Relevant Qualifications: strategic thinker and problem solver with 16 years of leadership in social justice and systems change, experienced in program and budget development, communications, non-profit management and research.
EXPERIENCE
Deputy Director, May 2011 – Present
South Asian Network (SAN), Artesia, CA 90701
• Coordinate SAN’s programmatic areas: physical health, emotional well-being, healthcare access, immigration, civic engagement, and gender-based violence intervention and prevention.
• Supervise a diverse team of 8 staff, 5 interns, 6 consultants and over 37 volunteers.
• Develop, implement, track and report on program and organizational budgets.
• Develop evaluation tools, track program deliverables, utilization, outcomes, successes and challenges, analyze results, and report to funders.
• Develop new programming based on program data, community needs and other social patterns.
• Manage federal government, state government, corporate and private foundation grants and donations totaling $800,000 annually.
• Raise over 85% of organization’s annual budget through researching funding opportunities, engaging funders, preparing solicitation requests and writing grant proposals.
• Collaborate with diverse partners to create systemic change and improve lives in Southern California.
• Present frequently at local, state and national conferences, train County social workers, conduct presentations at faith-based and community centers and give guest lectures at local universities.
Program Coordinator, June 2008 – May 2011
AWAZ – Voices Against Violence unit, South Asian Network (SAN), Artesia, CA 90701
• Managed SAN’s gender justice program including supervising 2 case managers, 2 therapists, and several legal and social work interns.
• Wrote grant proposals, managed grants, tracked deliverables and submitted reports.
• Conducted collaborative case management with shelters and domestic violence service providers across the nation, and provided a comprehensive range of services and advocacy to over 200 survivors and their children annually.
• Designed, developed, and conducted multilingual presentations and workshops for survivors and community members.
• Trained over 20 religious leaders, law enforcement officials, and service providers annually on cultural competency and the dynamics of domestic violence in the South Asian American community.
• Conducted interviews, focus groups, and surveys to inform and write two community needs assessments – “the barriers and needs of South Asian American survivors” and “the on-going violence and discrimination faced by the South Asian community 10 years about Sept 11”.
• Collaborated with survivors and community partners to prevent violence through the creation of a documentary and two Public Service Announcements (PSAs) as well as multilingual messaging in other media forms.
• Served as a 2009-2010 Women’s Policy Institute fellow to research and create policies to improve the lives of California’s women and girls (see training for details).
• Represented SAN and presented on the needs of South Asian American survivors of violence in local, state, and national conferences.
Community Advocate, February 2007 – June 2008
• Provided case management and advocacy to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, forced marriage, human trafficking, child and elder abuse using a public health Stages of Change model.
• Organized and facilitated monthly survivor support groups, using art, writing and yoga as tools for healing.
• Conducted regular trainings on non-violent communication, domestic violence awareness, and leadership development in community and religious centers.
• Collaborated with law enforcement and community partners in order to promote the safety and empowerment of all persons.
Junior Researcher, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), Utrecht, Netherlands, September 2002 – January 2007
• Organized, planned, and conducted research on the implementation of human rights standards within police forces, and the societal and institutional factors that facilitate or impede the process of implementation using Rio de Janeiro as a case study.
• Conducted qualitative research including interviews, focus groups, and field observations.
• Conducted quantitative research including designing and implementing a survey amongst police forces, academics, policy makers, human rights activists, and local residents.
• Organized and taught Masters level courses at the University of Utrecht and the University of Amsterdam.
• Provided ongoing support to graduate students including providing feedback, evaluating progress, formal supervision and grading of Masters theses.
EDUCATION
PhD, Human Rights, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands, September 2002 – January 2007
Dissertation: ‘In War, Those Who Die Are Not Innocent (“Na Guerra, Quem Morre Nao E Innocente”): Human Rights Implementation, Policing and Public Security Reform in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.’ Rozenberg Publishers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
B.S, Psychology/Sociology, Union College, Schenectady, New York, September 1998 – May 2002
Senior Thesis: ‘Treatment of Battered Women in the United States and Brazil. Do Perceptions Influence Responses?’
SKILLS
Languages: English (fluent), Urdu (fluent), Portuguese (fluent), Dutch (fluent), French (conversational) and Spanish (conversational).
Computer: Proficient in Microsoft office, online survey tools, data tracking, database management (Salesforce and Salsa), cloud-based file storage systems (Dropbox and Box), SPSS, Atlas.ti.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Board Member, California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
PUBLICATIONS/PAPERS
• (2012) ‘Between Model Minority and Barbaric: The Occurrence of and Response to Domestic Violence in the South Asian American Community.’ In Honor and Women’s Rights: South Asian Perspectives, MASUM Publications.
• (2011) with James F. Albrecht, ‘Severe Challenges Continue in Policing Brazil during the Twenty-First Century.’ In Effective Crime Reduction Strategies: International Perspectives, Boca Raton (Florida), USA, CRC Press/Taylor and Francis Group.
• (2007) In War, Those Who Die Are Not Innocent (“Na Guerra, Quem Morre Nao E Innocente”): Human Rights Implementation, Policing and Public Security Reform in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Rozenberg Publishers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• (2007), with Martha K. Huggins. ‘The Political Game of Police Reform’, International Studies Review, Vol 9 (1), pp.122-124.
• (2007), ‘Implementing Human Rights and the Societal Impediments to Sustainable Change in Latin America.’, Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Vol 25 (1).
Training received:
• 1 year as a Women’s Policy Institute (WPI) fellow through the Women’s Foundation of California:
- Worked with a diverse team of fellow advocates, researched issues and polices affecting women and girls in California, and proposed legislative solutions,
- Shepherded a bill through the legislative process including finding an author, writing bill language, creating messaging, and conducting legislative visits,
• 144 hours Somatics and Trauma training, Generative Somatics
• 70 hours Financial Leadership training, Nonprofit Finance Fund
• 60 hours Social Justice Leadership training at the School of Embodied Leadership, Generative Somatics,
• 52 hours Community Organizing training from Liberty Hill Foundation,
• 50 hours Fundraising and Development training from the Fundraising Academy for Communities of Color,
• 45 hours Bright Spots Fundraising training from CompassPoint and Center for Nonprofit Management,
• 40 hours Board Development training from Liberty Hill Foundation,
• 40 hours Domestic Violence training from YWCA Glendale,
• 40 hours Advocacy and Communications training from South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT),
• 32 hours Women’s and Children’s Art Leader training from A Window Between Worlds (AWBW),
• 30 hours for Communicating for Results Training from Hershey Communications for a Cause,
• 25 hours Sexual Assault Training from the Center for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF),
• 24 hours Supporting Organizational Sustainability training from Futures Without Violence,
• 16 hours Grant Writing Training from Grantworks and Roberts and Associates.