As an organization with a rich history and bright future, Defying Limits speaks to us in myriad ways. In its very inception, Sakhi broke the silence around domestic and gender-based violence in the South Asian community. Speaking up, denouncing injustices, and defying norms have always been our pathway to realizing transformative cultural change.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic-the greatest challenge that our organization has weathered, we continue to see Sakhi defy limits in our services and advocacy. We are decisively confronting the crisis of gender inequality in real time-breaking barriers to offering holistic, trauma-informed services and leading advocacy efforts on a national level.
In community with survivors, we are redefining what it means to feel connected, cultivating survivor agency and power, and advancing solutions beyond the systemic boundaries that have historically limited our imagination. In building momentum with survivors, we are crafting the future we want to live in-we are defying the limits of what is possible.
COVID-19
Please note, all guests must present proof of vaccination to attend the event.
Please take note of the COVID-19 guidelines that we are taking to uphold safety as our number one priority:
We are following the CDC's guidelines and closely monitoring regulations. Ellis Island security will be checking the vaccination status of every attendee. In order to board the ferry & attend the event: All attendees are required to be vaccinated with the full series. Any guests who have not received the booster will be asked to present a same-day negative COVID-19 test result with time & date
We encourage all attendees to take an at-home rapid test within 24 hours prior, & ideally as close as possible, to joining us on May 6th. Please stay home if you do not feel well, have come in contact recently with someone who has tested positive or you have recently tested positive. Refer to latest CDC guidelines for isolation, quarantine, & masking
We will host our cocktail hour outside of the Ellis Island Museum, where guests will also enjoy a stunning view of the city
We will have masks & hand sanitizers available for all guests. Wearing masks is highly encouraged, particularly indoors when not actively eating & drinking
We ask that guests kindly follow the instructions of Ellis Island & Sakhi staff at the event We reserve the right to request that any visitors who do not follow these protocols leave the premises
Click to access this user-friendly set of testing centers in NYC: https://mckittrickhotel.com/events/nye-the-grand-hotel/nye-covid-19-rapid-testing-sites/
For more information about our Gala, please contact Shana Bhattacharya at [email protected].
The health and safety of our community is of the utmost importance. To that end, Sakhi reserves the right to move to a virtual format and will assume that all pledged commitments will be honored.
Alexis McGill Johnson is the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Planned Parenthood provides vital health services to 2.4 million people each year through more than 600 health centers across the country. Planned Parenthood's vision is a world of equity: where sexual and reproductive rights are basic human rights; where access to health care doesn't depend on who you are or where you live; and where every person has the opportunity to choose their own path to a healthy and meaningful life.
Alexis is a champion for social and racial justice, a respected political and cultural organizer, and a tireless advocate for reproductive freedom. She has been in Planned Parenthood's leadership for more than a decade as PPFA board chair and a Planned Parenthood Action Fund board member.
A researcher by training, Alexis co-founded and co-directed the Perception Institute, a consortium of researchers, advocates, and strategists who translate cutting-edge mind science research on race, gender, ethnic, and other identities into solutions that reduce bias and discrimination, and drive equity and belonging. She is also a thought leader on brain science and narrative change and has written extensively on equity, race, and culture.
She is a frequent commentator in the press and keynote speaker, and currently serves on the boards of Color of Change, Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights, and is a founder of the Culture Group. She holds degrees from Princeton and Yale Universities and has taught political science at both Yale and Wesleyan Universities. She is the proud mom of two daughters.
Indra K. Nooyi served as Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo from 2006 to 2019. Her prescient strategic thinking, insight into consumer behavior, and wisdom on managing a vast, global workforce make her one of the world's most sought-after advisors to entrepreneurs, executives, and governments. She is also revered as a role model for women and immigrants, and celebrated for her empowering messages on inclusivity. At PepsiCo, she was the chief architect of Performance with Purpose, the company's mission to deliver sustained growth by making more nutritious products, limiting the company's environmental footprint, and empowering its associates and people in the communities it serves.
She has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honor, the U.S. State Department's award for Outstanding American by Choice, and 15 honorary degrees. In 2021, Indra became an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and joined the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Art. She was also inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame and National Women's Hall of Fame. She is also the author of the book, My Life in Full: Work, Family and Our Future, a highly-anticipated memoir that offers insight and a call-to-action from one of the world's most-admired business leaders on how our society can blend work and family - and advance women - in the 21st century. She is married to Raj Nooyi and has two daughters, Preetha and Tara.
