National Convening Program Books 2015 YEO National Convening Program Book | Page 27

Detailed Agenda
SATURDAY | JULY 25, 2015

11:00 AM
GROUP PHOTO
11:30 AM–12:30 PM
BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE SOCIETY
TACKLING INEQUITY AND THE VACUUM OF OPPORTUNITY IN OUR COMMUNITIES
Grand Ballroom

The national landscape from the past year has been marred by the realities of
inequality and inequity–the brutal boiling points of Ferguson and Baltimore; the
persistent poverty of our urban and rural centers in California, Wisconsin, New
York, and the South; and the fatal hate crimes against the Arab, Middle Eastern,
Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities in the Midwest. While pundits
play the race card, our communities are hurting. This panel will address the
systemic inequities faced by all of our marginalized communities, and will strive to
offer a dialogue amongst YEOs and allies who have worked to illuminate and heal
the traumas.
Sasha Ahuja

New York City Council Policy & Innovation Division

YEO National Convening | 2015

Sasha Neha Ahuja is a community organizer and advocate from New
York City. Ahuja has devoted her work to political education projects
with South Asian and Indo-Caribbean youth, organizing for justice in the
labor movement, policy formation that is generated by directly-impacted
communities, and social work practice from an accountable, anti-racist
framework. Ahuja currently serves as deputy director of the Policy &
Innovation Division within the Speaker’s Office at the New York City Council.
In this role, she works with many stakeholders to tackle complex projects
in the areas of lifting up low-wage work, sustainability and climate change,
infrastructure, housing, education, civil/human rights, and more. Ahuja also supports the development
and implementation of innovation projects including the largest in the nation participatory budgeting
process and an initiative dedicated to girls and women of color. She is an alumna of the Young People
For (2009) and Front Line Leaders Academy (2012) programs. Ahuja holds a B.A. from Hunter College
of the City University of New York, where she is also an adjunct instructor, and a M.S. in social work
from Columbia University.

26