The Board of Sakhi’s Young Professionals Network (YPN) consists of a small pool of volunteers, including women, men, transgender, non-binary, or gender non-conforming individuals, who are interested in devoting time to supporting Sakhi’s host of yearly events. These events include Gender Justice & the Arts, feminist happy hours, book talks, panels, healthy masculinity workshops, and film screenings. A strong commitment to supporting gender justice and ending gender-based violence is required. The YPN aims to foster community development to support Sakhi through fundraising and friend-raising.
Sakhi’s YPN provides invaluable support to Sakhi staff in finding event speakers, securing spaces, publicizing events, and creating and maintaining relationships between the organization and NYC-based South Asian activists and creatives. YPN members attend quarterly meetings, devote significant time to staff support in event planning and fundraising, and utilize their own business and personal networks in doing outreach for Sakhi.
Armaan Nathani | Co-Chair
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Armaan Nathani is a Product Manager for a financial technology startup called Cloud9 Technologies, which aims to digitize financial institutions voice communications. He graduated from Emory University in 2016 with a major in Economics and a minor in Media Studies. A native New Yorker, Armaan is fiercely loyal to his sports teams and pizza. More importantly, he has witnessed the impact his mother’s work with Sakhi and his sister‘s involvement with local social justice initiatives have had on the NYC community. Their work continually inspires him to be better, and with joining Sakhi’s YPN in October 2019, he hopes to continue to build upon Sakhi’s influence and impact on the NYC community.
Ayman Mohammad | Co-Chair
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Ayman Mohammad is currently a medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. His interests include oncology research, healthcare accessibility, and clinical regulatory policy. Before medical school, Ayman worked in biotechnology at Roivant Sciences. Ayman graduated from Harvard in 2019 with a concentration in Economics. In college, Ayman co-led the South Asian Association and co-produced Ghungroo, a student-run South Asian dance performance. Outside of school, Ayman enjoys following the emotional roller coaster that is the Brooklyn Nets, playing basketball, and GOAT rapper debates. Having been involved with Sakhi for many years, Ayman is excited to continue advocating for Sakhi’s mission and encouraging more young professionals to support a community that has helped so many.
Sonia Mittal | Chief of Staff
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Sonia Mittal is currently at Kellogg in the 2nd year of her MBA program. After graduation, she will return to New York City to work at Diageo in brand management. Sonia graduated from Brown University in 2018 with a degree in Economics and Psychology. She has been a member of the Sakhi YPN since 2018 and feels very passionately about uplifting women and raising awareness about Sakhi’s mission.
Zain Khanna | Internal Events
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Zain Khanna is an ally to Sakhi’s critical gender justice work and participated in the organization’s initiatives from a young age. He is a Trader at Citigroup and a graduate in Chemistry and Economics from Wesleyan University. When not working, Zain enjoys playing the piano, exploring NYC cuisines and supporting the New York Jets.
Ria Sabnis | Partnerships
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Ria Sabnis is a Senior Program Manager who oversees leadership programs at Uber Freight, which is the trucking arm of Uber. Ria was inspired to join Sakhi’s YPN after attending several of the group’s events and learning more about the goals of the organization. Ria is a graduate of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, where she concentrated on Management Consulting and Operations. In her free time, she enjoys walks in Prospect Park, baking, and sweating profusely on her Peloton.
Saadia Naeem | Internal Events
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Saadia Naeem is currently in her second year at Fordham Law School in Manhattan, where she is a staff member of the Fordham Urban Law Journal and the Diversity & Inclusion Chair of the Fordham Law Softball Team. Saadia is an incoming summer associate at Latham & Watkins New York. Saadia graduated from Wesleyan University in 2020 with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Chemistry. At Wesleyan, Saadia was the founding captain of the Wesleyan Women’s Golf Team, President of Shakti, Wesleyan’s South Asian Student Coalition, and Managing Editor of the student-run blog Wesleying.org. Outside of school, Saadia enjoys playing golf, snowboarding, cooking, reading, and dabbling in new artistic mediums. There is nothing that she loves more than a summer sunset picnic in Central Park or on the West Side Highway. Saadia is passionate about breaking barriers within the South Asian community and looks forward to advancing this cause through her involvement in Sakhi’s YPN.
Fiona Zhao | Partnerships
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Fiona Zhao is currently the Budget Policy Coordinator at Coalition for Asian American Children and Families. She is responsible for coordinating CACF’s budget policy work including coalition building, campaign strategy, and elected engagement. Prior to CACF, she worked at University Settlement, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and MinKwon Center for Community Action advocating for increased voting rights access and civic engagement for Asian Americans. Having worked in intersectional spaces, she is excited to collaborate with YPN around shared principles of safety, healing, and collective empowerment. Outside of work, she enjoys yoga, Cafe Bustelo coffee, and reading with her black cat Buda curled on her lap.
Dhara Shukla | Partnerships
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Dhara Shukla is a Project Manager at NYU Langone where she works in hospital operations for the inpatient medicine service line. She recently graduated from New York University with her Master’s in Healthcare Administration. In her free time, she enjoys reading, yoga/pilates, and going to comedy shows. Dhara is passionate about supporting gender justice and has previously been a helpline volunteer for Sakhi. She is excited to join Sakhi’s YPN to further build Sakhi’s impact on the NYC community.
Shreya Keshive | Partnerships
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Shreya Keshive is a software engineer at Google, where she’s building new tools for podcast creators on YouTube. Before joining Google, she earned her B.S. in Computer Science from Georgia Tech in 2020. Shreya was inspired to join the YPN when she learned more about Sakhi’s mission at a YPN fundraising event. She’s enthusiastic about helping bridge the gender inequality gap within the South Asian community. Outside of work, Shreya enjoys working out, listening to podcasts, reading and most importantly, eating good food.
Payal Kadiwar | Marketing
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Payal Kadiwar is a Senior Statistical Data Scientist at Pfizer, where she works with clinical trial data that is sent to the FDA for drug submission in the rare disease therapeutic area. Prior to working, she graduated from a 5-year accelerated BS/MPH in Epidemiology program from Rutgers University. With a lifelong commitment to service, she plans on actively contributing to raising awareness through the YPN, supporting the healing and empowerment of women—a cause that deeply resonates with her. During her leisure time, Payal finds joy in traveling, playing volleyball, trying new restaurants/bars in NYC, and binge-watching reality TV shows.
Hamna Nazir | YPN Ambassadors
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Hamna Nazir works with early-stage start-ups in growth & go-to-market. She previously worked in Business Operations at Robinhood, and earned her B.A. from Harvard College. Hamna joined YPN in 2023 after learning about Sakhi during a fundraising event. She was inspired by Sakhi’s direct impact in the NYC area, especially its work supporting Economic Empowerment. She’s excited to expand Sakhi’s reach and recruit more like-minded individuals to further its mission.
Sudiksha Singh | Internal Events
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Sudiksha Singh is the Health Policy Manager at the Associated Medical Schools of New York, a non-profit organization that works to advance the advocacy and programmatic interests of the medical and dental schools across New York State; their focus areas include increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the physician, dental, and scientific workforce in New York. Originally from the Greater Toronto Area, Sudiksha graduated with an Honours Specialization in Animal Behaviour and a minor in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario in 2020. Sudiksha also holds a Master of Public Health with a Certificate in Health and Human Rights from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Outside of work, Sudiksha enjoys spending time with friends and discovering new places in the incredibly diverse food scene in New York!