Board, Staff, Volunteers, Interns

Priya Murthy is the Policy Director at SAALT. As Policy Director, she monitors and analyzes legislative and administrative policies affecting the South Asian community; conducts advocacy on various policy issues; and develops educational materials for the South Asian community members and organizations. She also represents the organization as a member of immigrant and civil rights coalitions as well as before lawmakers and governmental agencies. She previously worked for various Immigration Courts, the Amnesty International Refugee Office and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in New Delhi. Priya received her J.D. from Tulane University and her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in Peace and Conflict Studies. To reach Priya, please email priya@saalt.org.

K’ai Smith joined SAALT in January 2011 as the Director of Programs and Operations. K’ai is responsible for implementing and evaluating community programs and initiatives, as well as developing internal organizational infrastructure. K’ai has a non-profit background providing direct services and program design, planning, and evaluation using client-centered, harm reduction models within public health and social justice frameworks. K'ai has served diverse immigrant, limited English and non-English proficient, migrant worker, racial/ethnic minority, HIV/PLWA, LGB, transgender, sex worker, indigent/homeless, domestic violence, substance use, and youth populations. K’ai studied Biology at the University of Mary Washington. To reach K’ai, please email kai@saalt.org.

Rehmah Sufi joined SAALT in January 2010 as the Development Manager. Rehmah will focus on expanding SAALT’s organizational capacity through resource development, donor relations, and innovative collaborations.  Rehmah has previously worked with the AGHS Legal Aid Cell in Pakistan and Apna Ghar, Inc. (Our Home) in Chicago on issues pertaining to gender violence and immigrant women. She serves on the board of the Leadership Center for Asian Pacific Americans and is a founding member of Asian Pacific Americans in Development. She received her B.A. in Political Science from Lewis University. To reach Rehmah, please email rehmah@saalt.org.

SAALT FELLOWS

Sadiya Abjani joined SAALT in September 2011 as the Maryland Outreach Coordinator (Americorps). She was born and raised in Texas, and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor?s in Islamic Studies and English, minors in Arabic and Asian Studies, as well as her Teaching Certification. In Texas, she managed programs and developed content for many national education programs, including youth and adult religious education. Sadiya will be handling the New American Citizenship Project at SAALT in conjunction with CASA de Maryland, as well as conducting outreach and research for various issues and needs in the community. She is an avid writer focusing in on South Asian and Muslim cultural commentary and modern/progressive interpretations of theology in faith communities. To reach Sadiya, please email sadiya@saalt.org

SAALT CONSULTANTS

Hena Ashraf joined SAALT in February 2010 as the NYC Racial Profiling Project Coordinator. Hena is a filmmaker, as well as a writer and photographer. With roots from the subcontinent, she is a native Londoner and spent her early years in the UK before immigrating to the US. She graduated in 2008 from the University of Michigan with concentrations in Film & Video Studies, and Political Science. Hena founded the Ann Arbor Palestine Film Festival in the summer of 2008, and was co-director in 2009. She lives in NYC and advocates for the making and use of independent media, and is involved in connecting Muslim communities to the wider progressive movement. To reach Hena, please email hena@saalt.org.

Navneet K. Patwalia Bhalla joined SAALT as the New Jersey Policy and Outreach Coordinator/Consultant in July 2010. Navneet practiced as an attorney in the United Kingdom for a number of years and gained extensive experience in immigration law, human rights law, and employment law. Navneet completed her LL.M. with a specialization in International Human Rights Law at American University, Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. Subsequently, Navneet served as Of Counsel to a law firm in NJ, working on employment and discrimination litigation. In 2008, Navneet travelled to Sudan, Africa, where she served as a Legal Consultant for the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Navneet has also lived in Tehran, Iran for a number of years prior to moving to the U.K. at a young age. Navneet is fluent in Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Farsi and English. To reach Navneet, please email navneet@saalt.org.

SAALT also recognizes former consultants who have helped to advance our work, including: Reema Agnani, Seema Agnani, Ranjan Chari, Reema Desai, Vinnu Deshetty, Maha Khan, Ari Moore, Anand Parikh, Qudsia Raja, Saurav Sarkar, and K'ai Smith.

