Azad Strategies

Policy Focused • Politically Strategic • People Powered

Progressivepolicy is apoliticaladvantage.

Azad Strategies develops ambitious policy that can win politically and work in practice, for progressive candidates, elected officials, and advocacy organizations.

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Azad Strategies logo: a walking tiger with the word Azad formed in its stripes

Our History

Azadआज़ादآزاد

Azad (adj.) Free. Liberated. Independent.

Rooted in South Asia’s struggle for independence from colonial rule, the name Azad reflects our belief that politics should be a vehicle for expanding freedom, opportunity, and dignity for all.

We reject the notion that progressive candidates must choose between bold policy and political viability. The most transformative ideas are also the most politically compelling.

Archival photograph of a large crowd marching on foot

Our Belief

Too many campaigns write the strategy first and the policy last. We start with the policy.

Campaigns too often treat policy as something to articulate after the political strategy has already been determined. We see it differently. A policy agenda should speak directly to the everyday struggles of working people, tell them what they stand to gain, and offer a concrete vision for a better future.

An ambitious, people-powered agenda gives voters a reason to organize and vote, gives elected leaders a mandate to act, and gives the public a way to hold them accountable.

Policy worth fighting for meets three criteria.

Material
Does it improve the material conditions of working Americans?
Communicable
Can people explain it in a sentence, and will it move them to organize and vote?
Durable
Can government actually deliver it, and will it last beyond the next election?

What We Do

Where we can help.

Every campaign and governing office needs something different. Come to us for one piece of the work or all of it.

  1. Policy Platform Development

    Agendas that speak to everyday struggles and tell people exactly what they stand to gain, researched, written, and ready to publish for a campaign or governing office.

    • Issue prioritization
    • Original proposals
    • Comprehensive agendas
    • Implementation strategy

  2. Strategic Communications & Policy Translation

    Complex policy turned into language voters remember and repeat, from a first announcement to the op-ed that makes the case, without losing the substance underneath it.

    • Op-eds
    • Talking points
    • Policy announcements
    • Website language

  3. Legislative & Executive Strategy

    Hands-on support for moving an idea through government, from the first draft and coalition conversations to the hearing room and the executive order.

    • Bill development
    • Executive action
    • Coalition and stakeholder strategy
    • Hearing preparation

  4. Policy Research & Memoranda

    Decision-ready analysis for leaders who need the trade-offs, the feasibility, and a clear recommendation before they make the call or take a position.

    • Trade-off analysis
    • Feasibility assessments
    • Actionable recommendations

Founder

Dhruv Kapadia

Strategist. Policymaker. Community Organizer.

Dhruv began his political career at 16 as an organizer in Hopewell, New Jersey, mobilizing students and community members to advocate for anti-racist reforms in the public schools he attended. At 21, he became the youngest and first South Asian elected member of the Hopewell Valley Regional School District Board of Education.

That experience shaped his belief that change begins locally and must be rooted in tangible policy outcomes.

Dhruv Kapadia speaking

Experience

Board of Education MemberHopewell Valley Regional School District

Elected 2023 to a one-year term (2024). Re-elected 2024 to a three-year term (2025–2027).

  • Elected as the youngest and first South Asian member in the district’s 130+ year history.
  • As Government Relations Chair, secured $125,000 in the FY26 State Budget for an ADA-accessible playground, a first for the district.
  • Abolished random drug testing, expanded restorative justice, and protected cultural attire and natural hairstyles in staff dress code.
  • Added a cultural competency graduation requirement and led communications for the 2025 school referendum.
Political & Organizing DirectorSAATH

August 2026 – Present

  • Lead political strategy and organizing for a Gen Z-led 501(c)(4) advancing South Asian civic and political engagement nationwide.
  • Co-lead “South Asians Flip the Senate,” a multi-state organizing initiative in 2026 battlegrounds including Georgia, Texas, and Michigan.
  • Build partnerships with political organizations, campaigns, elected officials, and civic leaders to run roundtables, town halls, rallies, and voter-contact programs.
Legislative DirectorNew Jersey State Senator Andrew Zwicker

