Sayu was born in India and moved to Belize when she was four. By then, she had lived in two Indian cities and Nepal. Her parents were child refugees during the Partition of 1947 and as adults, became frustrated by the political conditions in India during Indira Gandhi’s rule. As a child and adolescent, Sayu’s world view was deeply informed by being an immigrant to Belize and living in a multiracial democracy. Sayu attended an all-girls’ Catholic high school where she experienced the power of women’s leadership at all levels of the institution. While in high school, she experienced Belize’s successful fight for independence from England and her family’s struggle to integrate into the country. She went to college in the United States, began her career in publishing in New York City and returned to Belize to teach elementary school and college.

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. Currently, she is a Leader in Residence at the Moynihan Center at the City University 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.

Sayu is on a journey of healing and recovery from overachievement. She has created time to pursue creative writing, a childhood passion. Her life today is informed by spaciousness and flow, a privilege for which she is deeply grateful. Among her other joys are dancing, eating and spending time with friends and family. She lives in New York City and the Hudson Valley, with her partner and teenage child. Eventually, she hopes to live tri-nationally, in Belize, India and the United States.