Sayu  BHOJWANI

Founder/President, New American Leaders
NYC First Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs

Sayu Bhojwani, Founder and President of New American Leaders, is a power of example that immigrants get the job done. Beyond her work across the country, paving the way for first- and second-generation Americans to build power and potential to run for public office, Sayu managed to write a book, People Like Us: Knocking at Democracy’s Door, which comes out in October by The New Press in October 2018. Empowering immigrants has always been her super power, as evident in her being New York City’s first Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs, in addition to being the founder of South Asian Youth Action, a community-based organization in Queens.

Sayu’s TED talk about the importance of immigrants in American democracy, and her work to build a more inclusive democracy has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and in The New York Times. She has shared her personal journey in The Nation and on Bill Moyers.com.

Sayu earned a PhD in Politics & Education from Columbia University, where her research focused on immigrant political participation. She is a Visiting Scholar at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University & a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow and serves on the board of AAPI Progressive Action & National Immigration Action Fund. An immigrant of Indian descent, she grew up in Belize & now lives in New York City with her husband & child.