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SAALT BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Anouska Cheddie (Chair) raises resources to create a more just and equitable world. She currently works with the Environmental Defense Fund as a Senior Major Gift Officer. Previously, she was with Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PFPA). Prior to PPFA, Anouska was the Development Director for the North Star Fund, a non-endowed community foundation that funds community organizing in New York City. She got her start in development as a political fundraiser where she worked for such progressive candidates as New York State Senator Liz Krueger and former New York City Councilmember Stephen DiBrienza. She has also volunteered with the Sithabile Child and Youth Center in Johannesburg, South Africa and the Seagull Arts and Media Center in Calcutta, India. Anouska is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany and School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, UK.

Jayesh Rathod (Vice-Chair) is a Practitioner-in-Residence with the International Human Rights Law Clinic at American University Washington College of Law (WCL). Prior to joining the WCL faculty, he was a Staff Attorney at CASA of Maryland, representing low-wage immigrant workers on employment law and immigration matters, and participating in worker education, organizing, and advocacy efforts. He also practiced in the litigation section at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering LLP, and was law clerk to the Honorable Louis F. Oberdorfer, of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Over the course of his career, he has worked with numerous non-governmental organizations to advance the civil and human rights of communities in the United States and abroad. His areas of specialty and scholarly interests include immigrants' rights, labor and employment, occupational safety and health, and the intersection of law and organizing. He is a graduate of Columbia Law School and Harvard University.

Deepak Bansal (Treasurer) is a Senior Information Technology Consultant, for Deloitte & Touche LLP, focusing on the Intelligence Community. He is a Certified Public Accountant who obtained his B.S. in Accounting from the University of Maryland at College Park, and a Masters in Information Technology from The George Washington University.  Over the years, Deepak has also been involved in Montgomery County and Maryland state level political and economic community. In 2008 he was appointed by Governor Martin O’Malley to the Business and Economic Development Commission, where he was responsible for fostering a positive business climate to enhance economic development in Maryland.  In 2007, he was also appointed to the Ethnic Affairs Commission, by Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, where he was responsible for advising the County Executive on public policy that relates to ethnic affairs and promoting maximum involvement of all ethnicity groups in government, business and community affairs.  On a personal note, Deepak is an amateur magician and a member of the elite Magic Castle in Los Angeles, who volunteers his time performing for local elementary schools and children’s hospitals.

Maheen Qureshi is a Specialist at Freddie Mac, managing national outreach initiatives in housing, financial education and foreclosure prevention. Her work has focused on outreach to women and communities of color. Previously, Maheen worked in The Nature Conservancy’s conservation finance unit. Maheen holds an MBA from American University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. She is multi-lingual and has lived in Indonesia, the Philippines, Burma and Pakistan, as well as the United States. Maheen has been involved in various leadership and outreach activities in a personal capacity. Her interest in humanitarian work has taken her to Afghanistan to visit impoverished communities affected by war and to Pakistan to visit flood affected communities. She is a Washington, DC area volunteer for SHINE Humanity, a non-profit focused on disaster relief (internationally) and preventative healthcare in Pakistan. She is also a new member of the DC board of Developments in Literacy (DIL), a non-profit that provides education to disadvantaged children in Pakistan. Maheen is also a lifetime member of MANA, A National Latina Organization and has held leadership positions in the Asian diversity network at Freddie Mac. She also enjoys volunteering as a financial literacy presenter and working with children.

Archana Sahgal is a program officer for the Equality and Opportunity Fund-U.S. Programs at the Open Society Foundations. In this role, she is responsible for the racial justice and immigrant rights grantmaking and also oversees grantmaking related to anti-violence advocacy. Sahgal also co-founded the Civic Engagement Fund at Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP), a philanthropic collaborative focused on strengthening the civic participation of Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian communities in the wake of September 11. She directed the Color of Democracy Fund, a collaboration of some of California's leading donors supporting progressive infrastructure. At The San Francisco Foundation, she served as a Social Justice Fellow, managing the Civic Participation/Voter Mobilization Grant Program. More recently, she worked as a consultant to the Rosenberg Foundation and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Aside from this, Sahgal worked as the Director of External Affairs of the Office of the Assessor-Recorder for the City and County of San Francisco. She serves on the boards of Californians for Justice and the Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights & Education.   Sahgal is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College and University of California at Davis School of Law and is a member of the California State Bar.

