We recently connected with Mona Das and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Mona, thanks for joining us today. Before we move on, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do? Can you talk to us about serving the underserved?
My name is Mona Das. I am a former WA State Senator, motivational speaker, thought leader and movie producer.
As an immigrant to this country (my family came to America with $6 when I was eight months old), I understand having a dream for a better life. I think that is why I fight for marginalized communities and women, specifically, because I believe that we all need a champion and an advocate. As one of only a handful of people who have been a Senator in America, I have a unique platform, and thus I want to make sure that I use my experience and position effectively and efficiently to make sure that everybody has their voice at the table and that their needs are advocated for.
I ran for the State Senate on the premise that “if you are not at the table, then you are on the menu”. I got tired of being on the menu for far too long and I knew I had what it took to run for office. So I decided to run. I faced a lot of challenges; the first and largest being that most people didn’t think I could win. I was running against a very well-liked Republican, and I had to flip the seat. It was very difficult. I knocked on 8,000 doors personally, and my campaign knocked on 30,000 doors!. During that time, I faced racism, sexism, and negative ads. I faced all kinds of things. It was a long journey to get to the Senate, but I never gave up and I made it!
Fast forward to 2023, I decided not to run for office again because I realized that I could do more good from the outside. I recognized that I could be one person advocating for diversity, equity, the environment, housing, or I could go out and train the next 100 Monas and champions for change. I chose the latter.
Now, I spend a lot of my time as a motivational, keynote speaker and coaching candidates and business leaders. I ensure that the voices, perspectives, and issues of marginalized groups, especially women, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) women, transgender individuals, and non-binary folks, are represented and given a seat at the table. I have written several e-workbooks so that people can narrow down their own goals and dreams and identify the steps to achieve them. I want to make sure that the next generation is set up for success.
One thing that I share with people is you have to have big dreams. I call them BHAGs: Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals. When you have BHAGs, you can keep them
inside or you can tell people. But when you start telling people your big crazy dreams, people line up to help!
For example, in the early 2000’s, I had this BHAG of making a movie called “Bad Ass Women Doing Kick Ass Shit” which would highlight marginalized, BIPOC women running for office and who wanted to make a difference in their communities. It had the same inspiration as me running for senate; we need more women at the table. Randomly, in the early 2020’s I had a meeting with a woman who, unbeknownst to me, turned out to be a movie driector and I told her my BHAG. She said, “I want in. I want to be part of it.” Within a year, we created this film which has won 12 awards and been in countless film festivals. It’s been an amazing journey and shows the power of having and sharing your BHAG.
For more information, you can visit me at www.monadas.org and www.BAWDKAS.com
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Resilience? Everything about my life has been about resilience. This particular story starts in the shower. Like many of you, I do my best thinking in the shower. One day I was visiting my brother and his girlfriend, now wife, and I got out of the shower and I said, “I’m going to be a senator.” We all laughed because it was just preposterous. I mean, I am very classically Indian; half my family are doctors, the other half are engineers. So for me, to come out and say “I want to be a senator”, it was just like this really ridiculous idea. So I just put that dream on the shelf and didn’t really think about it. I just kept that dream up on the shelf for many years collecting dust. Every now and then, I’d bring it down, dust it off and say, “Well, that still doesn’t make any sense” and I’d stick it back up on the shelf.
Then one day, I’m walking my dog, Cleveland, who has more energy than me, and we’re walking down the street and I saw a sign. Literally, I saw a sign. It was a yard sign for a politician, and it said “Pramila Jayapal for Senate”. Normally, my dog didn’t like to stop, so when we stopped, he would pull the leash and start barking, because he just wanted to go. But this time that didn’t happen. We just stood in front of that sign for probably five minutes, and I cried my eyes out because seeing that sign told me three things:
- It told me she was a woman.
- It told me she was Indian, and
- It told me that my dream of being in the Senate was possible.
For me, it was this moment when I knew that if she could do it, I could do it. I realized that representation truly matters. It is why I have spent the last decade
speaking at conferences, events and panels, especially with women, inspiring them to go after their dreams. I want to make sure that they can see themselves in me, and I can inspire the next generation.
Fast forward to November 10, 2016 and the news that Trump had been elected to the highest office in the United States, I felt like I had been flattened by a truck. While my friends were on the floor crying, unable to work, sleep, or eat, I popped up like the cartoon road runner. I sat straight up in my bed and said out loud, “It’s time. I’m going to run for office.” Even though I had had this idea for years, that morning I knew it was time to put it into motion.
Of course, as soon as I spoke, all those niggly little thoughts started to creep in: could I really do it? Who was I to even imagine that I could run….let alone win? I was a female, an immigrant, a kid who endured being molested by male babysitters, a daughter who almost lost her mother to mental illness, an (ex) wife who left her loveless marriage, and a mortgage broker who went into foreclosure. Not to mention, I was a complete political newbie who hadn’t so much as run for student council before. Even though it felt impossible, I was determined to overcome those pesky voices in my head telling me I wasn’t good enough. I had to believe in the dream that I had set out for myself, no matter how big, or hairy, or audacious it seemed.
After a false start, I did it. Against all odds, I ACTUALLY won!!
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Once I got into public office, things were not at all what I expected. Once I arrived at the Washington State Senate, I was greeted with walls and walls of photos of almost all white (male) faces. This was not a place that was built for me or people like me—the immigrants, people of color, women, queer folks, and so many others. I felt like a total outsider.
On top of that feeling, and being one of very few BIPOC women Senators, my own party proved to be riddled with contradictions and hypocrisy. Despite all of the lip service made by the state Democrats about wanting new blood, progressive voices, and fresh perspectives, what I found was the same old political entrenchment that’s existed for hundreds of years.
I tried my best to bring what change I could after I got to Olympia. I’m incredibly proud of the environmental work that I accomplished such as my bills that banned plastic bags and styrofoam in the state of Washington. I also did a lot of work on electric vehicle infrastructure. In an effort to live by my ethics, I brought as many people to the table as possible. I had one bill where I had 105 people at the first meeting! I wanted to make sure to hear from a diverse group of people, even
people that have a different perspective, to make sure that all voices could be represented, offering different perspectives so that we could make the best policy.
But I was tired. For years, I had been sacrificing my health, my personal life, and my income to stay on the hamster wheel of running for reelection. I was tired of figuring out how to make ends meet without a source of steady year-round income . I was tired of doing my best to represent the most marginal and voiceless, only to be told to sit down and keep quiet. I was tired of climbing uphill without others to support the load. Finally, forget about my enemies, I was tired of being silenced and belittled by those who were supposed to be my allies.
So I decided not to run again, and in 2023 I left the Senate to pivot towards my other BHAG’s, with the first on the list being “Bad Ass Women Doing Kick Ass Shit”.
For all the little girls out there who doubt themselves, remember to Dream B I G and keep going! It might take you 51 years….but you’ll get there eventually! https://monadas.org/e-books/
Contact Info:
- Website: www.monadas.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realmonadas/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monadas/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monadas/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/monadas
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/realmonadas
Image Credits
Yana Terebenina