essex county commissioner board honors vp of livingston board of education

Vineeta Khanna, Vice President of the Livingston Board of Education and Essex County Commissioner At-Large Patricia Sebold. (PHOTO BY LLOYD HOMES)

Livingston resident Commissioner Patricia Sebold honors Vineeta Khanna at the Board’s Inaugural AAPI Heritage Month Event

(Newark, NJ) – On Tuesday, May 17, 2022, the Essex County Board of County Commissioners held its inaugural Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Event. This event will be held yearly to honor Asian and Pacific Islander Americans for their unique contributions to the community, the County of Essex, and the State of New Jersey.

This year, the Board recognized: Vineeta Khanna, Vice President of the Livingston Board of Education; Allison Ladd, Deputy Mayor and Director of Economic and Housing Development of Newark; Jeannie Kwon of South Orange, Vice President for Stations, Capital Delivery at Amtrak; Toral Patel, Co-Chair of the South Asian American Caucus; and Mengxing Perez, Special Education Teacher at Park Elementary School.

Longtime Livingston resident and Essex County Commissioner Patricia Sebold honored Ms. Khanna at the ceremony for her impact in educating our youth, and her exemplary record of community service. “I was thrilled to present Vineeta as an honoree at the Board’s first Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Event. As an educator myself, I am well aware of the impact she has on our young people and the Livingston community as a whole.” Commissioner Sebold stated. “The Board recognizes her efforts and looks forward to her future contributions.”

Ms. Vineeta Khanna, currently the Vice President of the Livingston Board of Education, feels a great sense of humility in being the first person of Indian American descent to be elected to public office in Livingston. Prior to being elected, she served the town as a member of the Zoning Board, Open Space Trust Committee, and Diversity and Inclusion Committee. During her time as an educator, she individually conceptualized and executed the very first Livingston Public Schools multicultural event in Harrison Elementary School, and the event has since spread to all the schools in the district. Additionally, she hosted a very popular radio program for 16-years on WWTR 1170 AM where she engaged listeners on social issues. Motivated by her passion for public speaking, and for the personality development of her students, she founded Orator Academy where she teaches students to communicate with confidence and conviction.

“As an Indian American, I feel a sense of responsibility to showcase my culture and my values because they are so similar to any good values anywhere in the world.” Ms. Khanna stated upon receiving the Board’s commendation. “As I sit on the Livingston BOE, I am not representing a small community, I represent every Livingston Public student. As a person of ethnic origin, I do have a dream that one day we will look beyond the color of our skin and recognize the spirit that we all bring to our community.”

In addition to her distinguished career as an educator, Vineeta has also been a student of Indian Classical Music (vocal) since her teenage years. She speaks three languages, has traveled to over thirty countries and hundreds of cities. She is the proud mother of her son, Vihan, who is currently pursuing his Masters in Media Ventures from Boston University, and daughter Shivangi who is currently working for a Fintech company in New York City and starts her Masters at Harvard Business School in the fall.

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