SAALT Council of Advisors

SAALT’s Council of Advisors, created in 2006, assembles a group of individuals with expertise and knowledge about policy issues and immigrant communities. The Council of Advisors provides guidance to SAALT regarding stances on policy issues and collaborations with South Asian and non-South Asian organizations.

Muneer Ahmad is an associate professor of law at the Washington College of Law at the American University in DC. He holds expertise in immigrants’ rights, clinical legal education, labor and employment and poverty law. Prior to joining the faculty of the Washington College of Law, Ahmad was staff attorney and Skadden Fellow at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles. Previously he was law clerk to the Hon. William K. Sessions, III, U.S. District Court in Burlington, Vt. From 1998 to 2001 he was Legal Task Force Chair of the South Asian Network in Artesia, Cal. He has presented on various human rights topics at such institutions as Harvard University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, Northridge, New England School of Law, Loyola Marymount University Conferences sponsored by: U.S. Department of State, American Studies Association, The Rockefeller Foundation, The California Endowment, The Wellness Foundation, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum. He is author of "Serving Market Needs, Not People's Needs: The Indignity of Welfare Reform," 10 Amer. U. J. of Gender, Soc. Policy & Law 27 (2002); "Homeland Insecurities: Racial Profiling the Day After 9/11," Social Text 72, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Fall 2002); "The Ethics of Narrative," 11 Amer. U. J. of Gender, Soc. Policy & Law 117 (2002); "A Rage Shared by Law: Post-September 11 Racial Violence as Crimes of Passion," 92 Cal. L. Rev. 1259 (2004).

Nancy Ali is the Executive Vice President at Metropolitan Group (MG). Ali’s has over 27 years of experience in diversified revenue development, strategic planning and marketing communications for the non-profit and corporate sectors. She leads MG’s national resource development practice. Ali has spent 15 years working with multi-million dollar, local and national nonprofit organizations as a leader and a manager. During her tenure, she has helped organizations secure more than $143 million through diversified revenue streams. Prior to joining MG, Ali worked in national and local non-profits addressing youth, health and sexual health and reproductive rights issues. She has worked as vice president for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Midwest region and served on the executive management team for Planned Parenthood of Chicago as vice president, development. During her 12 years in the corporate sector, Ali worked primarily in print media, including The Los Angeles Times and New York Newsday. Nancy also headed up creative services for Hollywood Presbyterian Center, a 434-bed acute-care facility in Los Angeles. Ali has been actively involved in organizations that address human rights issues in the South Asian community. She is a member of Drishtipat, a human rights organization addressing societal issues confronting those living in Bangladesh. She currently sits on the board of Kartemquin Films, which develops films that focus on the lives of those who are most directly affected by social and political change and who are often overlooked or misrepresented by the media. Ali majored in journalism at Ball State University where she was a member of the Honors College and was a Graduate Fellow at Ohio State University.

Chandra Bhatnagar is a Staff Attorney with the Human Rights Program (HRP), where he leads HRP's domestic and international advocacy around racial profiling, affirmative action, and juvenile justice issues, and is engaged in federal court litigation and litigation in international tribunals involving the rights of low-wage immigrant workers, undocumented workers, and guest-workers.Bhatnagar is also the principal author of The Persistence of Racial and Ethnic Profiling in the United States, submitted to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Prior to joining the ACLU, Bhatnagar was a Skadden Fellow and Staff Attorney with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, where he directed the South Asian Workers' Project for Human Rights, a community-based project providing legal services to low-wage workers from South Asia. Previously, he was the Assistant Director of Columbia University's "Bringing Human Rights Home Project," where he worked to improve conditions affecting post 9-11 detainees and efforts to organize a coalition of human rights defenders in the United States. Bhatnagar has also worked internationally, partnering with a leading NGO in India in applying human rights standards to their anti-child labor/bonded labor campaigns, and domestically with the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he did immigrants' rights and anti-police brutality organizing, and served as the interim director of the Ella Baker Summer Intern Program. He received a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and an LL.M. in international human rights from Columbia Law School.

Anushka Fernandopulle lives in San Francisco and works as a management consultant, facilitator, coach and trainer for nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area and nationally. Anushka holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management focusing on organizational behavior and nonprofit management and a BA from Harvard University in Social Anthropology and Comparative Religions. Her work has included supporting organizations in the fields of public health, social and economic justice, civil rights, the environment, and the arts. Anushka is also a lay teacher in the Theravada Buddhist tradition and teaches retreats around the US. 

