Seema Agnani Executive Director :[ bio ]:
	Afreen Alam Deputy Director :[ bio ]:
	Mamta Gurung Homeownership Program Manager :[ bio ]:
	Shama Mubdi Housing Counselor and Office Manager :[ bio ]:
	Yangchen Chadotsang Housing Counselor :[ bio ]:
	Anjali Chaudhry Lead Community Organizer :[ bio ]:
	Maria Malik Chhaya’s Intake Specialist :[ bio ]:
	Jessica Bartolini Chhaya’s Energy Outreach Coordinator :[ bio ]:

STAFF BIOGRAPHIES

Seema Agnani, Executive Director, was one of Chhaya CDC's initial founders. Before returning to Chhaya as Executive Director in 2007, she was the Coordinating Consultant to the Fund for New Citizens at The New York Community Trust, a donor collaborative supporting immigrant rights work. She was also the Director of Training and Technical Assistance at Citizens for NYC. In addition, she worked with Asian Americans for Equality for several years as a housing development associate while also focusing on fundraising and development; and later served as a coordinator of the Lower Manhattan Health Care Coalition. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, the Association for Neighborhood Housing Development, the New York Immigration Coalition, and the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee. She is a former recipient of The Charles H. Revson Fellowship at Columbia University, earned her Bachelor's Degree at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a Masters of Urban Planning and Public Administration at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Seema, a Midwesterner at heart, loves swimming in swampy lakes almost as much as the exploring the streets of the big city.

Afreen Alam is Chhaya's Deputy Director and is responsible for managing and strengthening Chhaya's programs and services, policy advocacy and community organizing efforts, as well as developing and implementing new programs. Most recently, she worked as a Program Officer for UNAIDS and as a consultant for The Hunger Project and the PAMOJA TRUST in Nairobi, Kenya. The latter assignment focused on slum upgrading and community led housing development issues in one of the largest informal settlements in Nairobi. A daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants, Afreen grew up in Queens, New York and has been continuously involved in protecting and advancing immigrant rights in various capacities. Her community organizing experiences in New York include advocacy work with Workers Awaaz, a community based organization in Queens. She received her Master's degree in Economic and Political Development from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and is fluent in Bengali and proficient in Hindi.

Mamta Gurung, Homeownership Program Manager, joined Chhaya CDC in 2009 to oversee its foreclosure prevention and homeownership program. Previously, she was the marketing manager at Imperial Trading Ltd., a private business in Queens, NY, where she spearheaded the marketing program and initiated several outreach projects. She has worked with Young Asia Television, a non-profit affiliate of Worldview Global Television, specifically on gender issues and the rising youth workforce in Nepal. In addition, she was a founding member of Manang Youth Society, an NGO in Nepal. Mamta is also on the editorial board for Migyul, a magazine dealing with the social issues of the Himalayan immigrants in New York.  She graduated from Cornell University with a Masters in International Development in 2007 and earned a Bachelors of Arts in International Development and Mass Communication at City University New York.  Mamta speaks English, Nepali, Hindi, Manangi and Tibetan. Mamta is always exploring new ways of juggling time between work and raising her curious and energetic 4 year old daughter.

Shama Mubdi joined Chhaya in 2001 and is currently the Housing Counselor and Office Manager. She conducts homeownership and foreclosure prevention counseling with clients and manages the organizations client intake and counseling programs.  In addition, she oversees the organization's office administration, bookkeeping, and procurement. She has over 10 years of experience in direct services as well as office administration, having previously worked as a management and program coordinator with organizations such as Settlement Health in East Harlem and HANAC in Long Island City, New York City. Shama was also a case manager with New York City's Human Resources Administration for five years.  She graduated with a Bachelors of Arts from Dhaka University in Bangladesh; and is fluent in English, Bengali, Urdu, and Hindi. Shama has three daughters and loves playing card games.

Yangchen Chadotsang, Housing Counselor, worked with Indian Airlines as well as Jet Airlines as an attendant for about seven years. She graduated with honors from Loreto College in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India where she worked as a counselor for 2 years, and has also previously taught at Tungram International School in Nepal at a volunteer. Yangchen is fluent in English, Hindi, Urdu, Nepalese, Tibetan, and also has proficiency in Bengali. Yangchen loves to escape the big City by travelling and reading.

Anjali Chaudhry, Lead Community Organizer, spearheads tenant organizing and membership base- building work. Anjali has been active in community organizing in South Asian, LGBTQ, feminist, and immigrant communities in Atlanta, Ohio, Washington D.C., and New York City. Most recently, Anjali worked as the Maryland Outreach Coordinator for South Asian Americans Leading Together, a national progressive South Asian civil and immigrant rights organization. Anjali graduated from Oberlin College with a double major in Politics and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies.

