DCDS 2013 Organizers - Under Construction
DC Desi Summer is an
independent project run by a volunteer collective.
Who are these individuals, you ask? Read on:
Sasha Neha Ahuja is a youth worker/youth organizer in the South Asian/Indo-Caribbean community in New York City. She is a proud graduate of Hunter College of the City University of New York (free CUNY!), the dynamic place where her politics came to life. Currently pursuing a degree in Social Work, Sasha will soon be providing mental health support to young people as part of her work at South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!). She is also an avid biker/runner and aspiring diva (only on the weekends).
Amit Jain is an associate teacher of middle school math and science in Boston, MA. He was raised in the U.S. and recently completed his B.A. in Political Science from Brown University. As a college student, Amit was a leader in various organizing efforts around identity and access, including Brown's Minority Peer Counseling program and a student-led campaign for expanded financial aid. In his spare time, he eats a lot of food and tweets obsessively about education and progressive politics.
Kavita Kapur is a native of Southern California, where she grew up in the glory of sunshine, Mexican food, and brilliant diversity. In college, she worked on issues of sustainability, sexual violence, and women's rights, and organized a production of Yoni ki Baat. After completing her graduate studies in human rights in Egypt, Kavita returned to Los Angeles to work with an immigrants rights organization. Her legal studies brought her to Washington, D.C. where she has been active on various social justice issues. A freshly-minted human rights and immigration lawyer, Kavita currently works at an immigration court in the D.C. area.
Deepa Panchang is proud resident and humble student of her adoptive city, New Orleans. She works with a small, women-run nonprofit, Other Worlds, doing social movement support and creating educational materials on social and economic alternatives. She previously worked on small community projects in Nicaragua and India, and human rights issues in post-earthquake Haiti. She recently completed a masters in public health which redoubled her zeal for radical, grassroots-driven health work that counters the imperialism and corporate influence in mainstream "public health" initiatives. She also spends a lot of time dancing, singing, plugging into various New Orleans organizing efforts, and cooking up the good kind of storm.
Sonal Sheth is a teacher in DC. She has also taught English in rural India, educated children about sexual abuse, managed a school-based literacy program, been the youth coordinator at her temple and a youth worker to immigrant teens. Sonal grew up in suburban Michigan and enjoys writing poetry, painting, and especially making short animated movies.
A native of the Southeast U.S. and first generation Indian American, Sheena Sood's passion for activism stemmed from learning about issues related to women's rights, global health and HIV/AIDS. She has since broadened her involvement in movement building work by organizing with communities on immigration, environmental, gender, & reproductive justice issues. Sheena appreciates cooking delicious meals to build community, imitating her Mom's and ancestor's rich Punjabi recipes, reading, bicycling in skirts in every season but winter, leaving the country, transforming her passion for Bhangra into a form of artistic expression, writing poetry and spending time with family! Sheena worked for the Highlander Research and Education Center, a popular education organizing center in east Tennessee. Sheena is currently working on her MA/PhD at Temple University's Sociology program.
Who are these individuals, you ask? Read on:
Sasha Neha Ahuja is a youth worker/youth organizer in the South Asian/Indo-Caribbean community in New York City. She is a proud graduate of Hunter College of the City University of New York (free CUNY!), the dynamic place where her politics came to life. Currently pursuing a degree in Social Work, Sasha will soon be providing mental health support to young people as part of her work at South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!). She is also an avid biker/runner and aspiring diva (only on the weekends).
Amit Jain is an associate teacher of middle school math and science in Boston, MA. He was raised in the U.S. and recently completed his B.A. in Political Science from Brown University. As a college student, Amit was a leader in various organizing efforts around identity and access, including Brown's Minority Peer Counseling program and a student-led campaign for expanded financial aid. In his spare time, he eats a lot of food and tweets obsessively about education and progressive politics.
Kavita Kapur is a native of Southern California, where she grew up in the glory of sunshine, Mexican food, and brilliant diversity. In college, she worked on issues of sustainability, sexual violence, and women's rights, and organized a production of Yoni ki Baat. After completing her graduate studies in human rights in Egypt, Kavita returned to Los Angeles to work with an immigrants rights organization. Her legal studies brought her to Washington, D.C. where she has been active on various social justice issues. A freshly-minted human rights and immigration lawyer, Kavita currently works at an immigration court in the D.C. area.
Deepa Panchang is proud resident and humble student of her adoptive city, New Orleans. She works with a small, women-run nonprofit, Other Worlds, doing social movement support and creating educational materials on social and economic alternatives. She previously worked on small community projects in Nicaragua and India, and human rights issues in post-earthquake Haiti. She recently completed a masters in public health which redoubled her zeal for radical, grassroots-driven health work that counters the imperialism and corporate influence in mainstream "public health" initiatives. She also spends a lot of time dancing, singing, plugging into various New Orleans organizing efforts, and cooking up the good kind of storm.
Sonal Sheth is a teacher in DC. She has also taught English in rural India, educated children about sexual abuse, managed a school-based literacy program, been the youth coordinator at her temple and a youth worker to immigrant teens. Sonal grew up in suburban Michigan and enjoys writing poetry, painting, and especially making short animated movies.
A native of the Southeast U.S. and first generation Indian American, Sheena Sood's passion for activism stemmed from learning about issues related to women's rights, global health and HIV/AIDS. She has since broadened her involvement in movement building work by organizing with communities on immigration, environmental, gender, & reproductive justice issues. Sheena appreciates cooking delicious meals to build community, imitating her Mom's and ancestor's rich Punjabi recipes, reading, bicycling in skirts in every season but winter, leaving the country, transforming her passion for Bhangra into a form of artistic expression, writing poetry and spending time with family! Sheena worked for the Highlander Research and Education Center, a popular education organizing center in east Tennessee. Sheena is currently working on her MA/PhD at Temple University's Sociology program.
