About Saheli Staff

To contact a staff member, send email to sahelihelp@gmail.com
Call 1-866-4SAHELI (1-866-472-4354)

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION - SAHELI STAFF

Meena Sonea-Hewett, Executive Director
Meena is responsible for Saheli staff supervision, board development, fiscal responsibility and budget management. She is Saheli’s first Executive Director and has volunteered with Saheli since 1997. She has 12 years experience in capacity building and program development for grassroots non-profits, with a focus on gender, culture, and immigration issues. Meena was Saheli’s first program coordinator in 2002 and assisted Saheli to define the organization’s mission, programs and goals. More recently, as a diversity trainer for Saheli, Meena designed and conducted South Asian cultural awareness training for police officers in 11 communities. She has a Masters in Sustainable International Development from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, at Brandeis University, a Masters in Architecture from Rice University in Texas, and Bachelors in Economics from the University of Mumbai, India.

Rita Shah, Family Services Coordinator
Rita Shah works directly with Saheli clients and provides referrals and support, and connects clients to service providers. Rita has 20 years of community organizing and project management experience. She was the past president of India Association of Greater Boston. She is currently the Vice President of Indian American Forum on Political Education. Rita has taught at Shishu Bharati Language School, organized ESOL and Citizenship classes in Burlington and Lowell for senior citizens, assisted in the cultural awareness training for 11 police departments. She is an active member of the Satsang Center in Woburn and also works as the Outreach Coordinator to provide resources and assistance to South Asian elders at the Burlington Council on Aging. Rita is currently enrolled for a Masters in Social Work, Leadership and Management at Simmons College.

Seema Shenoy, Program and Volunteer Coordinator
Seema Shenoy is responsible for day-to-day coordination of five areas of services-- domestic violence, immigration and legal rights, health education, and building economic empowerment classes and volunteer opportunities. She monitors the Saheli helpline and the intake of client calls, manages Saheli email lists and organizes monthly meetings. She is an active volunteer in the Acton Public School system. Seema's prior experience is in software engineering and she has worked on several projects with Genuity, Kronos Inc., and Unicom MicroAge Inc. Seema has a Client/Server Certificate from Clark University in Cambridge MA, and a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering from University of Mangalore, India.