South Asian Women's Leadership Forum (SAWLF) is the first not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of South Asian women and girls (U.S.).

SAWLF participants are public and private sector professionals that number over 4,000 across the U.S. Through a combination of events, mentoring, and education, SAWLF serves as a platform for professional women to meet and assist one another with individual, professional and business objectives and, ultimately, leave a network and legacy for the women that follow us to utilize and build upon. The SAWLF mentoring initiative partners SAWLF members with school age girls from diverse communities within the City of New York.

Through our bi-annual conference, Congress, SAWLF is committed to providing women professionals a forum in which to interact and learn from successful women leaders from around the world. The visibility of prominent individuals who are willing to share their personal experiences of challenge and achievement is critical to the success of this program.

SAWLF Distinguished Speakers and Alumni Include:

• Ms. Indra Nooyi, Chairman & CEO, PepsiCo., Inc.
• Ms. Vanita Gupta, Esq., NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
• Ms. Fawzia Naqvi, Vice President, Soros Economic Development Fund
• Ms. Sara Mathew, President and COO, The Dun and Bradstreet Corporation
• Film Director and Producer, Ms. Mira Nair
• Ms. Prabha Sipi Bhandari, Former VP Senior Counsel, Mergers & Acquisitions, Viacom, Inc.
• Ms. Sheila Hooda, Senior Managing Director and Head of Strategy, TIAA-CREF
• Ms. Padma Lakshmi, Host, Top Chef (Bravo!)

SAWLF’s success can be contributed to its many volunteers and speakers. They devote their time, and, in the true spirit of our organization, share their network and resources in order to support our events and programs. Since its inception, SAWLF has hosted or collaborated in over 150 distinct programs. While the majority of SAWLF events have been held in New York, in November 2005, with the support of the United Nations Foundation, SAWLF launched a new program initiative in Washington DC. More recently, SAWLF expanded its programming to the greater Chicago area.

Thank you for your interest in the South Asian Women's Leadership Forum (SAWLF). Our website is in the process of being updated. Please visit again soon for up-to-date information on our upcoming events and programs. To reach SAWLF by e-mail, contact us at info@southasianwomen.org or visit our Congress (annual conference)
website: www.southasianwomen.org/congress

Thank you for your interest in the South Asian Women's Leadership Forum (SAWLF). Our website is in the process of being updated. Please visit again soon for up-to-date information on our upcoming events and programs. To reach SAWLF by e-mail, contact us at info@southasianwomen.org or visit our Congress (annual conference)
website: www.southasianwomen.org/congress

April 30, 2010: Mothers, Daughters and the Workplace, Lassi with Lavina

April 22, 2010: SAWLF welcomes high school participants and corporate partners for our third annual Take Our Daughter's to Work Day. SAWLF has been seeking opportunities in which to expand our leadership and educational programming to include girls. Our program, in the opportunity to meet and shadow South Asian women professionals in positions of leadership, responsibility and authority. The collaboration offers SAWLF members the chance to share their experience and directly impact young women at a critical stage of their personal development. Student participants are between 14 to 19 years of age and represent New York City high schools in Queens and Brooklyn.

Today's program will pair over 45 South Asian high school students, with SAWLF members in diverse fields such as technology production, social justice, museum and cultural programming, finance, marketing, medicine, and publishing. Participating SAWLF members represent organizations such as JPMorgan Private Bank, Harper Collins, Asia Society, I Have A Dream Foundation, MTV, InfoSys, Colgate as well as Dr. Juhi Chawla, a psychiatrist in private practice. Additionally, American Eagle has contributed gift bags for all of our student participants. The collaboration between SAWLF and SAYA! is designed to spark the highest aspirations of immigrant South Asian youth by creating access to women professionals in a diverse roles and organizations. Take Our Daughter's to Work Day was first introduced to SAWLF by program co-founder Nell Merlino, CEO & Founder of Count-Me-In. We invite SAWLF members to join our Take Our Daughter's to Work Day initiative. For further information about our 2010 - 2011 program, please contact SAWLF at info@southasianwomen.org

November 2, 2009: Follow South Asian Women's Leadership Forum (SAWLF) on Twitter

On Tuesday, February 23, SAWLF will bring together leading women writers, journalists and industry professionals for a dynamic conversation on the Who, What, Where, Why, When and How of writing for print and publication.

