SAPHA - South Asian Public Health Association - logo
SAPHA - South Asian Public Health Association - logo

Newsletter - Spring 2017

South Asian Public Health Association
SAPHA Quarterly Newsletter

Spring 2017

In This Issue

About SAPHA
SAPHA is the premier South Asian-related public health organization in America, in existence since 1999. SAPHA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of South Asians and the communities in which they live in America.
Join Our Mailing List

Become a SAPHA Member! 

We invite you to join us! You can start by becoming an active part of our free listserv, joining and asking your colleagues to join SAPHA as a member, and volunteering to help one of SAPHA's committees. 

Being part of SAPHA is an opportunity to network with other professionals invested in the health of South Asians in the United States and to promote the health of South Asian communities. Be sure to visit our membership page at www.sapha.org to get more information on how to become a member of this exciting organization.

Join a SAPHA Committee!
Business Meeting
SAPHA is currently seeking dedicated professionals to join one of SAPHA's Committees:

 

Communications

Fundraising

Membership/ Nominations

Partnerships/Local Groups

Research

SAPHA Committees meet regularly via conference call to discuss how to advance the mission and goals of SAPHA and to better serve the South Asian community. For more information visit SAPHA'S committee's page!

Simran Kaur
 
Sana Hashim
 
Monideepa Becerra
 
Syed Hashmi
 
Shibani Ray-Mazumder
Partnerships Chair
Shipra Singh
Communications Chair
 
Memoona Hasnain
Research Chair
 
Phani Veeranki 
Sustainability Chair 
Vaibhav Jain 
Secretary
 Yousra Yusuf

  Vice President

Nazeera Dawood
President
Newsletter prepared by
Shipra Singh 
and Musarrat Rahman
SAPHA New Logo
 
Dear SAPHA members,
Welcome to the SAPHA Spring 2017 newsletter! We hope that the year has been going well for all of our members. Please continue to follow us and feel free to leave us feedback on our Facebook page.
Here are a few key updates from our end. We have finally published the long anticipated book, "The Health of South Asians in the United States: An Evidence-based Guide for Policy and Program Development" by Hasnain M, Parekh P, Nagaraj CN (editors). Please see the official book release news from the University of Illinois-Chicago. The book is available for purchase on amazon.com and routledge.com.
Members from the SAPHA board participated at the National South Asian Summit 2017 in Washington D.C from April 21-24, 2017. On April 21st, Yousra Yusuf, Vice President, represented SAPHA at the National Coalition of South Asian Organizations (NCSO) convening with members from over 30 organizations from various parts of the county. The whole-day affair was an opportunity for diverse groups to present on proposals related to strengthening the coalition. Following the convening, on April 22nd and April 23rd, SAPHA joined over 300 attendees for 40 dynamic sessions organized around the theme of "United for Action- Strength| Resilience| Accountability. Yousra Yusuf participated in the poster sessions representing SAPHA's work and the release of our upcoming book on South Asian American health.

Yousra Yusuf, MPH, Vice President of SAPHA, presenting at the       
National South Asian Summit 2017
As summer rolls in, so does registration for the 2017 American Public Health Association annual conference. This year the conference will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, and we are excited to announce that we will hold our annual Chai & Chat at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at the CNN Center, on November 5, 2017. Save the date! 
 
Please contact Shipra Singh at shipras@yahoo.com if you have any questions or want to learn more, and we hope to see you all in a few months in Atlanta!
An important part of our vision includes a robust membership, and as such, we encourage you to invite your friends and colleagues who are interested in SAPHA to join us.
Sincerely,
The SAPHA Board 2017-2019

SAPHA Fundraising Drive 
Dear SAPHA members, 
SAPHA is planning to launch new initiatives this year to build the next generation of healthcare professionals that address the health issues of our community. Some of these initiatives include SAPHA Mentoring Program and SAPHA Annual Online Public Health Conference. 
In this context, SAPHA is organizing a fundraising drive to raise funds for these initiatives. We hope you make a donation during this fundraising drive and be an integral part of success stories of these initiatives. 
You will hear from us soon. 
SAPHA Sustainability Committee
Phani Veeranki (Chair)
Madhubhanti Chatterjee (Committee Intern)
Nazeera Dawood (SAPHA President)

SAPHA Book Launch
SAPHA is pleased to announce that more than three years of groundwork by the research committee and marketing and planning committee has led to the successful publication of the following book "Health of South Asians in the United States: An Evidence-Based Guide for Policy and Program Development, 1ST. Eds." by Routledge-Taylor & Francis publishers. This book is a sequence to 
The Brown Paper, a groundbreaking compendium and review of health research and literature on South Asians in the United States published in 2002.

SAPHA Partnerships Campaign

Do you, or anyone you know, work at a local or national non-profit, medical, or public health organization dedicated to advocating for the needs of South Asian Americans? SAPHA is currently broadening its boundaries to engage with more South Asian professionals, and those dedicated to issues concerning South Asian Americans today, with an overarching aim to improve overall health of our communities.
SAPHA is striving to forge new connections and build new relationships with similarly-minded institutions. Through the partnerships we create, we hope that we will be able to work together to promote the health and well-being of the community. We hope that these partnerships will provide a working relationship to share resources, communicate healthy lifestyle education, promote materials, and collaborate on future research initiatives.
If you or anyone you know is interested in learning more about what partnering with SAPHA entails, please feel free to contact us at
SAPHABoard@gmail.com today.

