Suman Raghunathan
Suman Raghunathan, SAALT’s Executive Director, joined the organization in February 2014. As Executive Director, Suman coordinates SAALT’s overall efforts to amplify diverse South Asian voices advocating for progressive change in the US. Through her work at organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, Progressive States Network, and the New York Immigration Coalition, Ms. Raghunathan has developed expertise on policy issues, directed immigrant leadership development programs, launched newcomer civic engagement campaigns, and implemented capacity-building and advocacy campaigns. She has experience in leading non-profit organizations, having first served as Interim Executive Director and then as a long-time member of the Board of Directors of Chhaya Community Development Corporation, one of SAALT’s close partners.
Presentations from Facing Race 2014
Racial (In)Justice in the Post 9/11 Era
Anti-immigrant sentiment and the post 9/11 backlash demonstrate the heightened racial anxiety in our country in the thirteen years since 9/11. South Asian, Muslim, Arab and Sikh community members have especially experienced the brunt of these two driving forces. In this session, we will explore in particular the following themes: (1) the impact of xenophobic political discourse, policies and actions targeting these communities; and (2) the ways in
which communities are pushing back against these two forces in the context of broader immigrant and racial justice movements. This session will be moderated by Deepa Iyer (Race Forward board member), with experts from South Asian Americans Leading Together, Center for New Communities, and the National Network on Arab American Communities.