Sister Cities of Chicago Committee Chair Smita Shah joins the Mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, for the annual Mahatma Gandhi Day in Chicago. The Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi’s annual luncheon was originally created by Ms. Shah to honor Mahatma Gandhi and the effect that he had on civil rights around the world. Ms. Shah started the luncheon five years ago in Chicago and was underwritten by her engineering company Spawn.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot Joins Smita Shah, Chair of the Sister Cities of Chicago Delhi Committee, for Annual Lunch and Proclaims October 2nd as Mahatma Gandhi Day in Chicago. Many dignitaries were present at the luncheon in addition to prominent business leaders in the Chicago area. This proclamation honors the man on his 150th birthday and is an acknowledgment of his long-lasting legacy. It also serves to honor the strong commitment and roots of the Indian Community in Chicago. Learn more: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/node/721011
Ms. Shah is very proud of the work that the committee has achieved over the five years since she thought to create this committee. Her desire was for the group to help and improve how the many diverse cultural groups in Chicago could better work together. The proclamation emphasizes the success of the committee in such a short time span.
The Chicago Sister City Council and the Sister Cities International is a division of World Business Chicago and they are committed to sharing ideas, information, and thoughts with its international partners around the Globe. This strong relationship is demonstrated by the interaction between Chicago and its sister city, Delhi. This was the main push when Ms. Shah founded the Mahatma Gandhi luncheon back in 2014. In addition, she feels that this committee is one path to continue Chicago’s global leadership.
Smita Shah has always pushed herself to improve and to lead her peers in the area of cultural interaction. She is a graduate of MIT, Oxford, and Northwestern University. She is a licensed Professional Engineer and holds licenses in several states. She also processes in-depth education in business and engineering. This education and drive to help different factions work together and solve problems is how she started Spaan Technology in 1998 in Chigaco. Spaan is a project management firm and technology company. She started the company in 1998 after she completed her Civil and Environmental Engineering degree from MIT. The success of her company has also pushed her personal success. She has served under several Presidents of the United States and has been chosen as the 19th most connected person in Chicago.
Her extreme work ethic has also pushed her company, Spaan, to be the best. In addition to this, the company has grown to over 50 employees in the 10 short years. The annual revenue has grown alongside the numbers of employees and is now at an annual revenue of $10 million. For this reason, Inc magazine named Spaan the 1821st fastest-growing private company on their list of 5000.
Smita Shah’s husband and life partner have worked hard over the years to follow similar patterns. Equally successful, Maarten de Jeu, has an MBA in business from Oxford University. He was ranked first in his class and is multi-lingual. For these reasons, he is also a successful businessman. They have not only built a strong marriage, but he has also built a strong, successful business in financial services and commercial real estate investment.
Ms. Shah works hard to further cultural development and the sharing of ideas. She is a strong advocate of small business and entrepreneurship. With all of these items, there is no wonder why she extremely important to Chicago and its new plan in the world today.