May 2024 – July 2025, starting as Legislative Aide

  • Led drafting and advancing legislation on ranked choice voting, automatic voter registration, harmful food additives, fusion energy research, neurodiverse education and employment, and advanced transmission technologies.
  • Developed agendas, questions, and invitee lists for Legislative Oversight Committee hearings on AI regulation and sustainable energy.
  • Supported passage of the Freedom to Read Act, coordinating advocates, Senate leadership, state agencies, and the Governor’s Office.
  • Recruited and supervised an annual cohort of about 10 interns.
Dukakis Governors’ Summer FellowIllinois Governor JB Pritzker

June – August 2026

  • Advised Deputy Governor Grace Hou’s Health and Human Services portfolio, spanning 10 state agencies and 25,000+ staff.
  • Codified transit-oriented development revisions to the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s 2027–28 Qualified Allocation Plan.
  • Analyzed the costs and benefits of covering GLP-1 medications through the State Employees Group Insurance Program.
  • Authored a comprehensive assessment of Illinois’s gambling landscape and briefed Governor Pritzker directly on the findings.
Transition Term FellowJersey City Mayor James Solomon

January 2026

  • Developed executive orders restricting ICE from city property and expanding immigrant protections.
  • Drafted a citywide rent control audit to crack down on landlords illegally overcharging tenants.
  • Developed an order establishing a dedicated traffic safety unit to accelerate Vision Zero.
  • Designed a First 100 Days promise tracker to monitor implementation across departments.
Planning StafferBoston Mayor Michelle Wu

June 2023 – May 2024

  • Coordinated implementation of citywide and neighborhood plans, including PLAN: Mattapan, Charlestown, and East Boston.
  • Built a tracker of planning initiatives and produced implementation progress reports.
  • Authored memos on commercial affordability and anti-displacement strategy, with recommendations adopted by the Mayor.
93rd Student Body PresidentBoston University

2022 – 2024

  • Elected and re-elected to represent 17,000 undergraduates.
  • Grew Student Government’s budget from $60,000 to $1.1 million.
  • Served on the Presidential Search Committee and the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing.

Master in Public Policy candidate at Harvard Kennedy School, focusing on Social and Urban Policy, with graduation expected in May 2027. B.A. in Economics and Political Science with a minor in Statistics, magna cum laude, from Boston University, where he was a Trustee Scholar, a merit-based full-tuition scholarship.

Connect on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)Read the Harvard Kennedy School profile (opens in a new tab)

Principal’s Past Experience

Selected Work

This work comes from Dhruv’s prior professional roles. It is not a product of Azad Strategies LLC.

Immigrant Protections

Transition Term Fellow, Jersey City Mayor James Solomon (2026)

  • Developed one of the nation’s most comprehensive municipal immigrant protection frameworks, strengthening safeguards against ICE in Jersey City.
  • Developed an executive order that restricted the use of city property for federal civil immigration enforcement, established modernized protocols and training for city employees responding to ICE activity, and expanded legal support for immigrant residents.

Affordable Housing Development & Tenants’ Rights

Transition Term Fellow, Jersey City Mayor James Solomon (2026)

  • Drafted Jersey City’s rent control audit and identified 20,000+ rent-controlled units.
  • The audit was designed to identify landlords illegally overcharging tenants, shift the burden of uncovering rent-control violations from renters to City Hall, and create a public database of rent-protected units.

Dukakis Governors’ Summer Fellow, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (2026)

  • Codified transit-oriented development revisions to the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s 2027–28 Qualified Allocation Plan, strengthening incentives for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit affordable housing developments located near public transportation.

