 5 and the collective vision. She believes in respectful and open communication with everyone at all times.

6. What is Anjana’s vision for the future of Zone 5?

Sustainability of our KOA initiatives and programs is the primary goal. While a lot has already been accomplished in the last 21 months, Anjana still has work to do to make each of these initiatives sustainable, so that they stand on their own and grow well into the future. Anjana’s goal for a potential second term as Zone 5 Director, if she continues to have your support, is to ensure that the initiatives that were launched in the last 21 months are strengthened, potentially all expanded nationally (like the Language Literacy Initiative), and become an ongoing part of the KOA programs, and are handed off to the capable hands of future zonal leadership. “Fostering Initiatives, Building Sustainability” is the operating principle.

In addition to building sustainability in the existing programs (which will require the seamless continuation of volunteer teamwork and visionary leadership), Anjana is also aiming for the following additional initiatives in Zone 5:

1. Organize Second National Camp in Zone 5

2. Continue the development and launch of the “Zone 5 Mentorship & Skills Upgrading” Program

3. Build on the existing Kashmiri Cultural Education Initiative and develop and launch a focused “History of Kashmir” Program

4. Take the Kashmiri Cultural Education Initiative national, as part of the KOA Heritage Committee initiatives

5. Take the Zone 5 Elderly Drive national and create an online community for our seniors and elders to engage actively.

Given Anjana’s track record for delivering on the collective vision for KOA Zone 5 vision, a second two-year term will provide Anjana with the time needed to accomplish all of this and make good on her promise of sustainability to her community.