Anjali Rimi (She/They) is San Francisco Bay Area based Global South API immigrant Transgender brown woman belonging to South Asian diasporic Kinnar Hindu transgender identity and experiences. With roots in India, she blossomed in Canada and belonging in the United States. She was recognized by California Legislative Assembly as a state LGBT leader in the Senate as well as the Assembly. She was awarded the Grassroots Immigration leader award by the office of community engagement and immigration affairs, City of San Francisco along with congressional recognitions from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Scott Wiener, and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

Lana Patel (she/her) is an Afro Indo Caribbean woman from New York City and a transplant to Southern California. Lana is currently the Sr Community Coordinator for Plume, a digital Healthcare company for trans people made by trans people. Prior to her role at Plume Lana worked in non profit with a focus on LGBTQ Healthcare and Transgender Services in the Southern California region. Lana studied music and psychology at Florida State University where she holds yo bachelor degrees that have served her in her professional career and career in entertainment as a singer for the trans chorus of Los Angeles. Lana is passionate about uplifting trans, black and brown communities to ensure that equitable access to resources is attainable for all.

Maanas Sharma (he/him) is a gay Indian-American based out of Dallas, TX. He is dedicated to the liberation of all people, particularly trans, gender non-conforming, & queer folk. Maanas is also Director of Finance at Redefy, an international non-profit dedicated to fighting all forms of injustice, and the Co-Founder & Program Director of Seeds2STEM, a youth collaborative targeted at underserved girls in Dallas/Ft. Worth. Maanas's academic interests lie in applying mathematics to create data-driven policy for radical equity. He is the Founder & Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Public Policy, previously co-authored States of emergency: The failure of prison system responses to COVID-19 at The Prison Policy Initiative, and has published other works related to STEM, equity, and policy in the MIT Science Policy Review, Youth and Policy, The Space Review, and more. In his free time, you can find Maanas playing the piano or reading the latest queer novel he can get his hands on.

Aryan, Asia's first acknowledged transman bodybuilder in India, has gained recognition and acclaim for his groundbreaking efforts. He has established the trans category in various forums and received prestigious awards. A law graduate, Aryan's academic background fuels his passion for promoting LGBTIQ inclusion. He contributed to national initiatives and served as the legal helpdesk at MARG, providing assistance to marginalized communities.
Currently, Aryan holds distinguished positions in the National Council for Transgender Persons, the National Human Rights Commission, and the Network for Transgender Persons in India. He also actively serves on the board of a prominent LGBTIQ community-based organization in Maharashtra. . His dedication to representing his community on a global scale drives him to work even harder.
Aryan's expertise extends beyond advocacy. He founded the Trans Athlete Foundation, which promotes inclusion and empowerment in sports for transgender individuals. Aryan also led the establishment of India's first National Transperson Cricket League, showcasing the potential of transgender individuals in sports.

With his extensive experience in trans entrepreneurship, trans skill building and advocacy for transgender human rights spanning religious freedom to addressing transphobia in societal existence and access.

Ranya is a professional with a background in biochemistry and data science, currently serving as a Data and Evaluation Coordinator at Lyric SF. Of Eelam Tamil descent, Ranya was born and raised in Canada as a child of refugee parents from Sri Lanka. Her family later relocated to the United States where she settled in the Bay Area at the age of ten. Through her transgender journey, Ranya has remained connected to her Thirunangai ( Tamil Transgender Identity) culturally diverse trans identity with belonging to her community globally and fighting for their rights. 

With a passion for community advocacy and animal welfare, Ranya has dedicated herself to making a positive impact in the world around her. She has gained valuable experience working in both education and biotech industries prior to pursuing her interest in data science.

Ranya's commitment to social justice and equity led her to join ParivarBayArea as a volunteer in 2020. Ranya helped us save Transgender lives globally during the pandemic and helped voice the needs of isolated Hijrah, Kinnar, Thirunangai communities on various platforms, thereby by volunteering her time and leadership. She brings her unique perspective as a transwoman from an Eelam Tamil background to the board, and is eager to contribute her skills and knowledge to advance the organization's mission. In her free time, Ranya enjoys spending time with her loving boyfriend, Kevin, and her five pets, consisting of four cats and a dog.

Kavi Dhan(he/hx/xe) having served on the board previously during the peak of the Pandemic returns to the board in 2023.  Kavi brings servant leadership attitude to bring processes and community engagement to the forefront.
Kavi is a South Asian, transmasculine person born and raised in San Francisco Bay Area. He is a digital media expert with a focus on public information outreach, social media management, and community engagement. In his free time, he enjoys writing, art, music, and spending time with his cat. He is excited to make connections and work together with other trans folks through ParivarBayArea bringing his lived experience and expertise to live their authentic and diverse lives.

Toni Newman(She/her) has been supporting ParivarBayArea since our journey began, with networking, fundraising, and community building. 