City Planning & Street Safety

Planning Staffer, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (2023–2024)

  • Coordinated implementation of the Boston Planning Department’s citywide and neighborhood plans (PLAN: Mattapan, Charlestown, East Boston), creating a novel tracker of select planning initiatives and deploying plan implementation progress reports.
  • Authored memos on commercial affordability and anti-displacement strategy, producing recommendations adopted by the Mayor.

Transition Term Fellow, Jersey City Mayor James Solomon (2026)

  • Developed an executive order to establish a dedicated traffic safety unit to accelerate Vision Zero execution in Jersey City.

Energy Affordability

Legislative Director, New Jersey State Senator Andrew Zwicker (2024–2025)

  • Drafted a legislative package on advanced transmission technologies (S4675, S4676) and strategic communications addressing rising electricity costs, grid modernization, and energy demand.
  • Developed agendas, questions, and invitee lists for Legislative Oversight Committee hearings on sustainable energy.

Inclusive & AI-⁠Proof Economy

Legislative Director, New Jersey State Senator Andrew Zwicker (2024–2025)

  • Developed a comprehensive legislative package expanding employment pathways and educational opportunities for neurodiverse New Jerseyans (S4118–S4120).
  • Developed agendas, questions, and invitee lists for Legislative Oversight Committee hearings on AI regulation.

Democracy & Civil Liberties

Legislative Director, New Jersey State Senator Andrew Zwicker (2024–2025)

  • Led drafting and advancing legislation on ranked choice voting (S1622) and automatic voter registration (S1636).
  • Supported the passage of the Freedom to Read Act into law, coordinating stakeholder engagement with community activists, Senate leadership, State agencies, and the Governor’s Office, making New Jersey a national leader in combating academic censorship.

Public Education Equity

Board of Education Member, Hopewell Valley Regional School District (2024–Present)

  • Elected as the youngest and first South Asian member in the Hopewell Valley Regional School District’s 130+ year history.
  • As Government Relations Committee Chair, secured $125,000 in state funding for an ADA-accessible playground through the FY26 State Budget, the first time in district history.
  • On the Policy Committee, abolished random drug testing, protected cultural attire and natural hairstyles in the staff dress code, expanded restorative justice in the student code of conduct, added a cultural competency graduation requirement, and approved a district-wide AI plan.

Health & Consumer Protection

Dukakis Governors’ Summer Fellow, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (2026)

  • Conducted a cost-benefit and comparative policy analysis of GLP-1 coverage in the Illinois State Employees Group Insurance Program.
  • Authored a comprehensive assessment of Illinois’s evolving gambling ecosystem, identifying regulatory and consumer-protection gaps and developing executive, agency, and legislative options, and briefed Governor Pritzker directly on findings and recommendations.

Legislative Director, New Jersey State Senator Andrew Zwicker (2024–2025)

  • Led drafting and advancing legislation banning harmful food additives (S3016).

Working With Azad

Engagement Pathways

We offer flexible engagements tailored to your needs, and every one begins with a complimentary 30-minute consultation to set goals, deliverables, and deadlines.

Focused Deliverables

Project-Based

Targeted expertise for a defined project, priority, or moment in your campaign. Bring us in to develop a policy platform, research a specific issue, or draft legislation, with a clear scope and deliverables from the start.

  • Full platforms or individual policy planks
  • Op-eds, talking points, and announcements
  • Targeted policy research and memoranda

Fixed project fee, based on scope

Ongoing Partnership

Monthly Retainer

Consistent policy and strategic support as your campaign or governing agenda evolves. We work alongside your team as an ongoing partner for political advising, policy strategy, and legislative support, ready when new issues and opportunities emerge.

  • Platform and policy development
  • Research memos and messaging refinement
  • Strategic guidance and advisory calls

Monthly fee, three-month minimum

A crowd gathered outdoors, applauding, with handmade signs

Work With Azad

Freedom is ours to build.

Whether you’re launching a campaign, drafting a policy agenda, or preparing to govern, let’s talk about what’s possible. Your first 30-minute consultation is on us.

Email Dhruv