BURLINGTON, MA – Saheli, a non-profit organization that works against domestic violence and supports South Asian families in New England, has elected six new members to its board, Saheli said in a statement.
New Board Members include: Pooja Bakai of Somerville, Divya Chandra of Waltham, Amrith Fernandes-Prabhu of Lowell, Nakul Kadaba of Somerville, Supriya Saurabh of Andover and Kiran Uppuluri of Dedham—all from Massachusetts.
“We welcome these skilled women and men to the Saheli Board and look forward to working with them to make the lives of women and girls safe and healthy,” said Gouri Banerjee, President of the Board of Saheli for the 2017-2019 term.
New members join the existing Board members: Gouri Banerjee of Winchester, Ms. Tanvi Devimane of Sudbury, Pradip Tandon of Norfolk, and Usha Vakil of Hingham, MA.
Kaplesh Kumar, Neelam Wali and Anil Saigal serving as Saheli’s election commissioners.
This Board will develop innovative programs to prevent violence against women and empower families with services identified in a recent need assessment in the community, the Saheli statement said.
“They hope to strengthen Saheli’s financial status using new fund raising strategies and build relationships with community and domestic violence agencies across the state of Massachusetts,” the statement said.
Saheli has completed 21 years of service to a large and rapidly growing South Asian community with its client base growing 15 percent each year. This year, Saheli is seeking an executive director to manage the organization and welcomes letters of interest sent to info@saheliboston.org. While knowledge of a South Asian language is desirable, it is not a requirement, the statement said.
Saheli also seeks increased participation from members of the Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Nepali and Sri Lankan communities to work cooperatively to help South Asian families in crisis. Saheli offers financial aid to South Asian women and girls who seek to build skills and education to be employed and encourages women to join Saheli’s adult literacy classes, support groups, and volunteer opportunities.
In 2016, women from Nepal, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh received financial aid from Saheli, the statement said.
