"And we lead not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example..."

Hi team,

Four years ago, I wrote to this group after the 2016 election results, remembering Barack Obama’s words about the audacity of hope. I talked about the choice I made in the midst of the chaos, to be thankful to President Obama for his time serving our country, and thankful that we could bear witness to a peaceful transition of power from two diametrically different people. Four years later, I am still hoping to see that same transition in the coming weeks. But I am also choosing gratitude, once more.

As this year kicked off during the midst of an impeachment trial and the democratic primaries, I look back at the choices for President that were before us just a short time ago. And I must admit, that Joe Biden was never my first choice. But I found myself at various points during this campaign surprised by how much President-Elect Biden seemed to genuinely care for others. There was the story about the security guard in an elevator with Joe Biden, who famously said that Joe Biden “has room in his heart for more than himself”. There’s the story Senator Chris Murphy shared on the day of the election, about how Biden consoled victims of gun violence in his state. There’s the story about the boy who stutters being inspired by Biden, and Biden even offering to call him with advice on how to overcome a stutter. The stories of the Amtrak workers who he befriended riding the train every day to work. The story President Obama told about working a photo line with Biden and him spending so much time talking to each individual person. Over and over you hear these stories, and after a while it becomes clear – Biden is the empathy candidate. And right now, that’s what this country decided it needs.

In his own words last night:

But now, let’s give each other a chance.

It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric.

To lower the temperature.

To see each other again.

To listen to each other again.

To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemy. We are not enemies. We are Americans.

The Bible tells us that to everything there is a season — a time to build, a time to reap, a time to sow. And a time to heal.

This is the time to heal in America.

…

Tonight, the whole world is watching America. I believe at our best America is a beacon for the globe.

And we lead not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.

For my part, I’m also thrilled that Biden chose Kamala Harris as his running mate. For my first presidential election, I had the opportunity to cast my ballot for a Vice President with a name that could have come from my own family. With a mother that rocked a sari and a chanlo. With a sister whose name my daughter shares, and with a husband whose roots my partner shares. In her words last night:

And what a testament it is to Joe’s character that he had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exists in our country and select a woman as his vice president.

But while I may be the first woman in this office, I won’t be the last.

Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.

So now, four years later, I am thankful in a new way. And I am thankful today, and every day, to work for this organization and serve our 6,000 students across hundreds of rural villages and communities in the Eastern Province of Zambia. Teaching our youngest citizens how to read and write nurtures the bedrock of our democracy, and I am blessed to have the opportunity to help in that process.

I have hope that the democracies from developing countries, like Zambia, will come to take the center stage and provide a voice for the most marginalized citizens of the world. I have hope that I will live to see many more leaders and mayors that I value, respect, admire and would vote for. And I have hope that with this historic election, this country may start to truly heal.

-Reshma