Saara believes in the power of shifting culture to eradicate inequality and violence. She earned a MA in International Affairs in 2013, completing a thesis project on global advocacy campaigns addressing gender based violence. She has advocated for survivors for over 10 years, including through community based approaches and prevention campaigns in the East African region, nationally in the U.S. and locally through her communities in Seattle and the Bay Area. Saara brings her previous experiences as an activist and organizer to her work in the domestic violence field by lifting up voices from the community. She has a strong interest in building intersectional approaches to meet the needs of those who are most vulnerable. In addition to representing the Bay Area region, she chairs the Race, Power and Privilege Committee on the Partnership Board and is curious about ways to increase opportunities for more community engagement.

She is the Community Resource Coordinator at Asian Women’s Shelter where she works closely with her team to advocate for and sustain culturally specific services and language access for survivors in the Bay Area. She has supported grants management and community building at AWS since 2016, by building partnerships and collaborative efforts to meet the needs of the most marginalized survivors from immigrant, LGBTQ, Arab and Muslim communities. She has helped to grow AWS’s housing and community-based programs.