BURLINGTON, MA–Saheli has appointed Priya Murali as its new Executive Director. Ms. Murali has been working with Saheli’s dedicated staff to provide much-needed services to South Asian and Arab women and children.
Ms. Murali has over six years of experience working in the immigrant-serving non-profit sector and is an expert in fundraising, grant writing, and program development.
Within the past few years, Saheli has seen much growth and expansion of its services to meet the increasing needs of the community.
“Priya brings the vision and passion for directing Saheli through this new phase,” said Saheli President Neelam Wali.
“Having grown up in different parts of India and living in the US as an immigrant woman for the past 14 years, I am well aware of the need for gender-based advocacy within the South Asian community,” said Ms. Murali. “For more than 25 years, Saheli has been a strong force in the community advocating for domestic violence survivors. Now I am excited to lead Saheli as it works towards serving more immigrant women and children through prevention and empowerment-based programs.”
Saheli also announced some other leadership changes.
After three years of working as a domestic violence advocate at Saheli and taking the initiative to grow Saheli’s outreach and prevention programs, Deepali Gulati is now the Director of Outreach and Prevention. Ms. Gulati recognizes a need for normalizing conversations around domestic violence. In this role, she will foster new partnerships, strengthen Saheli’s awareness-building and prevention programs, and re-envision the volunteer program.
Romila Sadasivan is the Domestic Violence Program Manager. The Domestic Violence Advocacy Program has been the core of Saheli’s work. With her 15 years of experience in social work from India and the UK, Ms. Sadasivan will work with the domestic violence team, which includes South Asian and Arabic-speaking domestic violence advocates, to provide culturally sensitive and trauma-informed case management to domestic violence survivors.
Imane Bennani is leading Saheli’s Housing Program as the Housing Program Manager. Saheli has seen a growing need for housing assistance. In the past two years, Saheli has been working on meeting the demands, and Ms. Bennani has supported many survivors and their children in finding affordable housing. One of Saheli’s strategic goals is to establish a multi-family transitional house for survivors. Ms. Bennani will work with Ms. Murali in planning and implementing this goal. Ms. Bennani will also supervise the Economic Empowerment program that helps survivors work towards their financial goals.
“Saheli is entering a new phase of growth, and staff with diverse experiences has opened new doors for our survivors,” said Ms. Wali. “I am thrilled to see our leadership, Priya as an ED, Deepali, Romila, and Imane, realize their role in saving many lives, one at a time. I am in awe of their dedication to the cause.”
Other Saheli team members include: Vidhee Rana, Operations Manager; Elizabeth Ellis, Grants Manager; Lopa Jhamb, Senior Domestic Violence Advocate (Bengali); Elaha Amiri, Afghan Domestic Violence; Marleine Tammo, Arabic Domestic Violence Advocate; Nassma Halaseh, Arabic Domestic Violence Advocate; Raxa Patel, Economic Empowerment Specialist; Radhika Sharma, Community Engagement Coordinator; Aishwarya Chitoor Subash, Prevention Specialist; Majd Amad, Arabic Mental Health Counselor; Faisal Waged, Family Law Staff Attorney; Basra Mohamed, Immigration Law Staff Attorney; and Feras Daas, Paralegal.