Publishing and Media: Breaking In
featuring

• Sarita Varma, Director of Publicity, Farrar Straus and Giroux
  
• Sarah Ellison, Journalist and Author, War at the Wall Street Journal
  
• Richa Gulati, Freelance Writer, Dancer, and Lawyer
  
• Kirsten Neuhaus Literacy Agency
• Megan Deem, Fashion Features Editor, InStyle
• Saira Rao, Author, Chambermaid

6:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday, February 23, 2010

This special SAWLF event will take place at the downtown Manhattan offices of
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, LLP

Limited seating available. Advance on-line registration required:
http://www.ersvp.com/r/event7778

For additional information, please contact SAWLF: info@southasianwomen.org

Monday, August 23: At 7 PM, SAWLF presents a private screening of the feature film Hiding Divya. Q&A with actors Madhur Jaffrey, Pooja Kumar and film director Rehana Mirza to follow. 7 PM. Big Cinemas Manhattan, 239 59th Street (between Second and Third Avenues), New York, NY 10022. Advance ticket purchase is highly suggested. Please visit:
http://www.movietickets.com/movie_detail.asp?movie_id=58596

Wednesday, June 23: SAWLF Presents Women in Fashion featuring special guest speaker Jyothi Rao, General Manager for Women's at the Gilt Groupe.

Jyothi Rao brings to Gilt Groupe extensive experience in the retail sector with a focus on merchandising. Most recently, she served as a senior vice president and general manager at Calvin Klein, where she launched the Specialty Retail division. Prior to that, she spent 16 years at Gap Inc., where she held several leadership positions and was responsible for aggressively growing both the regular-price and outlet businesses for Gap and Banana Republic. Jyothi, who has resided in Africa, India and Europe, also helped Gap International succeed in more than doubling its sales in Japan, France, the U.K. and Canada. She was educated at the University of Texas at Austin.

Please visit: http://www.ersvp.com/r/event8006/main for additional event details.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010: SAWLF's Series on Women and Transition Continues

In April 2010, SAWLF launched a new event series designed to explore how women professionals experience change and career transition. Invited speakers will share their experiences of transition which, for some, was initiated by desire and choice (seeking career change or new opportunity) and, for others, out of necessity (due to relocation or down-sizing).

Our April 5, 2010 featured Roopa Purushothaman, MD, Head of Research, Everstone Investment Advisors Pvt. Limited, Mumbai, India in conversation with Komal Dhall, a principal for KPMG. This session highlighted Roopa's transition from Goldman Sachs (New York) to a new professional opportunity working in Mumbai, India. Roopa discussed the opportunity she sought and the challenges she has discovered working and living in one of the world's fastest growing economies.

SAWLF continue our series on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 with Tanuja Prasad and entrepreneur Sarita Ekya. Sarita is the owner of East Village favorite S'MAC (Sarita's Mac and Cheese). A former engineer, Sarita will share her experience of transition to New York City restaurant owner. Tanuja will discuss her transition from the field of technology on Wall Street to new non-profit opportunities in New York and India. Additional panelists will be announced.

