Monami Maulik, Founder and Consultant

Monami Maulik

Founder and Executive Director (on sabbatical)

monami@drumnyc.org

Monami Maulik was born in the refugee colonies of Kolkata, India and grew up in the Bronx, New York.  She has been a leader and grassroots organizer in the fields of immigrant, racial justice, youth, and global justice for over 18 years. She holds a bachelors degree in International Development, Women’s Studies, and South Asian Studies from Cornell University. In 2000, Ms. Maulik founded DRUM- Desis Rising Up & Moving as one of the first South Asian immigrant workers’ membership-based organizations for social justice in the U.S.  Since then, she has served as the Executive Director developing campaigns and leading national and global alliance work. She currently serves as a board member of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the national Dignity in Schools Campaign, the Civil Society Steering Committee for the UN High Level Dialogue on Migration, Immigrant Communities in Action (ICA) in NYC, the NGO Coordinating Committee on Migration, the United National Anti-War Committee, and as an Advisory Board member of the North Star Fund. In 2012, Ms. Maulik launched and now coordinates the Global South Asian Migrant Workers Alliance.

Prior to DRUM, Ms. Maulik was an Organizing Committee member of the NY Taxi Workers’ Alliance and Interim Executive Director of TICO (Training Institute for Careers in Organizing).  Ms. Maulik has served in leadership roles in United for Peace and Justice, Grassroots Global Justice, Racial Justice 911, and the NYC Organizing Support Center. Ms. Maulik has received various awards including the Union Square Award as the founder of DRUM and the Open Society Institute NYC Community Fellowship of the George Soros Foundation (2001), the Jane Bagely Lehman Award of the Tides Foundation “Honoring Post 9/11 Organizing for Immigrant Rights and Civil Liberties” (2002), the Community Leadership Award from New York City Council Member Daniel Dromm (2012), and the Asian American Heritage Award from NYC Comptroller John C. Liu (2013).  Ms. Maulik is published in Howard Zinn’s book, “Voices of a People’s History”, the Journal on Race and Ethnicity, and Left Turn magazine.  Ms. Maulik speaks to audiences across the U.S. and internationally on issues of migrant rights, global justice, racial justice, and national security and human rights.

Currently, Monami is away on sabbatical at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and researching models to expand DRUM’s national and international work.