Toni Newman is the Director of The Coalition for Justice and Equality Across Movements at NMAC. She was previously the Interim CEO of the Black AIDS Institute and Interim President of the LYRIC Youth Foundation. Toni is currently a faculty member at the Transgender Strategy Center and the Chair of the Board of Directors for TransCanWork. She serves as the Membership Chair of the CA Black Leadership Council. Toni was the Interim Director of Employment Services at the SF LGBT Center, Executive Director for St. James Infirmary, and the Director of Development for Maitri Compassionate Care AIDS Hospital. She previously served as the Interim Director of Development & Communications at To Help Everyone Health and Wellness Centers and as a Strategic Fundraiser, Volunteer Recruiter, and Legislative Aide for Equality California.  Toni is a graduate of Wake Forest University and a current candidate for her Juris of Doctorate (JD). Additionally, Toni is a best-selling author, noted for her memoir I Rise -The Transformation of Toni Newman, released in 2011. Her memoir was based on the poem I Rise by the late Wake Forest University Reynolds Professor Dr. Maya Angelou. 

Anisha Pai (they/she) is non-binary, and grew up in Doha, Qatar. They are from Bangalore, India and currently work in Western MA, USA as a data scientist in the cybersecurity space. Anisha spends her time healing through art, movement, and writing.

Esha Mehta(she/her) is a bi Indian woman. She is passionate about community building, creating equitable TGNCI access, and working in solidarity with our peer organizations. Esha has been working with Parivar Bay Area since the Fall of 2022. Her support includes tabling at local events, creating new digital content and graphics, and providing assets for our emerging programs. She is excited to continue to work in a greater capacity for the organization to bolster volunteer outreach, building inroads with peer orgs, and obtain further organizational support. She works in corporate strategy and commercial planning analytics EA and is based in San Francisco Bay Area. In her personal life, Esha enjoys weightlifting / boxing and is also an avid gamer / D&D player

Devesh Radhakrishnan (he/him) is a cis, gay Indian immigrant who has been affiliated with Parivar since 2019. As a member of Parivar's advisory committee, he has participated in planning and supporting multiple events for the organization and is a facilitator for Parivar's biweekly support group, Roobaroo. Devesh moved to the Bay Area after completing his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware and he works as a senior scientist at a biotech company in Marin, helping to manufacture therapies for rare genetic disorders. His prior community activities include volunteering with Canal Alliance, Turn Out, SF Marin Food Bank, and Shanti Project's CERV program. He also serves as a trustee for Dharni USA, a 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on enabling geography education in India. 

Born in Mumbai, Zainab is a transgender person and is one of the petitioners in the National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India case on transgender rights and in the marriage equality case. She currently works with Pernod Ricard India as the Chief Inclusion and Diversity, prior to this she worked with KPMG as the Director - Diversity and Inclusion, She holds an MBA in HR and was the National Manager Health and Human Rights at UNDP country office in India and was the regional policy analyst on human rights in Asia. Her areas of interest are health and social development issues and comes with over 20 years of national and international work experience.

Zainab also served as the executive chair of SITAL, the world’s largest transgender Hijrah entrepreneurship program of 26+ small businesses across India. SITAL was spun off parivarbayarea in January 2023. She is a successful social entrepreneur managing a café and a salon exclusively run by trans and gender non confirming folks in Mumbai. TransCafe

She is currently the founder of Career Rediscovered an executive career coaching business focused on workplace inclusion and career development for historically excluded individuals. Cheryl has worked in LGBTQIA+ advocacy for 5 years spanning family formation, parenting, employment and community building. She lives in San Francisco with her partner and family. 

Amir is an award-winning filmmaker and content producer with over 15 years of experience. He has produced documentaries, features, short films, music videos, branding videos, and several web series. He currently focuses on documentaries, series, and music videos.

Besides creating his own content Amir has collaborated with several award-winning directors and producers as Director of Photography and Editor. Some of his work was broadcast on PBS and MTV, and some of his films have been screened at film festivals in the U.S. and abroad.

In 2020 he co-founded the SF Queer Film Festival, which is the 2nd LGBTQI+ film festival in San Francisco, that offers an alternate platform for under-represented queer storytellers and out-of-the-box thinkers. The inaugural festival took place in San Francisco in July 2021 with a good turnout despite of the pandemic.

Amir became a filmmaker because he wanted to tell stories and capture people's unique experiences through narratives and documentaries. And because he wants to inspire through ideas and visuals that can have a lasting impact on people.

Okan Sengun is the Executive Director and Co-founder of the LGBT Asylum Project, the leading San Francisco-based nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to providing legal representation for LGBTQ+ immigrants who are fleeing persecution and seeking asylum in the United States. The LGBT Asylum Project is the very first immigration law group to be located in the historic Castro, a beacon of hope just across the rainbow crosswalk. Okan is also the founding attorney of Okan Immigration Law Group, a private law group that handles marriage-based green card and naturalization applications as well as asylum cases based on political opinion, race, nationality and religion.Okan served as the San Francisco Asylum Office Liaison, the LGBT Coordinator and on the Advisory Council of American Immigration Lawyers Association, Northern California Chapter between 2012 and 2018.Okan Sengun serves as a panel attorney at AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP) and was awarded as the “Attorney of the Year” in 2016 by the AIDS Legal Referral Panel. Okan is also a mentor immigration attorney at Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area and he is a member of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF). Okan worked at several non-profit organizations and law firms in California and Turkey prior to starting Okan Immigration Law Group and the LGBT Asylum Project. Okan is admitted to New York Bar and U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.