This special event is made possible with the support of KPMG. For on-line registration, please visit:
http://www.ersvp.com/r/event7935/regmain

SAVE-THE-DATE
South Asian Women's Leadership Forum (SAWLF)
Presents
Non-Traditional Careers in Finance
Thursday, April 1, 2010
6:30 - 8:30 PM

This special event is made possible by
JPMorgan Private Bank
Advance on-line registration required. Please click here
Click for details

Monday, April 5: Women and Transition: India Bound
This event will feature Roopa Purushothaman, MD, Head of Research, Everstone Investment Advisors Pvt. Limited, Mumbai, India. This special session will highlight Roopa's transition from Goldman Sachs (New York) to a new professional opportunity working in Mumbai, India. Roopa will discuss the opportunity she sought and the challenges she has discovered working and living in one of the world's fastest growing economies.

This special event will be moderated by Komal Dhall and take place at the Midtown offices of KPMG. To register on-line, please visit:
http://www.ersvp.com/r/event7907/regmain

On November 13, 2009, SAWLF launched Women in Fashion (WIF) with panelists Rosena Sammi (Rosena Sammi Jewelry); Rakhee Mirchandani (New York Post) and Mili Dutt Reddy (Louis Vuitton NA). WIF will offer quarterly networking and career development opportunities for women professionals in New York City's dynamic Fashion industry.

Special Guest Panelists
Sarita Gupta, Vice President, Global Resources & Communications, Women’s World Banking (WWB)

Sarita Gupta joined WWB in July 2007. She is responsible for ensuring that WWB meets its annual fundraising goals, is positioned for strategic growth, and remains a thought leader in the sector through its publications and speaking engagements.

Sarita has a 25-year career in the non-profit sector, encompassing program development, fundraising, communications, marketing and management. Just prior to joining WWB, she headed the fundraising and communications efforts at Acumen Fund, which seeks entrepreneurial approaches to alleviate global poverty; and before that held successively higher fundraising and management positions at CARE, a leading humanitarian organization. Sarita has also worked for the American Friends Service Committee, the Asia Society, and a U.S. State Department-funded project on refugee resettlement.

Sarita holds a Masters degree from the School of International & Public Affairs at Columbia University, and a Bachelors degree from Miranda College, Delhi University, India.

Kausar Hamdani, PhD, Senior Vice President and Community Affairs Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

It is the special responsibility of the Community Affairs Office to gather grass-roots intelligence and analyze emerging issues affecting low to moderate income communities in the Second Federal Reserve District. Additionally, the Community Affairs Office convenes stakeholders to provide information and technical assistance related to community and economic development.

Ms. Hamdani joined the Bank in 1982 as an economist in the Monetary Research Department and has served in several areas, including the Bank Supervision Group. She also led the Buffalo Branch of the New York Fed and has served on several community, business and academic advisory boards in Upstate New York. Prior to that, she taught economics at Columbia University and New York University.

Ms. Hamdani holds a doctorate and two master’s degrees from Columbia University. Her bachelor’s degree is from Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio.

Moderator S. Mitra Kalita, Editor, The Wall Street Journal S. Mitra Kalita is an editor at The Wall Street Journal, and the author of Suburban Sahibs: Three immigrant families and their passage from India to America.

She was most recently the deputy global economics editor, handling coverage of the global financial crisis. At the Journal, she anchors the weekly column, New Global Indian. Most recently, she helped launch Mint, a business newspaper in New Delhi, as a founding editor, columnist and member of the editorial leadership team. Beforejoining Mint, Mitra was a reporter at the Washington Post, Newsday and the Associated Press. She has covered a wide range of general assignment and business stories, including the impact of 9/11 on New York City's economy, on immigration and on South Asians and Arabs.She has spent much of her career writing about immigration, globalization and emerging economies, especially India. She is currently at work on two books, an economic memoir of India and a workplace manual.

A native of Brooklyn, Mitra grew up in Massapequa, Long Island; Puerto Rico, and West Windsor, N.J. Mitra has a BA in history and journalism from Rutgers University and a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She has received many awards and her work is included in an anthology of the "Best Business Stories." She is a past president of the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA). Mitra is married to Nitin Mukul, an artist. They have a 5-year-old daughter and live in Jackson Heights, Queens.

For additional information, please contact SAWLF: info@southasianwomen.org