South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to fostering an environment in which all South Asians in America can participate fully in civic and political life, and have influence over policies that affect them. Approximately 2.7 million South Asians live in the United States, tracing their backgrounds to Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and the diaspora, including Trinidad/Tobago, Guyana, and Africa. SAALT works to achieve our mission through a social justice framework that incorporates the strategies of policy analysis and advocacy, community education, local capacity-building, and leadership development. Each of these strategies are linked to specific programs which you will find more information about on this website.
Press Clips (Archive)
Deepa Iyer, Executive Director of South Asian Americans Leading Together, provided the keynote address on "Charting a Path Forward—The Post 9/11 Backlash Against Immigrants and Human Rights Responses."
Georgia State University’s Center for Human Rights and Democracy will host a symposium addressing immigration policies and the protection of human rights in the United States and abroad at 8 a.m. June 17 in room 460 of the University Center.
NEW YORK: South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), a national organization whose mission is to promote the full and equal civic and political participation of South Asians in the US, has applauded the introduction of the "Reuniting Families Act" on June 5, in the US House of Representatives.
This bill is a crucial step towards alleviating severe backlogs in the processing of family and employment-based visas that have long affected the lives of South Asian community members in this country.
In the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, hundreds of thousands of people, left without jobs or homes, were forced to leave the Gulf Coast and begin new lives elsewhere. Over the next two and a half years, the government and its agencies proved ineffective at revitalizing Gulf Coast communities. The massive displacement which had initially been viewed as temporary gradually assumed the aspect of a permanent "Katrina/Rita diaspora."
The Compact for Racial Justice Forum held a conference call April 28 with leaders of national social justice groups who discussed the highs and lows of President Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office. The forum, directed by the Applied Research Center, was part of a series of national conference calls about race and the economy, jobs, health care, immigration and civil rights.
The following speakers were on the call.
I should have written this while I was still sneezing among the dogwood, tulips and cherry blossoms, but DC has a way of taking up all available space, time and mind and I have a way of dancing to the music…
I was in the area for a multitude of reasons: community building, political advocacy, book promotion, policy wonkishness (I am, quite possibly one of the few individuals who actually listened to the Clinton impeachment hearings in real time), much of which coincided with the amazing South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) 2009 Summit.
When I came into the exam room, I knew something was wrong. My 8- year-old patient— usually an extroverted, charming boy—was angry. He sat with his arms crossed and refused to look
NEW JERSEY: Over 20 South Asian advocates, community activists, students and service providers gathered March 16 at the New Jersey State House for South Asian Advocacy Day to advocate for effective policies that address the needs of community members.
NEW JERSEY: Over 20 South Asian advocates, community activists, students and service providers gathered March 16 at the New Jersey State House for South Asian Advocacy Day to advocate for effective policies that address the needs of community members.
NEW JERSEY: Over 20 South Asian advocates, community activists, students and service providers gathered March 16 at the New Jersey State House for South Asian Advocacy Day to advocate for effective policies that address the needs of community members.
Recently Forbes ran a contentious article that slipped through the cracks without much commentary. The piece, written by Jason Richwine of the American Enterprise Institute, declared Indian Americans “The New Model Minority,” as if we were competing for the title in a pageant.