Sayu Bhojwani

For over three decades, Sayu has activated change in nonprofit and government settings, founding and leading three organizations, speaking across the country and internationally, and writing on how immigrants and women of color can shape the world we want to see.

She is a proud New Yorker who served as the City’s first Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Currently, she is a Leader in Residence at the Moynihan Center at the City University of New York. Currently, she is an Open Society Foundations Equality Fellow and a Leader in Residence at the Moynihan Center at City College of New York.

She consults with women of color leaders in elected office and nonprofit organizations, is a guest host for Our Body Politic and combines her real-life and professional experience to share advice, survival tips, and perspectives through No. 1 Immigrant Daughter.

Her career as a social entrepreneur began in the 1990s, when she started South Asian Youth Action (SAYA), the first organization in the United States specifically focused on supporting youth who trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent. In 2010, she founded New American Leaders, to support first- and second-generation Americans to run, win and lead in public office. In 2021, she founded Women’s Democracy Lab (WDL), to support women of color and Indigenous women, post-election.

Sayu began her academic journey as an English major and remains passionate about reading and writing fiction. She holds a PhD in Politics and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, is the author of People Like Us: The New Wave of Candidates Knocking at Democracy’s Door (New Press, 2018) and a TED speaker. She has been widely published in national news outlets and writes frequently on Medium.