Who Are We?
BASS is run by a volunteer collective of South Asian American educators, artists, and activists, working to increase civic engagement and social justice education and resources for
South Asian youth.
Interested in joining the team for BASS 2013? Drop us a line at bass [at]asata.org.
Interested in joining the team for BASS 2013? Drop us a line at bass [at]asata.org.
Sheila Desai
Sheila Desai is a Bay Area newbie with roots in New York and India.
She has spent the last several years advocating for reproductive health and gender equity across parts of India and the U.S., and continues to work towards building a strong and vibrant reproductive justice movement today. Upon completing her graduate degree in public health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Sheila moved to Oakland to work with Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), a collaborative research group that aims to improve access to reproductive health care and promote evidence-based policymaking. |
Anirvan Chatterjee
Anirvan Chatterjee grew up in the Bay Area and
attended UC Berkeley. He was founder and CEO of pioneering ecommerce search startup
BookFinder.com, now a subsidiary of Amazon.com.
He and his wife Barnali worked on global climate journalism project Year Of No Flying, and co-curate the Berkeley South Asian Radical History Walking Tour. Anirvan's also been involved with ASATA, the Progressive Bengali Network, the South Asian Progressive Conference, the DESIst anti-war network, LGBT visibility in the Bengali community, and the Aviation Justice climate network. He tweets at @anirvan. |
Jaya Roy
Jaya Roy is a psychologist, counselor, and artist who is dedicated to helping others improve their sense of well being.
At UC Santa Cruz, she was awarded honors in both Psychology and community service for her work as a motivated student and active community member Jaya is currently a Crisis Counselor for Alameda County and a researcher at UC Berkeley investigating positive emotion interventions and physiological responses to pursuing emotions. She is also involved with the San Diego Indian American Society as a judge for the Gandhi Scholarship. |
Simmy Makhijani
Simmy Makhijani is Co-Founder / Co-Executive Director of United Roots, an Oakland nonprofit providing safety net, arts, media, environmental awareness, leadership and workforce development programs for marginalized youth.
She has been a longtime advocate for violence prevention, primarily in local South Asian diaspora communities, most notably domestic violence intervention work with Narika and the Asian Women’s Shelter and also Art in Action Youth Leadership Camp. Simmy has completed her Ph.D. coursework in Anthropology and Social Change at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and is currently working to complete her dissertation. |
Anantha Sudhakar
Anantha Sudhakar is an Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. Her research and teaching focus on the connections between art and activism in the South Asian American community.
Before arriving in the Bay Area last year, Anantha lived and worked in New York City, where she completed her PhD at Rutgers University. A strong supporter of New York’s thriving Asian American arts scene, she worked as the Public Programs Director at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop and also served on the board of the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective. She is currently a member of the editorial collective for SAMAR: The South Asian Magazine for Action and Reflection. |
Nupur ModiNupur Modi is a long-time Bay Area activist.
He has worked on a wide array of environmental, social justice, and human rights issues with extensive experience in organizing, campaigning, and training. Throughout his work, Nupur has focused his energy on building connections amongst progressive movements. |
Sham Vishal Bhat
Sham Vishal Bhat is a long-time activist with the Association for Indian's Development.
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