Shekar Narasimhan is a professional real estate advisor involved in left-of-center political advocacy groups, including the Center for American Progress and Democracy Alliance. ¹

Narasimhan is the chair and founder of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Victory Fund, a left-of-center political action committee (PAC) that has received funding from George Soros. ² The Fund claims to be the first PAC dedicated to the interests of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. ¹

Career

Shekar Narasimhan is the managing partner of Beekman Advisors, a strategy consulting firm that offers advisory services to firms involved in real estate, mortgage finance, affordable housing, hospitality, and senior living. ^{1 3}

He obtained a master’s in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh Katz Graduate School of Business in 1975. He was the CEO of WMF Group, a publicly traded commercial mortgage financial services company, from 1979 to 2000. From 2000 to 2003 he worked as the managing director, agency and head of Prudential Financial. In October 2003, he joined Beekman Advisors. ^{3 4}

Political Views

In April 2024 on Twitter/X , Shekar Narasimhan wrote: “I have always believed that [former President Donald] Trump wants to take us back to the age of white supremacy when all people of color (including women) had no rights including to citizenship and the vote!” ⁵

In March of 2024, Narasimhan reposted a news alert from the American Bazaar announcing that his AAPI Victory Fund officially endorsed President Joe Biden for reelection and would be joining two other PACs (the Collective PAC and the Latino Victory PAC) to pledge $30 million to help mobilize voters. ^{6 7}

Leadership

Narasimhan is the chair and founder of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Victory Fund, a left-of-center super PAC that has received funding from George Soros. ² The Fund claims to be the first PAC dedicated to the interests of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. ¹

Narasimhan is also the co-founder of Remergent Communities Fund, which aims to revitalize small towns in the southeastern United States; the chair of Papillon Capital, a capital allocation firm that facilitates the development of environmentalist infrastructure; and a board member of Broadstone Net Lease, Enterprise Community Partners, and the Democracy Alliance. ¹

Narasimhan sits on the Economic Advisory Council for the Center for American Progress and the Policy Leadership Council of the Urban Institute. He has sat on the boards of Low Income Investment Fund, the Community Preservation and Development Corporation, the National Housing Conference, the National Multi-Housing Council, and Indiaspora, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting Indian Americans and fostering their development of their community in the United States and India. ¹

Narasimhan was chosen by Virginia Governors Terry McAuliffe (D) and Ralph Northam (D) to be commissioner for the Virginia Housing Development Authority. As of 2024, Narasimhan was the chair of the organization. ¹

Narasimhan previously was a member of the Board for Housing and Community Development in Virginia as well as a commissioner on President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. He has sat on the board of directors of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA) several times, was the first chair of the MBA Commercial/Multifamily Board of Governors, and was elected as the first chair of the Fannie Mae DUS advisory committee. ¹

1. “Team.” AAPI Victory Fund. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://www.aapivictoryfund.com/team.
2. “Soros, George – Individual Contribution to AAPI Victory Fund ($50,000 in 2017).” Federal Election Commission (FEC). Accessed April 27, 2024. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?committee_id=C00589507&contributor_name=george+soros.
3. “Shekar Narashimhan.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/shekar-narasimhan-30824b3/.
4. “Shekar Narasimhan.” Democracy Alliance. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://democracyalliance.org/people/shekar-narasimhan/.
5. Post from Shekar Narasimhan. X, April 10, 2024. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://twitter.com/ShekarNara/status/1778084493569429533.
6. Post from Shekar Narasimhan. X, March 11, 2024. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://twitter.com/ambazaarmag/status/1767375512446407158.
7. “AAPI Victory Fund endorses Biden for re-election.” The American Bazaar, March 11, 2024. Accessed April 27, 2024. https://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2024/03/11/aapi-victory-fund-endorses-biden-for-re-election-456183/