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)
Directing a nationally recognized organization with a staff of only four people is a daunting task, but Deepa Iyer makes it look easy. She is executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), a non-profit located on Carroll Avenue in Old Takoma that advocates for civil rights and social justice on behalf of South Asians.
Iyer’s career took a turn toward advocacy following the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001 when she first dealt with the backlash against many Arabs and South Asians, especially Muslims and Sikhs, who live in the U. S.
Language difficulties and bias are hindering the ability of New Jersey's growing South Asian community to get an education, earn a paycheck, and obtain justice and health care, community activists and public officials said today.
Nearly 200,000 people with roots in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka -- three-quarters of them immigrants -- call New Jersey home. The Garden State has the third-largest number of South Asians in the nation.
With a population of more than 2 million people, South Asians were the fastest growing Asian American
group in the United States between 1990 and 2000. Although the largest South Asian populations are
found on the East and West coasts in New York/New Jersey, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and the Washington DC Metro Area, there are sizable emerging populations in various parts of the United States.
Hello everyone,
Last night I did a short performance, a monologue of a civil rights leader, Unita Blackwell, recalling her days in the movement. At the end of the piece, her voice breaks into song, "Will you die for your freedom? Certainly, Lord, certainly, certainly, certainly, Lord." It left the audience completely quiet, after which they broke into loud strong applause.
Last night I did a short performance, a monologue of a civil rights leader, Unita Blackwell, recalling her days in the movement. At the end of the piece, her voice breaks into song, "Will you die for your freedom? Certainly, Lord, certainly, certainly, certainly, Lord." It left the audience completely quiet, after which they broke into loud strong applause.
"Instead of punishing the criminals, they see us as criminals and set immigration after us. While they are trying to send us back, we are standing here on hunger strike until the real criminals are brought to justice." --Guest Worker on Hunger Strike
D.C. Pride and Heritage, a celebration of the local Asian/Pacific Islander GLBT community, honored Metro Weekly May 10 for empowering the local A/PI GLBT community with media coverage.
Yes, pride season is once again upon us, with Youth Pride, Black Pride and Capital Pride. And the local Asian/Pacific Islander GLBT community has got plenty of pride of its own with the ninth annual Asian Pride and Heritage celebration.
A guide for the South Asians in the U.S.
A bill before the U.S. House of Representatives could allow thousands more highly educated, Indians to work in the United States.
The Innovation Employment Act, introduced last month by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat from Arizona, would double the nation’s cap on so-called H-1B visas for skilled foreign
workers from 65,000 to 130,000.