For Pooja Shah, everything she is and everything she does began with the lessons she learned as a child growing up in India.

“We always worked hard, but were never spoiled,” she said. “When I was young, my grandfather was adamant about learning things on your own. He used to send me to the bank to deposit $2 checks until I could do it correctly on my own. He wanted us to understand what it took to be an actual adult.”

Shah took the lessons that her grandparents, parents, and extended family in India instilled in her when she moved to the United States with her parents and siblings in 1999. After finishing high school in India, Pooja earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire and went on to work as an engineer for Eversource Energy. Over the next eight and a half years, she got married and excelled in her career while also obtaining her Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

In 2011 though, Shah’s life took a turn when her husband died in a hiking accident. She overcame her loss with strong support from her family, friends, and colleagues. Now on her own, she remembered the lessons that her grandfather instilled in her. She knew it was time to stand up on her own and in 2013, she left New Hampshire and moved south to Atlanta.

She first took a job at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) before joining Georgia Power in late 2016. Today, she is a Business Transformation Lead where she leads projects that address challenges using innovative, agile and project management tools.  

Shah lives in Inman Park on the east side of Atlanta, and until 2020, she visited her family in India every other year. When she visits, she stays in the home where she learned all of her early childhood lessons and has made a point to visit different parts of the vast country. That changed once the COVID-19 pandemic struck around the globe. Today, India is facing a national emergency as the country’s infection and death rates climb to horrific levels.

“Every day, we hear about a relative or friend that has been infected. It’s such a fearful moment and my family is fully isolated,” she said.

As the pandemic spreads in the country that she loves, so has an increase in racism against the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities in the United States and around the globe.

“It feels like all the hatred started with the virus, but it took a mass shooting in Atlanta to show how bad it truly was,” she said, referring to the multiple spa shootings in the metro Atlanta area that took the lives of six Asian women in March. “We get so focused on one thing that we don’t look around and see what else is going on.”

When asked what the community can do to have a voice and be an ally, she said, “We have to humanize these events instead of just seeing people affected by hate crimes as numbers. “I’ve heard multiple stories of Asians who were just walking in the city and were attacked for what they look like by someone instigating hate.”

Pooja also encourages her community and colleagues to have conversations with one another and invite each other in instead of calling people out.

“So often, we call people out instead of actually educating them and explaining why we feel a certain way. We have to call people in,” said Shah. “It’s not always about hate. Sometimes it’s coming from unawareness, nervousness and not knowing how to react.”

Pooja says that she knows it is exhausting, discouraging and disheartening for the API community, but it’s everyone’s responsibility to educate yourself, learn from others, and be an ally to those being marginalized.

A resource that she recommends is “Bystander Intervention Training,” a free virtual training workshop that educates individuals on their options when they witness someone being harassed or targeted. The training is conducted within the context of combatting anti-API hate and xenophobia but the methods and tools are relevant to any and all types of harassment.

“Everyone should take this training to see how we can support one another,” she said. “The way people are being treated based on background and race is absolutely inhumane. We cannot turn the other way.”

Georgia Power celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month 

Every May, Georgia Power celebrates the invaluable contributions and influence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. 

On Wednesday, May 19 at noon EST, the company’s Asian Pacific American Employee Resource Group (APA ERG) together with Southern Company Gas’ Soar ERG will host a panel on celebrating API culture and traditions and creating a sense of belonging for APIs. The panel will include Southern Company executives who identify as API as well as Southern Company Board of Directors member and Google executive Dr. Janakai Akella. The panel will be moderated by Georgia Power’s VP of Corporate Services Latanza Adjei. Click here to RSVP and click here to view the webcast.

On Thursday, May 20 at 6 p.m. EST, the company will host a panel on Facebook Live (www.Facebook.com/GeorgiaPower) on uplifting the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, as well as resources available in light of the increase in racism and hate crimes across the country. The panel will include representatives from the company and community partners, as well as Younghoe Koo, placekicker for the Atlanta Falcons and 2020 NFL Pro Bowl honoree. Click here to learn more and RSVP.