BURLINGTON, MA–Saheli Boston, which provides personalized, culturally-sensitive, trauma-informed support to South Asian survivors of domestic violence and their families, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and is organizing a fundraising gala The Art Affair on Dec. 5, 2021 at Burlington Marriott Hotel in Burlington, MA.
To mark the 25th anniversary, INDIA New England News sat down with Saheli Boston President Neelam Wali, Treasurer Ruchika Yadav, and Saheli Boston Board Members Sumathi Madhure and Nirmala NR talk about Silver Jubilee celebrations at the upcoming fundraising Gala The Art Affair.
During the interview, Board members Ms. Madhure also shares her personal story of domestic abuse and how Saheli Boston helped her.
To watch the full interview, please click here, or on the image below.
Ms. Madhure is a single mom and an activist. She serves as Co-chair of Asian American & Pacific Islander caucus, NH, as well as State director for South Asians for America in New Hampshire. She works as a physical therapist. She earned her BA and MS from University of Lowell, MA. She is on the Board of directors of Saheli.
Ms. Nirmala has had a career in the pharma industry for over 20 years. She is currently a Principal Investigator at the Tufts Medical Center as well as a co-Founder and CEO of Vindhya Data Science. She is interested in contributing to the cause of supporting women to have enriching and healthy lives, which is why she is very honored to be on the Board of directors of Saheli.
Ms. Yadav is a finance professional but wears many hats. She is a Chartered Accountant from India, a Certified Internal Auditor, has worked at Public Accounting firms like KPMG and Deloitte, and Biotechnology companies like Genzyme, Sanofi. She is a passionate artist at heart and has recently launched an ecommerce platform dedicated to art and artists called Pieceaheart.com. She is also an actor and has been in performing arts since her college days.
Ms. Yadav has been involved in many community service organizations over the past years. She has performed on stage as an actor for several “Hindi Manch” events and is a big cheerleader for non-profit organizations serving the community in MA. During the COVID time she co-founded “Care4Janitors” and served the most vulnerable community needs. She joined Saheli in 2021 as Treasurer and Board member and conceived “The Art Affair” concept for Saheli’s annual gala.
Ms. Wali is the owner of Printing and Graphic Services in Billerica, MA and was born and brought up in India. She has been a social activist in her community. In 2006, she was honored as Billerica’s Business Champion of the Year. She is Past President of The Friends of Council on Aging, past president of Billerica Chamber of Commerce, Board Member of Billerica Partners for Education, Board Member of Billerica Lions Club International, Member of Billerica Plan, Member of Billerica Access Television, Life Member of India Society of Worcester, life Member Indian Association of Greater Boston, life Member of United India, Member of Hadassah and serves on various Town Committees.
She was nominated as the 1st Chair for the Asian American Commission, a body dedicated to political advocacy on behalf of the Asian American community in the State of Massachusetts. She was honored as Women of the year 2007 by Boys and Girls Club of Greater Billerica.
Ms. Wali’s association with Saheli these past 20 years has taught her the fragility of human beings. She has been a Saheli supporter, an advocate against domestic violence in the community. She has guided and supported Saheli during the fundraisers since 2010.
