Aakash M. Patel currently serves a member of the Indo-US Executive Committee. Previously, he served as Executive Committee secretary as well as a member of the media relations and membership teams. He was also a liaison to the Asian American Chambers of Commerce for Tampa Bay (AACC). Currently, Aakash is the Director of Marketing at Phillips Development & Realty, LLC. He is responsible for the marketing and public relations for all of Phillips Development & Realty projects throughout the United States.
Aakash has a diverse work background in journalism, government affairs, crisis communications and public relations. He has worked as an Editorial Assistant for the St. Petersburg Times Tallahassee Bureau, as a research associate at Tampa's largest public relations firm, Tucker/Hall, and most recently in the government relations division at Pepin Distributing Company, the sole Anheuser -Busch distributors in Hillsborough and Pasco counties. At the Times, Patel provided assistance to five reporters covering statewide political issues and earned frequent research contributions on front page political, education and business stories. During college, Patel interned for U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) in Washington D.C. There he worked with officials on issues impacting the Indian-American community and assisted during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's first visit to the United States Capitol. While working in Congressman Wilson's office, he wrote several stories about his internship experience. The stories were later published in the News India Times, a national newspaper, as well as the Gujarat Times, a publication based in India.
Aakash earned his bachelor's degrees in English literature and political science from Florida State University. While at Florida State, he was elected 3 times to the Student Senate, a member of the Model UN Debate Team, and on the boards of Seminole Boosters and Seminole Torchbearers. He also spent a spring semester at the FSU London Study Centre. He is an alumnus of the Florida Chamber of Commerce's College Leadership Florida program, Class VII and has been a contributing writer to the statewide Indian publication Khaas Baat since 2005. He serves on the Board of Directors for Voices for Children of Hillsborough County, as well as the Board of Seminole Torchbearers. Aakash also serves on the Elected County Mayor Campaign Steering Committee, a committee whose purpose is to see an elected County Mayor position in Hillsborough County.
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