WISCONSIN (TIP): Steven Olikara, the son of Indian immigrants living in Wisconsin, has just announced his US Senate Exploratory Committee for 2022 Wisconsin Senate election.

If he gets elected, Olikara, a Brookfield, Wisconsin native, entrepreneur and nonprofit leader, will be the only person of Indian origin in the US Senate.

“While the politicians have the food fight at the top, the people at the bottom are stuck,” Olikara said in a press release. “That’s why I’m calling on all Wisconsinites to join us in a movement to elevate a more inclusive, compassionate and honest form of politics.” Olikara is traveling across Wisconsin for a “Dignity Tour” that convenes Wisconsinites from all walks of life: groups of farmers, small business owners, factory workers, veterans, Indigenous communities, and people with disabilities. The tour will guide an agenda for a more inclusive and compassionate form of politics that rejects the current system that pits people against each other, the release said.

“Olikara has devoted his life and career to bringing together people from opposite sides of the political divide,” it said.

A graduate of Brookfield East High School and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Olikara launched the Millennial Action Project in 2013.

The multi-million-dollar national nonprofit trains elected officials to build coalitions that pass innovative laws to promote greater economic mobility, a cleaner environment and a healthier democracy.

For two years, Olikara hosted “Red & Blue Dialogues” across Wisconsin with political leaders and constituents from across the ideological spectrum, conversations that focused on issues including the future of work, higher education, and the environment.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel named it one of “10 big ideas to help fix Wisconsin’s problems.”

“We have to model the leadership we want to see,” Olikara said. “Our democracy needs us. If we have the courage to stand up, organize and wake up from this dark moment in our politics, we will change the future of our state and our country.”