US Senate confirms Indian-American for key post in US govt's development finance institution

The US Senate has confirmed the nomination of an Indian-American by President Barack Obama to the board of directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Nominated by the US President Barack Obama in August 2014, Parekh is currently a managing director at Insight Venture Partners, a position he has held since 2001.

Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is the US government's development finance institution. It mobilises private capital to help solve critical development challenges and, in doing so, advances United States foreign policy.

A major fundraiser for Obama's presidential campaigns, Parekh held a number of roles at Berenson Minella & Company between 1992 and 2000, including Principal and Vice President. Previously, from 1991 to 1992, he was a financial analyst for the Blackstone Group. He has served as a Member of the Technological Advisory Council of the Federal Communications Commission since 2011. He is a Member of the Board of Publicolor, which he chaired from 2007 to 2012.

Parekh is Treasurer and Member of the Board of Governors of the National Academy Museum, a Member of the Board of the Tisch MS Research Center of New York, and a Member of the Greater New York Partnership. He is also a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economic Club of New York.

From 2010 to 2012, he was a Member of the Advisory Board of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. In 2006, he was named a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.
Parekh received a B.S from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.