South Asian Women's Congress 2008 Highlights
An awards ceremony was held as part of the event which included two keynote presentations and seven panel presentations. The day-long event concluded with a segment called Closing Musings with Padma Lakshmi, the host of Bravo’s Top Chef. Preeti Priya, Esq. led Ms. Lakshmi in a conversation about her current body of work including new cookbook, Tangy Tart Hot and Sweet: AWorld of Recipes for Every Day.
There were seven different panel presentations including: Women in Media featuring Shafi Saxena, Global Vice President for Dove Skin and Sonia Nikore, Former Casting Executive, NBC Entertainment in conversation with Dr. Simone Ahuja of Blood Orange Media. It featured South Asian women professionals who are shaping and influencing the media industry in diverse platforms such as marketing and TV.
A panel presentation, Women Initiating Change in the Private and Public Sectors, featured Mallika Dutt, Kalpana Raina, Farzana Haque and Sayu Bhojwan.
Vertical SAWLF - a new program initiative presented two sessions, including Women in Finance and Women in Business. Speakers included Shibani Joshi, a reporter with the Fox Business Network in conversation with Romita Shetty, Managing Director, Lehman Brothers.
The Women in Business session featured eRSVP Co-Founder Selina Tobaccowala in conversation with Joya Dass of Business Week/WABC-TV.
Dr. Ami Shah Nagarajan led an informative session on health issues that disproportionately impact South Asian women, including heart disease, osteoporosis and diabetes. Later Dr. Shah Nagarajan sat down with actress Madhur Jaffrey and film director Rehana Mirza to discuss Hiding Divya, a new feature film that explores the taboos associated with mental illness in the South Asian community. Ms. Jaffrey plays the film’s title role, Divya. Ms. Mirza is the film’s director.
