Sayu Bhojwani was the first Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She also founded

South Asian Youth Action South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit youth development organization in New York City. Although focused on South Asian youth, the group is secular and works with young people of all ethnicities. The group aims to provide acade ...

, and the New American Leaders.

Career

Bhojwani moved to

in 1987 as a student at

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

and obtained her

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

with an emphasis on teaching English with the intention of returning to Belize to teach. She declined to pursue a career in education when the New York City Department of Education would not help her obtain a green card. She instead took a job with

Asia Society The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) and around the world (Hong Kong, Man ...

, immersing herself in issues pertaining to

Asian Americans Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

and realizing that policymakers did not look like the constituents she served. As a resident of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, Bhojwani founded the afterschool

program in 1996 to support teenagers with ancestral origin from

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

, which continues to serve New York today. In 2001, Bhojwani re-enrolled at Teachers College for a doctorate in politics and education. In April 2002, New York City Mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

appointed her to the newly created role of Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs, where she expanded protections and services for the city's undocumented immigrants, domestic workers, and non-English speakers. She credits this role as demonstrating to her the power of a truly representative government, including having immigrants in positions of political influence to support immigrants. She served as Commissioner for two years, leaving the post in May 2004. Bhojwani continued to work in philanthropy for Bloomberg, and moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

for a time. Bhojwani founded New American Leaders in 2010 after the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

failed to create a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

enacted

Arizona SB 1070 The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (introduced as Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and commonly referred to as Arizona SB 1070) is a 2010 legislative Act in the U.S. state of Arizona that was the broadest and strictest an ...

. She had considered running for office against

Sheldon Silver Sheldon Silver (February 13, 1944 – January 24, 2022) was an American Democratic Party politician, attorney, and convicted felon from New York City who served as speaker of the New York State Assembly from 1994 to 2015. A native of Manhattan' ...

, but decided to instead focus on building a diverse pipeline of local and state elected officials. Bhojwani resumed her doctorate at Teachers College in 2014, writing her thesis on immigrants and electoral politics.

Personal life

Bhojwani is a first generation

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. She was born in 1967 in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to Sindhi parents. Her family immigrated to

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

, then the British Honduras, when she was four. She moved to the United States to study

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and Spanish at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

in 1980. She has one child with her husband of 19 years.

Published works

* Bhojwani, Sayu (2018). ''People Like Us: The New Wave of Candidates Knocking at Democracy's Door.''

The New Press The New Press is an independent non-profit public-interest book publisher established in 1992 by André SchiffrinSayu Bhojwani
at

TED (conference) TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhojwani, Sayu Living people 1967 births American nonprofit executives Indian emigrants to the United States 21st-century American women