Emmy-Nominated Actor & Former Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement
Kal Penn: Biography at a Glance
- Kal Penn is an Emmy-nominated actor, writer, producer, and former Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
- Penn recently executive produced and hosted Getting Warmer, a show focused on the intersection of climate, clean energy, and business, and is in preproduction on the independent feature film, Trust Me, I’m a Doctor.
- He also served as a guest host of The Daily Show and recently interviewed President Biden to discuss Marriage Equality and LGBTQ+ Rights.
- He is best known for starring roles including the Harold and Kumar franchise, House, Designated Survivor, and most recently the patriotic immigration comedy Sunnyside, which he co-created for NBC and Hulu. Other credits include roles on Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, 24, and Law & Order: SVU.
- From 2009 to 2011, Penn took a sabbatical from acting to serve in the Obama/Biden administration as the President’s Liaison to Young Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the Arts community.
- Penn's memoir, You Can't Be Serious, is a humorous and inspiring collection of stories about ambition, fame, and his unusual career path.
- He has maintained careers in both entertainment and public service, has been an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and most recently completed several global documentary series for Amazon, VICE, and National Geographic.
Videos
Biography
Kal Penn is an Emmy-nominated actor, writer, producer, and former Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. He is known for his starring roles in Designated Survivor, House, Mira Nair’s The Namesake, the Harold & Kumar franchise, and the Christmas comedy The Santa Clauses for Disney +. Kal most recently guest hosted two weeks of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show following the departure of Trevor Noah.
From 2009 to 2011, Penn took a sabbatical from the private sector to serve in the Obama/Biden administration as the President’s Liaison to Young Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the Arts community. In these three outreach roles, he worked on a team focused on issues that included the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the Affordable Care Act, Pell Grants, the DREAM Act, and rapid response to the BP Oil Spill.
Kal was a national co-chair for the Obama/Biden re-election campaign in 2012 and served on the President’s Committee for the Arts and Humanities, focusing on arts education and cultural diplomacy, including the first-ever US Government arts delegation to Cuba.
Kal received his BA in Sociology with a concentration in Theater, Film, and Television at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Graduate Certificate in International Security from Stanford University. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Penn has been an adjunct lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Los Angeles.
He recently Executive Produced & starred in Bloomberg Green’s climate change docuseries, Getting Warmer, and is in preproduction on the independent feature film, Trust Me, I’m a Doctor.
His bestselling book & audiobook You Can’t Be Serious, about systemic change in Hollywood and politics, is on shelves now.
Topics
Getting Warmer: The Intersection of Climate, Clean Energy, and Business
Kal Penn has traveled the country reporting on businesses, initiatives, researchers, and communities transitioning to clean energy. He analyzes the full scope of climate solutions from ESG investing and electric vehicles to new forms of energy and “greener living.”
In this talk, he explores the critical topics connected to climate change and gives audiences a better understanding of the ways policymakers, consumers, and businesses can tackle these issues together.
From White Castle to the White House
“What possessed you to go from acting in huge movies to working in the White House?” It’s a valid question Kal gets all the time. As the Harold and Kumar star-turned public servant-turned college professor-turned actor again has learned, life doesn’t have to be a series of mutually exclusive decisions.
In a talk that’s equal parts funny, eye-opening, and inspirational, Kal uses his own groundbreaking experiences and plenty of funny social context to debunk the myth that success requires you to pick one lane and stay in it. He shares his experiences balancing a number of careers with a life in public service, including plenty of behind-the-scenes stories from his time on R-rated movie sets to briefings in the Oval Office.
Hope, Change, and Fist Bumps
President Barack Obama’s historic ascent to the Presidency was marked by record political participation from young people. As an active member of the campaign’s youth outreach team and the Obama White House’s first Liaison to Young Americans, nobody has a better understanding of young activation than Kal Penn.
Kal will discuss his unprecedented role in forever changing the way campaigns and government engage young people and the ways in which important - and sometimes divergent causes and organizations - can and must unify to engage the next generation. In our era of unprecedented polarization and negativity, Kal shares his thoughts on learning to come together again for a hopeful future.
Not White. Not Black. But, Pretty Funny for an Indian Guy...
“Gandhi look-alike,” “Snake Charmer,” “Foreign Student” are some of the only roles that actors who looked like Kal could audition for just over a decade ago. That is, until sledgehammers were taken to the walls of an industry that has long struggled with representation and inclusivity.
Kal speaks about some of his own unbelievable experiences with typecasting, taking a funny and biting historic look back at how far we’ve come, as well as a glance forward at the challenges that still lie ahead for performers of all backgrounds.
What will it take to continue breaking down the barriers of discrimination both in and out of Hollywood, and why should we care? (Spoiler: artistic representation, content, comedy, and commerce are all better off!)
