Mission Statement

South Asian American Women’s Alliance, Inc. seeks to mentor, encourage and promote leadership and innovation among South Asian American women and girls to help build tomorrow’s workforce among the community.

Founder and President of South Asian American Women’s Alliance

A physician by profession, Anila Midha has been a trailblazer in introducing Indian high-end fashion to American audiences and has represented well-known and respected Indian designers in the US for the past fifteen years.

She is the Founder and President of South Asian American Women’s Alliance, a non-profit organization that promotes the education of STEM subjects among south asian american women and gives scholarships to deserving female students in high schools. She is on the Executive Board of South Asian Political Action Committee and Domestic Harmony Foundation. She is the advisor for Arya Samaj of Long Island. She is the President of Five Towns Indian Association for several years. Under her leadership, FTIA organized Gangajal Project in 2004 to raise funds for water harvesting in Andhra Pradesh.

She has been an active member and community leader in the Long Island community for over 25 years. She was the editor of IALI Newsletter and Annual Journals for several years. She was the President of IALI in 2008 and 2009. Under her leadership, IALI organized Indoor India Fest for the first time and it was a huge success. She organized and choreographed fashion shows in New York, Atlanta, Raleigh (North Carolina), Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles for Pratham, the largest educational non-profit organization with a global presence.

She organized a two day event, “From Fabric to Fashion” in the Consulate of India and Fashion Institute of Technology, New York in 2011. This involved exposure of Indian American Fashion designers, who are doing business in mainstream using Indian fabrics. She organized an Indiafest in FIT to showcase the culture of India.

She was honored at Nassau County Executive Mother’s Day Brunch celebration in 2013 by Edward Mangano; at the Indian Republic Day Celebration in Town of Hempstead by Supervisor Kate Murray; by India Association Of Long Island; Asian American Heritage Celebration by Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano in May 2015.

She is married to Prof. Subash Midha and is the proud mother of two daughters, one a lawyer and the other a high school math teacher.

Aruna Saxena, is an attorney by profession and has a Master’s degree in English literature and L.L.B. from India. Her husband, Dr. Rajiv Saxena, is a gastroenterologist and has a practice in West Islip. They have a daughter, who is a lawyer, and two grandsons.

She has been an active member of India Association of Long Island and has held different positions for several years. She worked tirelessly, effectively and efficiently to carry out the duties of each of her positions. She made monetary contributions to and collected substantial donations for IALI and been instrumental in the success of many of IALI's endeavors. For several years, she has been involved with IALI's annual Diwali Food Drive. She helped obtain van loads of food and monetary donations from local merchants to donate to Interfaith Nutrition Network. She was the chairperson of IALI Food Drive for five years.

Painting with oil colors is her passion. She has almost 30 paintings to her credit. Her paintings have been exhibited in several exhibitions in different galleries.

Bharathi Nelanuthala currently holds the position of Vice President of Human Resources at Netrovert Software Inc.in Hicksville, NY. She initially started her career in the IT sector as a Software Developer in NYC. Bharathi along with her friends started an Herbal Supplements and Skin Care company in 2009 and worked as the Vice President of Product Development.

In the late 90’s, Bharathi took a break from her career to raise her sons. She was actively involved in their education by volunteering at her children’s schools in various capacities often as a class mother and as a member of the parent’s association. She also volunteered to deliver meals for the elderly and disabled at the local 'Meals on Wheels'. She briefly worked as her husband’s political campaign manager when he ran for Town Council for the Town of Oyster Bay on Long Island in 2013. This opportunity introduced her to invaluable networking opportunities with various politicians, community leaders, and businessmen. She was on the host committee for “Women for Suozzi” supporting the re-election campaign for Mr. Tom Suozzi, a US Congressman from the 3rd District of New York.

In addition to being a board member of SAAWA, Bharathi is also a member of India Association of Long Island and Telugu Literary and Cultural Association. She lives with her husband Shaker Nelanuthala in Glen Cove, NY. Their sons Vivek and Neil Kamal are both Engineers who live and work in New Mexico and New Jersey respectively.

Sunita Saini is a graduate of Delhi University’s Institute of Journalism, where she was a Gold Medalist. After graduating from School of Social Work, Delhi University, she worked with former Prime Ministers, Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Dr. Karan Singh at Bal Bhavan and National Children’s Museum as a Head of Professional Services. In the United States, she earned a Doctorate degree from Adelphi University.

She worked in Long Island Jewish and Peninsula Hospital, where she was the Director of Social Services. She is the Founder and Director of South Shore Psychological Services and Long Island Psychology and Psychotherapy Services, which provide psychological services to various health care facilities including nursing homes, assisted living and adult homes. They provide psychotherapy and counseling services to children with special needs. In fact, she is the only South Asian woman to provide these services in New York State.

Outside of her work, she has been involved with different social, cultural and religious organizations. She has served in several soup kitchens and homeless shelters in Manhattan and Queens. She loves to write Hindi poetry and articles and is a frequent contributor to the Hindi magazine Chetna.

She lives in Lawrence with her husband, who is an Internist. Her daughter is a dermatologist and her son has a Band “Lights Resolve.” He also works for Warner Music as a VIP Manager.

Rekha Chichara graduated from Miranda House, a prestigious college in Delhi University. After migrating to USA she worked in TIAA CREF for a few years. Over the years, she volunteered her time in Queens Library, Winthrop Hospital, Senior centers, Hindu temples, Arya Samaj, Food Drive for Interfaith Nutrition Network, Election Committee for India Association of Long Island, Rotary Club of Hicksville South, India Day Parade and International Hindi Samiti.

She is the producer of a Bollywood movie, Moh Maya and Money. She has a rich melodious voice and sings at social and religious events. She is a well known philanthropist in the community. She is an active member of Long Island Ladies Circle. She lives in Hicksville with her husband, Jitendra Chichara, who is a retired engineer.

Bina Sabapathy was born and brought up at Udupi, in Karnataka. She had her early education at St.Cecily’s Girls High School and got her bachelor's degree from S.P.P.College, Udupi, Mysore University, majoring in Economics, History and Sociology.

She is married to V. K. Sabapathy, an engineer by profession. She is the mother of three, a lawyer daughter, a physician son and the youngest daughter just completed her BS in Psychology and BA in Sociology.

She is a devotee of Vedic Heritage since 1986 and currently serving on the Board of Trustees. She has been involved with India Association of Long Island for several years and served as member at Large, Treasurer, Vice President and President for two years. Being a pure vegetarian she headed Vegetarian Vision ( now known as World Vegan Vision) as President for 2018 & 2019.

She is the Vice Chair of Indo American Festivals and plays a key role in the celebration of Dushahra and Ganesh Mahostav in Long Island. She is an active member of Indian American Forum, AIA, TLCA, Kannada Koota New York, Tamil Sangam, Gopio, Plainview Bethpage Rotary Club and Long Island League to Abolish Cancer. She is the Vice President of India Day Parade in Long Island. She is the Founder President of Indo American Community Voice.