Vanita Gupta works for the national legal department of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) where she litigates cases to improve access to justice and education for communities of color, and challenges post 9/11 racial profiling and racially-biased aspects of the criminal justice system. Before joining the ACLU, Ms. Gupta served as Assistant Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. (LDF) for five years. At LDF, her work centered on civil rights litigation that promoted systemic reform of the criminal justice system. Ms. Gupta successfully led the effort to overturn the drug convictions of 38 defendants in Tulia, Texas, representing wrongfully-convicted individuals, organizing national law firms, and coordination the overall legal and media strategy. With co-counsel, she settled civil rights cases filed on behalf of the wrongfully convicted Tulia residents for $6 million. A movie, titled Tulia, about Ms. Gupta’s role in exposing the injustice in Tulia will be released in 2008.

Ms. Gupta has received numerous awards including the Reebok Human Rights Award and the American Red Cross “Rising Star” award, the India Abroad Special Award for Outstanding Achievement, and the Upakar Foundation Community Ambassador Award. Ms. Gupta was also profiled in The New York Times “Public Lives” section in 2003. She is a member of the U.S. Programs Advisory Committee for Human Rights Watch, and a member of SAALT’s Council of Advisors.

Chaumtoli Huq is the Director of Litigation for Manhattan Legal Services which provides free legal services to low income residents of Manhattan through its offices in Harlem and Lower Manhattan. Prior to joining MLS, she was the senior staff attorney with MFY Legal Service's Workplace Justice Project.  Ms. Huq was previously a staff attorney with the New York Taxi Workers' Alliance (NYTWA), a membership-based organization of immigrant taxi-drivers in New York City. There, she directed the Wheels of Justice project which provided legal support to TWA organizing efforts through litigation and policy initiatives. Ms. Huq moved to NYTWA from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) in New York, where she was a Staff Attorney/Skadden Fellow. Ms. Huq founded and directed the first South Asian Workers Rights Project (SAWRP) that provided legal support to low wage South Asian workers. After graduating from Columbia University in 1993, Ms.Huq worked as the Domestic Violence Coordinator at Sakhi for South Asian Women. A graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, she was a Staff Attorney at the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, PA from 1997-1999. Born in Bangladesh and raised in Bronx, New York, Ms. Huq tries to connect her community based work in New York with international human rights issues. She is a proud mother of two children: Zarif and Liyana.

Ann Kalayil is the co-founder and director of the South Asian American Policy and Research Institute (SAAPRI). She has a Ph.D. in History from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and teaches Asian American Studies at DePaul University. She has taught courses focusing on Asian and Asian-American History at the University of Illinois and Loyola University. As a Board member of several organizations, both community service and advocacy based, she is active in Chicago’s Indian American and Asian American community. She has conducted diversity training and spent over a decade advocating in the following areas: economic development for target communities, reforms in immigration, campaign finance, education, tougher hate crimes legislation, combating stereotyping of Asian Americans in media, and political empowerment.

Anil Kalhan is an Associate Professor of Law at Drexel University’s Earle Mack School of Law. Before coming to Drexel, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Fordham University Law School and an Associate in Law at Columbia Law School, and he previously served as a litigation associate at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton and co-coordinator of the firm’s immigration and international human rights pro bono practice group. He also has previously worked for the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project in New York and served as law clerk to the Hon. Chester J. Straub (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit) and the Hon. Gerard E. Lynch (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York). He currently serves on the board of directors of the South Asian Bar Association of New York, the national council of advisors for South Asian Americans Leading Together, and the advisory board of the Discrimination and National Security Initiative of the Harvard University Pluralism Project. He has been a contributing writer for Dorf on Law, AsiaMedia, and SAJAforum, and previously was a member of the International Law Committee and International Human Rights Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Before attending law school, he worked for Cable News Network, the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, and the New York City Department of Transportation.