Maria Malik, is Chhaya’s Intake Specialist and coordinates client appointments and follow-up. Maria graduated with a BBA in Human Resource Management from CUNY and has experience in small business development and multi-cultural education. Originally from Pakistan, she speaks Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi.

Jessica Bartolini is Chhaya’s Energy Outreach Coordinator, and coordinates the organization’s energy efficiency and environmental sustainability initiatives.  Jessica received a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University’s  School of International and Public Affairs, and has an extensive professional background in environmental studies and community development.  Jessica speaks Spanish, Hindi and Urdu.

	Mohammad Ali, Esq. Con Ed Chair :[ bio ]:
	Suman Raghunathan Secretary :[ bio ]:
	Joseph Hawlader :[ bio ]:
	Suman Raghunathan Progressive States Network Secretary :[ bio ]:
	Mafruza Kahn Consultan :[ bio ]:
	Oda Friedheim Chair :[ bio ]:
	Rina Biswa Accountant Treasurer :[ bio ]:

	Tenzing Chadotsang New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
	Renee Lobo International Television Gold
	Asad Mahmood Deutsche Bank
	Anthony Ng United Neighborhood Houses of New York
	S. Tito Sinha, Esq. Law Offices of S. Tito Sinha

BOARD OF DIRECTORS BIOGRAPHIES

Suman Raghunathan, Immigration Policy Specialist at the Progressive States Network, has deep experience advancing immigrant rights via grassroots, advocacy, and policy organizations. The daughter of Indian immigrants and the former Interim Executive Director of Chhaya Community Development Corporation, where she now serves on the Board of Directors, Suman's expertise lies in crafting policy platforms and advocacy strategies. She has also developed programs to engage immigrants in the electoral process at the NY Immigration Coalition and OneAmerica, including managing the nation's largest voter registration project for new citizens. Most recently, Suman was an immigration policy consultant, developing progressive policy agendas for Demos and the Drum Major Institute. Suman holds a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Brown University and a Master's in Nonprofit Management from Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy.

Mohammad Ali works as an engineer during the day and at night maintains a community based law practice. In his law practice, Mr. Ali deals primarily with the South Asian community and with issues related to real estate, corporate law, administrative law and immigration. Mr. Ali has over 15 years of experience dealing with issues related to homeownership, landlord and tenant matters, landuse planning, and construction. Mohammad Ali was born in Pakistan and raised in Queens, New York. He currently lives with his family in Holliswood, Queens and maintains a law office in Valley Stream, New York.

Oda Friedheim has been a Staff Attorney at the Queens Neighborhood Office of the Legal Aid Society since 1996. At Legal Aid her work includes defending tenants in eviction and ejectment actions in civil and supreme courts, enforcing housing codes through litigation work on behalf of tenant associations and representing low-income homeowners in state and federal courts. She was formerly a founding director of the Lower East Side Local Enforcement Unit of the MFY Legal Services, served on the New York City Rent Guideline Board under Mayor Dinkins; and served as the Director of Housing Development at the Ecumenical Community Development Organization. She currently serves as an advisor to Resident Landlord-Tenant Law In New York and is on the board of the City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court. Mr. Freidheim was awarded the New York IOLA Legal Services Fellowship in 1998, the Arthur Kinoy Fellowship at Rutgers University in 1996, and the Revson Fellows on the Future of the City of New York in 1993.

Joseph Hawlader has over 20 years of financial management experience in private and not for profit industries. Currently, Mr. Hawlader serves as an Sr. accountant with  NOITU, a sole national trade union in New York.. He formerly served as a Business Manager for the YMCA of Greater New York for five years where he managed numerous City and State level contracts.  Formerly, he was Controller for a major manufacturing company for four years.  He is a founding member of the Human Evaluation and Leadership Program in Dhaka, Bangladesh; a member of Source and Solution, a credit union based in New York; and serves on the board of advisory boared of Probashi Christian Bengali Association.

Mafruza Khan serves as Enhancing the Field Director, Environmental Grantmakers Association in New York City. She has over fifteen years of experience working at the intersection of policy, research, advocacy and organizing for community development in the U.S and in South and Southeast Asia. Her work has focused on promoting equity and sustainability, social inclusion, civic engagement, political empowerment and good governance. An urban and regional planner and economist by training, her employers have included Working Assets, Pratt Center for Community Development, Center for Social Inclusion and Proshika (an NGO in Bangladesh). Mafruza has graduate degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and from Dhaka University in Bangladesh and is currently an independent consultant.

Rina Biswas has more than 7 years as a Finance Professional in both the US and the UK. Currently she works with Deutsche Bank; her areas of expertise include business planning and strategy, financial reporting and analysis. She is a volunteer with charity:water, a nonprofit organization that brings clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations and was a working group member of the Deutsche Bank Microfinance Team. She is a graduate of NYU's Leonard N. Stern School of Business, is fluent in Bengali, and a working knowledge of French.