Meet Purnima Nath, Candidate For Milwaukee County Executive

MILWAUKEE COUNTY, WI — Purnima Nath is one of several candidates who will be on the Feb. 18 primary ballot for Milwaukee County Executive.

Purnima Nath says public safety, economic development and fiscal responsibility are her three main goals, with public safety and economic development taking the lead.

"Under the Public Safety umbrella, my goal is to target crime reduction, mental illness, homelessness, drug and substance abuse," she said.

Nath founded Spindle India, Inc. in 2013 as a non-profit charitable organization, with a vision of bridging gap between India and the U.S. Nath also works as a strategy and management consultant.

"Lack of resources taught me to be resourceful, hardworking, adaptive and agile. Poverty taught me to be grateful and thankful. Engineering taught me to be rational, objective and analytical. MBA (top MBA) taught me to be braver than before and courageous," she told Patch.

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Name: Purnima Nath

Age: 42

Hometown: Milwaukee, WI (born & brought up in India)

Occupation: Nonprofit founder (Strategy & management consultant)

Please describe your political experience:

Our leaders are divided; and promoting violence & division for political gain, power and control. Differences of political ideologies and intolerance to see eye- to-eye has made our environment toxic. I, as a concerned citizen, with a nonpolitical background decided that enough is enough! “We must be the change we seek”. Here I am.

My vision is to build a stronger, safer, better Milwaukee for our children and next generation. This position of County Executive requires someone who has organizational skills, managed budget and made tough decisions. This role needs someone strategic, and visionary and executor. I fit the bill.

I have no prior political experience. Hence, I bring absolute outsider perspective. My status before I decided to run for Milwaukee County Executive was an observer of political climate and independent decision maker. I am passionate about community, public service and dedicated my life to improving collaboration and communication, bringing visibility and strengthening our community. I had moved from corporate sector to nonprofit and public service sector a few years ago when I founded a nonprofit organization. I have been promoting diversity, inclusion, culture and collaboration since then.

As the Milwaukee County Executive, my goal is to bring our community together to address the challenges that we face and provide solutions that are effective, efficient and sustainable.
Lack of resources taught me to be resourceful, hardworking, adaptive and agile. Poverty taught me to be grateful and thankful. Engineering taught me to be rational, objective and analytical. MBA (top MBA) taught me to be braver than before and courageous. An Engineer, an Indian American Immigrant and MBA (Northwestern University), I bring vast experience from large corporations, startup and nonprofit organization, and equipped with tremendous insights and expertise of strategy, management, leadership and organization skills. As the Founder of Spindle India, Inc., (a nonprofit) and creator of IndiaFest Milwaukee, I am serving our community for many years.

My non-political background separates me from the pack. Driven by principles of Purpose, Integrity and Respect, I lead with Honesty, Hard work and Service mentality. I embody the shared values of our community and bring fresh perspective. I feel, it is my duty to serve, especially in this critically divisive time. I firmly believe, “we can disagree without being disrespectful or uncivil. We can collaborate, without compromising our principles. We must work together, regardless of differences of views or ideologies, without imposing superiority”.

Top issues, and how I would address them if elected:

My primary goal is to build a better, safer, stronger Milwaukee that becomes THE example globally, not just nationally. However, at this client climate of lack of cooperation, divided ideologies and political feuds made is impossible to bringing people together to identify solutions that addresses our issues. This trend will cause tremendous damage to our county. Hence relationship building with, especially, state, is critical to our success, since County is an arm of the State. It is extremely important that we, as a county, work collaboratively with the State.

In general, I believe that crime, mental illness, homelessness, jobs, income, family, school, education all are interconnected issues at the end of the day. One factor impacts another directly or indirectly. Hence, I have segmented major issues under three primary buckets of priorities (1) Public Safety (2) Economic Development (3) Fiscal Responsibilities. My major focus would be Public Safety and Economic Development. Under the Public Safety umbrella, my goal is
to target crime reduction, mental illness, homelessness, drug & substance abuse.

I will emphasize on creating jobs and opportunities, rebuilding neighborhoods to boost economic growth; and promoting sustainability and focusing on quality education, which will bring Economic Development and prosperity to our community. Milwaukee County is under tremendous amount of financial crisis - we must reduce waste and use our available resources wisely; and we must be fiscally responsible. Establishing amicable relationship with the State and building collaborative channels will help us draw solutions that will ease our financial burdens of Milwaukee county. My plan is to directly engage the community – collaborating on project and initiatives. With this strategy, we will pave the pathway for Milwaukee to be self-sustaining and thriving.

Milwaukee has tremendous resources...I believe in Milwaukee. I am confident that my top-class education, strategy and management experience, keen eye for details, and objective decision making will help take Milwaukee County forward.

I will bring Transparency, Accountability and Efficiency. I believe, Milwaukee doesn’t need another Politician, Milwaukee needs a Public Servant.

An interesting fact about me:

In our childhood I used to do yoga – one time, I got an opportunity to participate in a state yoga competition; and I was selected to go to the city from my village. I remember being fascinated about it. I also like to sing and learned playing some instruments from my father.