Lisa stepped into an interim board member position at SALCO in 2019. Lisa is a human rights, employment, and labour lawyer, and has worked throughout her career to improve access to justice for marginalized Ontarians. Having worked with a few Toronto legal clinics since her call to the bar, she truly understands and fully supports the vision and the daily practice of community legal clinic work. As a South Asian person, Lisa has also personally witnessed and understood the limits of these community legal clinics in their ability to provide appropriate legal services to our diverse South Asian communities.

Alizeh is a CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant) and is also a CA and CFA. She currently works with the Ontario Securities Commission with a focus on compliance and risk management. Alizeh has also volunteered her time with War Against Rape in Pakistan, and is connected to the work that SALCO does in multiple South Asian communities in Ontario.

Jaspal is a construction litigation lawyer from Brampton, Ontario and proud member of the 2017 Windsor Law School graduating class.  Jaspal has been a SALCO board member for just under two terms and is the board’s current secretary.  He provides support on SALCO’s governance and is currently working on making sure that the clinic is compliant with the new requirements for the Ontario Not-For-Profit Corporations Act.  , and with connecting SALCO to the growing South Asian bar in Ontario.

Kish Mahmud is currently a Commercial Account Manager, RBC Commercial. Her role includes the implementation of robust market plan to achieve and exceed growth targets ensuring client centric execution and the analysis of financial statements for Not for Profit Clients. Kish has an extensive background in banking and financial management. Kish is hoping to leverage her education, work experience in the not for profit sector as well as her personal life experience with an organization whose values aligned with her own. She hopes to bring her own diverse background to the Board. Having both South Asian and Indigenous heritage, she feels strongly that the work the SALCO does is essential to create a healthy and sustainable ecosystem for an equitable future for all.

Swarna is a registered social worker and researcher, and is currently working as a psychotherapist with children, youth and families at Lumenus Community Services in Toronto. She recently graduated with a Masters in Social Work from University of Toronto, and also holds an MSc. in Organizational and Social Psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She is assisting on a research project on ‘Promoting Economic Inclusion among Racialized Migrant Women’. She has closely worked in areas of precarious employment and gender-based violence within low-income migrant neighborhoods in Toronto. She is currently on the advisory committee of the South Asian Women’s Rights Organization (SAWRO). Swarna has previously worked in South India on research related to the colonial history of institutionalization, mental health service delivery at the intersection of gender and homelessness.

Rashmi’s passion for criminal law is fueled by the experiences of her family growing up in Malvern, a marginalized neighbourhood in Scarborough. During law school, Rashmi focused on studies in criminal law, participated in the Gale Cup Moot Competition, and volunteered with the Queen’s Legal Aid Clinic and Prison Law Clinic, in order to gain as much practical experience as possible. After law school, Rashmi worked at Hicks Adams LLP, where, she conducted preliminary hearings and trials, numerous pre-trials, contested bail hearings, guilty pleas, sentencing hearings, and parole hearings. Rashmi now runs her own practice in criminal law. Rashmi is also one of the founding members of the Campaign for Cannabis Amnesty. It gives Rashmi great satisfaction to advocate for vulnerable and marginalized clients and recognizes that there is so much more to be done.  Rashmi currently works as a Crown Attorney in Ontario.

Shivali is a litigation lawyer specializing in employment and human rights law, who believes that creating greater access to justice is essential for positive change. She believes that the most meaningful change is born from work that integrates empathy and advocacy, and it is this belief that brought her to SALCO. Having experienced and observed the challenges faced by members of the South Asian community, Shivali values the opportunities, security, and guidance that SALCO’s initiatives provide, and hopes to be an ally in its mission. As a member of the Board of Directors, Shivali is eager to utilize her transferrable skills and passion to contribute to the ongoing growth and success of SALCO. In her spare time, you can find Shivali tackling sudoku puzzles and caring for any animal she comes across.

Sultana Jahingir is the founder of SAWRO and has been its Executive Director since 2007. South Asian Women’s Rights Organization (SAWRO) is a grassroots member-led non-profit community-based organization operated by community women to serve the Bengali community and other South Asian communities.  SAWRO has undergone a transformation and is now known as XXX.  Sultana has 23 years of diverse experience building grass-roots organizations among equity seeking groups, including work with impoverished Bangladeshi urban workers, undocumented immigrants in New York City and marginalized immigrant women in Scarborough, Ontario. Sultana is deeply aware of the legal issues that impact low-income South Asian communities in Canada.

Chrishyami is a Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) who is now the Director of HR at the Canada Revenue Agency (Ontario Region), after several years as Assistant Director of Staffing and Recruitment. She served as the Employment Equity Champion as well as the Recruitment champion at the CRA and is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion.

She has also been involved in a variety of volunteer initiatives over the years, including being a former member of the GenNext Cabinet at United Way Greater Toronto and serving as chair of Golden Future South Africa, a volunteer led initiative aimed at empowering South Asian Youth to be leaders in their community. Chrishyami is committed to supporting the important work that SALCO does and ensure their continued success in supporting the most vulnerable. Her extensive HR experience is a significant asset to the board.

Rutvi is a second year law student at the University of Ottawa. Rutvi spent the summer of 2023 working at SALCO as a law stu-dent and got to learn a lot about the amazing work the staff there do. As her time at SALCO was ending, at the end of summer, she found myself seeking an avenue to continue to be part of the important work SALCO does. As a Board of Directors member, Rutvi plans to actively take part in supporting governance that allows SALCO to make the impact that they do on the lives of thousands of South Asians. As a law student, it will also allow her to bring forward the student perspective to discussions as well as allow learning how Board of Director decisions are made.

Tahlee is a human rights consultant with the Toronto Transit Commission, and a foreign trained lawyer with a Masters in International Human Rights. Her legal skills along with her demonstrated interest and experience in human rights issues will be a val-uable asset to SALCO, including input into our own internal work with the United Nations. Tahlee has been working exclusively with human rights issues in Ontario for 12 years in both the public and private sectors. At mid-level in her career with significant expertise in the Ontario Human Rights Code, strategic direction, work-place investigations and law/policy analysis, she is seeking an opportunity that will allow them to utilize this ex-perience to serve the South Asian community.

Marium is a seasoned legal professional, with extensive work experience in human resources, governance and compliance, and project management. Currently working for a children’s mental health agency in Toronto funded for by the Ministry of Health, Marium has a Master of Laws in International Human Rights with a focus on Refugee Law from University of London. She has previously worked for Amnesty International at the International Secretariat in London, UK leading its global campaign on the War on Terror and Guantanamo. In Toronto, Marium has previously served on the Board of Directors for Amnesty International Toronto and was one of organizers of the AI Toronto REEL Awareness Film Festival.