Shahana Hanif represents the 39th Council District, which includes parts of Kensington, Borough Park, Windsor Terrace, Park Slope, Gowanus, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, and the Columbia Waterfront. Born and raised in District 39 to Bangladeshi immigrant parents, Shahana has spent her life fighting for working-class families and a city rooted in care, equity, and justice for all. Her diagnosis at 17 with Lupus, an incurable chronic illness, and her subsequent experiences navigating the costly, nebulous healthcare system and inaccessible city were the catalysts for her organizing and commitment to public service.
Before being elected to the City Council, Shahana served as the Director of Organizing and Community Engagement in former District 39 Council Member Brad Lander's office where she led grassroots initiatives like Participatory Budgeting, a process that gives New Yorkers a say in how to spend City dollars in their neighborhoods. She has also served as a tenants rights organizer, a gender justice organizer, and an interfaith organizer.
Shahana is the first Muslim woman elected to the New York City Council, and the first woman to represent the 39th District. She will bring our movement's work for transformational change and a feminist, anti-racist city to City Hall. She is committed to ensuring every constituent is heard. She will work to address block by block sanitation issues, promote education equity across classrooms, expand open streets and funding for parks and playgrounds, implement flooding resilient housing infrastructure, fight big real estate and corporations, and center the needs of women, youth, immigrants, and seniors. Shahana attended PS 230 in Kensington and earned a Bachelor's degree in Women's and Gender Studies at Brooklyn College. She lives in Kensington with her cat, Babe.
British Indian singer/songwriterJay Sean emerged in the American Pop music scene a decade ago with his Billboard Hot 100 #1 single "Down," after having already spent five years prior making waves overseas. The pop music titan changed the game Stateside for both Asian and UK acts alike, hitting historical strides and breaking down multiple doors as a solo artist.
Jay was the first Asian artist in history to have a Billboard #1 single in America. In short, Jay's career of firsts makes it clear that he is truly an artist who has defied limits.
Kal Penn is an actor, writer, producer, and author. He is known for his starring roles in Designated Survivor, House, the Harold & Kumar franchise, and the patriotic immigration sit-com Sunnyside which he co-created for NBC.
His first book, You Can't Be Serious, became a national bestseller when it hit shelves this November. The audiobook (which Penn also narrates) was well-reviewed for its humor, heart, and sense of optimism. You Can't Be Serious is a series of funny, consequential, awkward, and ridiculous stories from Kal Penn's idiosyncratic life. It's about being the grandson of Gandhian freedom fighters, and the son of immigrant parents: people who came to this country with very little and went very far-and whose vision of the American dream probably never included their son sliding off an oiled-up naked woman in the raunchy Ryan Reynolds movie Van Wilder? or getting a phone call from Air Force One as Kal flew with the country's first Black president.
Kal also served as an Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, where he served as President Obama's Liaison to Young Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the Arts community. In these roles, he worked on a range of issues, including the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the Affordable Care Act, Pell Grants, arts and culture programs, the DREAM Act, and rapid response to the BP Oil Spill and earthquake in Haiti.
*Please note that we were recently informed that Kal Penn will be presenting virtually*
Dr. Meera Shah is a family medicine physician, currently serving as the Chief Medical Officer of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic in New York. Most recently, she published a book about abortion access called, "You're the Only One I've Told: The Stories Behind Abortion." She completed medical school at George Washington University in Washington D.C. and then family medicine residency at Mount Sinai/Beth Israel Medical Center and the Institute for Family Health in New York City. She has an MS in Nutrition as well as an MPH, both from Columbia University. Meera has been a contributing writer for Bedsider and Jezebel. She has been interviewed for her expertise by The Washington Post, MSNBC, Teen Vogue, Buzzfeed, Think Progress, Elle, NPR, Refinery29 and Self to name a few. She is a fellow with the Physicians for Reproductive Health and serves on the board of Whole Woman's Health Alliance as well as on the Medical Care Criteria Committee of the AIDS Institute Clinical Guidelines Program at NYSDOH.
Kutti Gang is the New York Times and Time Out New York recommended live comedy show hosted by Zubi Ahmed and Pooja Reddy. What started at The Tank Theatre in Manhattan in November 2018 has since expanded to sold-out stages across New York, Chicago, and LA. The comedy duo's first special, Kutti Gang at The Tank, aired on PBS in August 2020.
Zubi Ahmed is a Bengali-American Muslim writer & comedian from Brooklyn. She's been featured on Vulture's Up And Coming Comedians, Bustle, and Refinery 29. You can find her performing standup and searching for iced coffee in the middle of any given day in NYC.