Spotlight On: Aisha Yaqoob
Asian Americans Advancing Justice- Atlanta

Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta (Advancing Justice - Atlanta) is the first and only legal advocacy nonprofit dedicated to the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) in Georgia and the Southeast. We are one of five independent organizations that make up the national Asian Americans Advancing Justice. Together with our affiliates in Chicago, DC, Los Angeles and San Francisco, we bring more than 100 years of collective experience in addressing the civil rights issues faced by Asian Americans and other vulnerable and underserved communities.

We work in four major program areas: policy advocacy; legal services and support; civic engagement; and leadership development.  Through our efforts, we work to defend democracy for Asian Americans, as well as other immigrant communities.
Every year, we bring nearly 300 AAPIs and immigrants to the Georgia State Capitol to lobby their legislators on bills that are important to them. In addition, Advancing Justice - Atlanta staff regularly testifies at committee hearings in opposition to anti-immigrant legislation and lobbies on behalf of the immigrant communities.  We also work on issues that affect immigrant communities on a city our county level. By building relationships with local elected officials and community leaders, we work to defeat policies that directly impact immigrants.
In addition to policy advocacy, Advancing Justice - Atlanta provides direct in-language immigration legal services to Asian Americans and other underrepresented communities. Our current in-house services include naturalization, adjustment of status, temporary protected status (TPS), Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and family petitions. We are part of a national citizenship collaborative called the New Americans Campaign (NAC). As a local NAC partner, we host free citizenship clinics in communities around Georgia.
Advancing Justice - Atlanta registers voters year-round and develops communications campaigns to shift public perception and catalyze immigrant voters. We work with different immigrant groups to register new voters in-language, and in places where our communities are likely to gather. Similarly, we train new immigrant and refugee leaders to organize hundreds of volunteers to work with us in the field to build a New American electorate. Through door knocking, phone banking, and media strategies, we appeal to AAPI voters in their languages to increase the voter turnout.
Lastly, our Leadership Development efforts include our non-partisan regional candidate training which has brought together diverse participants who are interested in running for elected office at the state, county, and city level. Additionally, Our internship program attracts dedicated, passionate young people who assist with voter mobilization, immigration services, community outreach and more. These positions allow students to gain hands-on skills and experiences.
To get involved with Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta, like our Facebook page here, visit their website at https://advancingjustice-atlanta.org/, or email Aisha Yaoqob, Policy Director, at ayaqoob@advancingjustice-atlanta.org.

SAPHA Membership Campaign

We are always accepting new members!

SAPHA depends on its members and their donations to continue to do its work. Your donation goes back to the South Asian American community in the United States. This is done through: SAPHA's work with fellow partner organizations; its research, programming, and advocacy; and its sustained connections and collaborations with important stakeholders in American medicine and public health.

Please consider renewing your membership today. And if you are already a member, consider sharing the news of our discounted membership with your friends, colleagues, and extended networks, whether through school or work.

We thank you in advance for your help.

Join a SAPHA Committee
 
Our committees meet via conference call at least once a month to discuss how to help promote the work of SAPHA and advocate for our members. By participating in a committee, you can gain invaluable experience working with experts in the field that could advance your professional goals!

Please note that you must be a SAPHA member (paid annual membership dues) to be eligible to participate on a Committee and vote. For more information, please email the Chair of the Committee you would like to join. Each Committee Chair's contact information is available on our website.

SAPHA's success depends on the commitment and hard work of its committees and look forward to your participation!

Check out our new website and our blog! 
SAPHA launched our new website during the Chai & Chat at the American Public Health Association conference in November 2015, which you can view here.
We welcome any feedback you may have as you peruse the site.  
We are also excited to debut SAPHA's blog, 

Voices of SAPHA. Voices is a place where writers can share and discuss their experiences working with different South Asian populations across the US. The blog is meant to humanize the academic works that have been published about the population. The editor-in-chief is Pavitra Krishnamani, an MD candidate at Thomas Jefferson University. If you are interested in sharing your past work, or contributing your future writing, consider contacting "Voices of SAPHA" here for more information.

Facebook LogoStay updated with SAPHA's latest news, events and happenings by liking our Facebook Page

 
Connect with other colleagues in the field by posting questions or comments on the wall.
And follow SAPHA on Twitter: @saphainfo.
Upcoming
Health Conferences
2017 Practical Playbook National Meeting: Improving Population Health: Collaborative Strategies that Work
, Washington, DC. A forum for national dialogue on best practices for cross-sector collaborations, while rising to meet the challenges of the changing healthcare landscape. (Duke University)
 2017 Public Health Improvement Training (PHIT): Advancing Performance in Agencies, Systems and Communities
Albuquerque, NM. Hands-on training workshops and networking opportunities to support health professionals in taking action on public health performance improvement. Focus areas will include performance management, accreditation, quality improvement, facilitation, health assessment and improvement planning and strategic planning. (National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI)
NACCHO Annual 2017
, Pittsburgh, PA. Theme is "Public Health Revolution - Bridging Clinical Medicine and Population Health." (National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
2017 National Conference on Health Communications, Marketing, and Media
Atlanta, GA. (National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC)
Microphone
The events listed in this section are for informational purposes only.
 
SAPHA does not necessarily endorse the organizations or events listed.  
Email SAPHA if you would like an event or research posted here!
cross linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram