Values

We hold ourselves accountable to these guiding principles in all our work, internal and external:

At Sakhi, we know firsthand the importance of culturally-specific and life-affirming care. From working with survivors of all genders to offering support in over seven South Asian languages, we are committed to ensuring access, safety, and healing for all.

In 2022, Sakhi inaugurated its Community Engagement Program, which strives to deepen our roots in the community and reaffirm our commitment to be an organization that is survivor-led and survivor-centered. Our organizers collaborate with diverse entities rooted in local South Asian neighborhoods to develop intimate forums, discussion groups, and social events that raise awareness about gender-based violence and related topics.

At Sakhi, we strive to build connections among survivors, institutions, and our communities. By investing in the spaces of which we are a part, we are growing the movement to end gender-based violence.

In the winter of 2021, Sakhi unveiled Inherent Power, an exhibition of works from participants of our summer Community Mobilization Arts Practicum, a youth-centered space that employed art and the values of the gender justice movement to explore and undo the silos of white supremacy. This program was developed with support from the Queens Museum’s Year of Uncertainty Program, and in response to the efforts of youth survivors of gender-based violence to break the silence around their own alienation and oppression.

Through their works, developed under the guidance of practicum mentors, seven savvy and politically-engaged artists aged 13-18 demonstrate their inherent power, which exists regardless of the systems, institutions, and social structures that define and distribute power in our societies.

Sakhi is committed to integrity and accountability in all of our work. You can view our annual audited financial statements and annual 990s here. As a federally funded nonprofit, Sakhi participates in an additional rigorous annual review of our programs and operations.  We are a registered charity with the State of New York. We have a Platinum Seal of Transparency with GuideStar. Sakhi’s Board of Directors, who represent community leaders from various fields, provide oversight and leadership of the organization.

Community demands drive organizational changes and adaptations. Some examples are:

• Survey data and our ongoing conversations with survivors revealed that lack of funds for housing was the biggest reason Sakhi clients remained in abusive homes. In response, Sakhi launched New York City’s only Housing Program providing culturally tailored services to South Asian survivors at the time.
• Young people in the Sakhi community recommended launching new community programs addressing healthy relationships and South Asian culture. Today, Sakhi’s Youth Empowerment Program offers school-year and summer leadership programs that integrate healthy relationships, violence prevention, and community activism—all through the lens of South Asian culture and history. YEP now also offers youth mental health counseling— the only South Asian youth counseling program in NYC— and offers youth-driven interest and identity-based peer support groups. This innovation and expansion came from ongoing dialogue and collaboration with young people.

Sakhi has a long legacy of advocating for justice and changing the conversation about gender-based violence in South Asian communities. Today, we work to ensure that our diverse communities’ voices are heard through social media, in the press, and in our neighborhoods.  In addition, through work with local and national coalitions like The Collective and South Asian SOAR we are working towards tangible cultural and policy changes.