Pooja Reddy is a rural Kentucky raised first-generation American with roots in Hyderabad, India. A recovering government employee from the Obama Administration, Pooja is now a comedy writer and stand-up comedian based in NYC. She's been featured on Vulture's Comics to Follow and can be seen hosting for Disney ABC's Localish Network. Pooja incorporates her experiences growing up in the South, her passion for the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals, and the best of her Scorpio traits to her writing.
Located a short ferry ride from lower Manhattan, Ellis Island is a historical American landmark. A private ferry will take us to and from Ellis Island, the site of the passage of more than 12 million immigrants into the U.S. We convene there this spring to reflect on thirty-three years of Sakhi's community of immigrants defying systemic and cultural barriers to achieving progress.
*Please note that a private ferry will transport guests to and from the event.*
Cocktail Hour: 6:30 -7:30 PM
Program: 8:00 PM
Dessert Hour: 10:00 PM
First Ferry from Castle Clinton, in lower Manhattan:
5:15 PM: Sakhi Check-in & Registration
5:30 PM: Security Check-in
6:00 PM: Departure
Second Ferry from Castle Clinton, in lower Manhattan:*
6:15 PM: Sakhi Check-in & Registration
6:30 PM: Security Check-in
7:00 PM: Departure
First Ferry from Ellis Island to Manhattan:
10:30 PM: Departure
Second Ferry from Ellis Island to Manhattan:
11:30 PM: Departure
For security purposes, all guests are required to share their names, email addresses, and phone numbers by May 1, 2022.
*Please note that guests departing on the 7:00 PM private ferry will arrive after our cocktail hour, just before our program commences.*
Parking Garages:
Battery Place Parking Garage
50 Battery Place
Ocean Parking
1 West Street
For Uber/Lyft pick up and drop off, we recommend setting the destination directly in front of the Bowling Green subway station at Battery Place and State Street.
IPG
Shefali & Sumeet Salwan
Dr. Nilay & Marjorie Shah
Karthik Venkataraman
*Our Host Committee is in formation. Please reach out if you are interested in joining.*
Neha Desai Shah, SNACK Pack Foundation, The Shah Family Giving Fund, GEP
BRV Sharma Family Foundation
Nandini & Adil Nathani
Romita Shetty & Nasser Ahmad
The Ramesh & Kalpana Bhatia Family Foundation
Santushi Kuruppu & Manroop Jhooty
RAFT
Vidya & Ajay Satchit
Beesham A. Seecharan
Thomas & Nalini Tiwari Greenan
Citigroup Inc.
Interpublic Group
Bushra Mannan & JRM Foundation
Mastercard
Mittal Family & Prasad Family
Sunanda Nair-Bidkar & Dr. Urvish Bidkar
Planned Parenthood
Shefali & Sumeet Salwan
Lavesh & Shalini Samtani & Sandeep Vardhan
Dr. Meera Shah
Dr. Nilay & Marjorie Shah
Nilufer R. Shaikh
Karthik Venkataraman
Dr. Margaret Abraham & Pradeep Singh & Chandra Sunkara
Joya Dass
Sedesh Doobay
Madhu Goel Southworth
Deepti Jain
Nandini Mongia & Rajan Gupta
Dr. Subadra & B. Panchanadeswaran
Shaheen Rushd & Jeremy Silverman
Tamseela Tayyabkhan & Sanjeev Khanna
To join us as a participating sponsor, please reach out to Shana Bhattacharya at [email protected].
Thank you for your commitment to Sakhi.
*Please note our list of sponsors is in progress.*
ADP
Monica Arora & Raj Goyle Kalpana Bhandarkar
Gail Campbell
Carteneil Cheung
Cecilia Clark
Sandra Ercolano
Lauren Glant & Michael Gillespie Marc Gross & Play It Forward
Foundation Dhruvi Kanabar Benazir Kannan Gwen Libstag Tamara Marshall
Prakash Mehta Rajiv Menon
Indra K. Nooyi
Ong Family Foundation Heather Rook
Faiyaz Rushd
Mani & Kalpana Sabapathi Alexandra Snyder Sunwink
Cannelle Trouillot
Jenny Tsai
John Van De Weert
Mansi Varma
Tali & Boaz Weinstein
Philanthropic Fund Yashih Wu
Urooj Zawwar
Benares Indian Restaurant
The Paanwalla
Shields Flowers
Sunwink
Tagmo Treats
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