Sheela Murthy After gaining experience in top firms in New York and Baltimore, Sheela Murthy began the Murthy Law Firm in 1994. Located on the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland with a liaison office in Chennai, India, her firm is considered one of the world’s premier U.S. immigration law firms, as confirmed by the U.K.-based Chambers Global.  Having earned her LL.M. from Harvard Law School, Ms. Murthy has many honors to her credit. She is recognized as a Super Lawyer in Maryland, listed as one of the top U.S. immigration lawyers in the world in the Who's Who in Corporate Immigration Law, as one of Baltimore’s top twenty-five lawyers by the Baltimore Business Journal, and is a recent recipient of the Bravo! Award from SmartCEO Magazine, awarded to women entrepreneurs. Ms. Murthy serves on several boards, including the American Immigration Law Foundation, the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, the MurthyFoundation, and Stevenson University. She is active at the leadership level of nonprofit organizations including the United Way of Central Maryland and United Way International. A frequent speaker, both nationally and internationally, Ms. Murthy has appeared at Harvard and other universities, and is often quoted in national and local media. Sheela is sought after as a motivational speaker for her passion and unique perspectives on life as an immigrant, a minority woman, and as a business leader.

Gouri Sadhwani is Deputy Executive Director for the Organizing, Membership & Campaigns at Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). She leads AIUSA's work on human rights campaigns; membership; and grassroots organizing. Sadhwani has worked on human and labor rights for more than 15 years. Prior to joining AIUSA, she served as Special Assistant to the President of the Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ and led the union's work on social justice and strategic partnerships. Sadhwani has served as Executive Director of the New York Civic Participation Project and La Fuente, Inc. and brought together labor unions and community partners around immigrant worker rights. She worked on international labor rights and corporate accountability while at the National Labor Committee. In 1997, as Executive Director of the Hague Appeal for Peace, she led the work of over a hundred NGOs, dozens of international organizations and the UN on an international peace conference that brought together over 10,000 activists from over 100 countries in The Hague. Sadhwani was born in India and is a graduate of the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University. 

Nitasha Kaur Sawhney is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Garcia Calderon Ruiz, LLP. Ms. Sawhney specializes in education, labor and employment law and advises clients on matters related to labor negotiations, personnel, charter schools, educational foundations, public meeting laws and school district governance matters. In 2006, Ms. Sawhney was appointed by California Assembly Speak Fabian Nunez to serve on the California State Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs. Ms. Sawhney currently serves as vice-chair of the Commission. In addition, Ms. Sawhney is an advisor to the Discrimination & National Security Initiative, an affiliate of Harvard University’s Pluralism Project and is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Diversity in the Profession Committee. Ms. Sawhney also serves as a legal volunteer with the California Sikh Council and the Sikh American Legal Defense & Education Fund (SALDEF). Ms. Sawhney was awarded the 2006 Spirit in Action Award from the Interfaith Councils of the City of Garden Grove, Stanton, and Westminster for her work in raising funds and awareness to aid victims of genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan and her dedication to public service. Due to her outstanding community service initiatives, Ms. Sawhney was awarded the 2008 Public Interest Award from South Asian Bar Association of Southern California on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs. Ms. Sawhney is a first generation South Asian American. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley where she studied Mass Communication and Ethnic Studies. Ms. Sawhney received her law degree from the UC Davis’ King Hall Law School.

Tito Sinha is an attorney in private practice, specializing in civil rights, real estate, and wills and estates. He is a former staff attorney, and former board member, at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, where he worked on hate crimes, voting rights, immigrants rights and other civil rights areas. He is a graduate of the City University of New York School of Law and Swarthmore College. He is also a founding board member of South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!) in Queens, New York.

Jayashri Srikantiah A respected voice on immigration law and civil rights, Jayashri Srikantiah is the director of the law school’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, in which students represent individual immigrants and immigrants’ rights organizations and also engage in community outreach, public education, and policy advocacy. She has litigated extensively on behalf of immigrants, and her experience includes challenges to mandatory and indefinite detention policies in the federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court and representation of human trafficking survivors. Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 2004, Professor Srikantiah was the associate legal director of the ACLU of Northern California and a staff attorney at the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. She was a law clerk to Judge David R. Thompson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Interns

Priti Nemani (2008)
Ramya Punnoose (2008)
Bela Shah (2008)

Former Fellows

Krupa Patel (2011)

Khushboo Rami (2010)

Anjali Chaudhry (2009-2010)

Aaditi Dubale (2009)

Former Staff Members