Sayu Bhojwani

Sayu Bhojwani is a first generation immigrant to the United States. She was the first Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs of New York City, founded South Asian Youth Action, and founded and continues to lead New American Leaders.

Sayu Bhojwani
Born1967
India
Alma materTeachers College, Columbia University University of Miami
OrganizationNew American Leaders
Websitehttps://sayubhojwani.com/

Career

Bhojwani moved to New York City in 1987 as Teachers College, Columbia University and obtained her Master's degree in education with an emphasis on teaching English with the intention of returning to Belize to teach.[1] She declined to pursue a career in education when the New York City Department of Education would not help her obtain a green card.[2] She instead took a job with Asia Society, immersing herself in issues pertaining to Asian Americans and realizing that policymakers did not look like the constituents she served.[1]

As a resident of Queens,[3] Bhojwani founded the afterschool South Asian Youth Action program in 1996 to support teenagers with ancestral origin from South Asia, which continues to serve New York today.[2][4]

In 2001, Bhojwani re-enrolled at Teachers College for a doctorate in politics and education, beginning classes the day of the September 11 attacks.

In April 2002, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed her to the newly created role of Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs, where she expanded protections and services for the city's undocumented immigrants, domestic workers, and non-English speakers. She credits this role as demonstrating to her the power of a truly representative government, including having immigrants in positions of political influence to support immigrants.[2] She served as Commissioner for two years, leaving the post in May 2004.[5]

Bhojwani continued to work in philanthropy for Mr. Bloomberg, and moved to London for a time.[6]

Bhojwani founded New American Leaders in 2010[7] after the United States Congress failed to create a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants and Arizona enacted Arizona SB 1070.[8] She had considered running for office against Sheldon Silver,[6] but decided to instead focus on building a diverse pipeline of local and state elected officials.[1]

Bhojwani resumed her doctorate at Teachers College in 2014, writing her thesis on immigrants and electoral politics.[8]

Personal life

Bhojwani was born in 1967 in India to Sindhi parents.[1] Her family immigrated to Belize, then the British Honduras, when she was four.[2]

She moved to the United States to study English and Spanish at the University of Miami in 1980.

Bhojwani met her now husband prior to the September 11 attacks,[2] with whom she has a child.

Published works
  • Bhojwani, Sayu (2018). People Like Us: The New Wave of Candidates Knocking at Democracy's Door. The New Press. ISBN 978-1-62097-414-8[9]

References
  1. Das, Kavita (2014-12-15). "Turning Today's Immigrants into Tomorrow's Leaders". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  2. Bunch, Will (2019-04-09). "Repurposing the Dream". Teachers College - Columbia University. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  3. Vora, Shivani (2012-05-22). "A Charity for Children of New York's South Asian Working Class". India Ink. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  4. "N.Y. Charity Opens Doors for Needy South Asian Youths". The Chronicle of Philanthropy. 2012-05-24. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  5. "AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Sayu Bhojwani". The New Press. 2019-05-17. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  6. West, Melanie Grayce (2016-05-10). "Changing the Immigration Debate by Electing Immigrants to Office". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  7. Robbins, Liz (2016-06-15). "For Women of Immigrant Heritage, the ABC's of Running for Office". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  8. Bunch, Will (2018-10-15). "Knocking at Democracy's Door". Teachers College - Columbia University. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  9. Bhojwani, Sayu. People like us : the new wave of candidates knocking at Democracy's door. New York. ISBN 978-1-62097-414-8. OCLC 1059578879.
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