"In the early years, my leadership was marked by urgency: an attempt to right personal wrongs and push against the injustice I had witnessed. Over time, that urgency matured into collective vision. Together with our staff, board, and community, we transformed Sakhi from an organization serving mostly cisgender heterosexual women into one that welcomes all survivors of violence. We redefined our work away from "empowerment"-a word that implies survivors are powerless-and instead built around survivor power and survivor leadership."
"It was against this backdrop of growth and reimagination that I came across a statement in the movement last year that stopped me cold: Gender-based violence is a solvable issue. My first instinct was resistance. How could something so vast, so generational, possibly be solved? But I could not ignore what I had already seen at Sakhi: Survivors who first came to us decades ago to stabilize their lives are now returning as donors, volunteers, and advocates."
Leadership at Sakhi began with urgency rooted in personal trauma and a drive for redemption, which evolved into a collective vision. Staff, board, and community transformed Sakhi from primarily serving cisgender heterosexual women into an organization that welcomes all survivors of violence. The organization redefined its approach away from "empowerment" toward centering survivor power and survivor leadership, cofounded a national umbrella for South Asian and Indo-Caribbean survivor-led organizations in 2021, and created spaces where healing is expected. Generational shifts emerged as early survivors returned as donors, volunteers, and advocates, with their children becoming leaders, suggesting cycles of violence can be disrupted. The assertion that gender-based violence is solvable prompted reflection on how survivor leadership and intergenerational healing contribute to long-term change.
Read at Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
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