EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Sravya Tadepalli is the executive director of Hindus for Human Rights, a global organization dedicated to fighting for democracy, pluralism, and social justice from a Hindu faith perspective. As executive director, she is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of HfHR, executing HfHR’s strategic priorities, and ensuring that HfHR stays true to its mission and vision.

Sravya joined HfHR as a board member in 2020 and became deputy executive director in 2025. Throughout her leadership, she managed community organizing and advocacy at the state and local level, implemented HfHR’s immigrant justice and Know Your Rights program, and supported the development of HfHR’s growing religious and cultural work.  Her writing on Hindu nationalism and issues facing the Hindu diaspora has appeared in The India Forum, Scroll, ThePrint, and The Wire.

Before joining HfHR, Sravya worked at the Oregon Employment Department as a senior legislative advisor and at Community Services Consortium as a principal employment advisor. Sravya completed her bachelor’s degree in political science and journalism at the University of Oregon and her Master’s in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is a 2018 Harry S. Truman Scholarship recipient and a 2025 Interfaith Innovation Fellow with Interfaith America.

Sravya is an active member of her Hindu community and recently served on the bylaws committee of the Willamette Valley Hindu Temple. She is proud to be part of a pluralistic faith tradition that teaches the inherent divinity of all human beings.

SENIOR POLICY DIRECTOR

Ria Chakrabarty is the Senior Policy Director at Hindus for Human Rights, where she works on advocacy efforts in collaboration with government actors. She has led efforts in support of Indian democracy and the release of political prisoners, among other human rights-focused initiatives. Throughout her career, Ria has focused on understanding the effects of US foreign policy on communities worldwide. Ria has also worked in various positions in the United States Senate and the World Health Organization. She graduated from the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas with a Masters of Global Policy Studies.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Sunita has worked for over 30 years in women’s rights and human rights organizations. Sunita co-founded Hindus for Human Rights in June 2019.
In 2001, Sunita co-founded the international women’s human rights organization, Women for Afghan Women (WAW), and served as Board Chair of WAW until January 2022. She has been an advisory board member to Unfreeze Afghanistan since its inception in September 2021, and cofounded Abaad: Afghan Women Forward in August 2022. Sunita has edited “Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths and Claiming the Future” (Palgrave McMillan, 2003), a book of essays. For her work with WAW, Sunita was awarded the Feminist Majority Foundation’s Global Women’s Rights Award in 2011.  Sunita co-founded Sadhana in 2011 in order to mobilize Hindu Americans to connect their faith to social justice and human rights, and serves on Sadhana’s Advisory Board. She was honored by President Obama at the White House in 2015 as a “Champion of Change” for her work with Sadhana. In 2021, Sunita was recognized by Center for American Progress as one of 21 “faith leaders to watch.”  Previously, Sunita worked with The Sister Fund and Funders Concerned About AIDS, as well as serving as a board member of Amnesty International-USA. She is an advisory board member of Population Media Center, which uses entertainment-education and mass media to promote social and cultural change. Sunita is a board member of Dalit Solidarity Forum. Sunita served on faith advisory committees during the tenures of both NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio and Mayor Eric Adams. Sunita lives in Brooklyn, NY.

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

David leads a team working to advance progressive civil and human rights messages across South Asia, North America, and the global South Asian diaspora. His work focuses on amplifying marginalized voices, bridging the online/offline divide, and using media to inspire action and social change.

Early activist work includes serving with South Asian AIDS Action (SAAA) and the South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association (SALGA). He also served as Communications Director for Third World Newsreel, where he helped promote a historic archive and developed new media by and about communities of color.

David has worked on corporate social responsibility initiatives at Stardoll, supporting the largest teen community online, and driving engagement around social justice issues. He has been an advocate for housing rights at Project FIND and at Neighborhood Defender Service, he focused on ending mass incarceration and expanding public defense, building the organization’s communications team during its national expansion.

David holds a degree in Semiotics from Brown University and an MFA in Film/Video from Bard College and seems incapable of smiling in photos.

UK ORGANIZER

Rajiv is,based in London, England. He is working on outreach, advocacy, research, and fundraising in the United Kingdom.

Rajiv is building a network of people, communities, and organizations across the country that is aligned with Hindus for Human Rights and an inclusive, loving Hindu way of life. He has a Masters’ degree in international politics, specialising in conflict, human rights, and governance, as well as experience as a nonprofit board trustee and in the private sector.

PROGRAMS FELLOW

Born and raised in India, Mayank has lived in the United States and the United Kingdom. He is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School with an MTS in Religion, Ethics, Politics, and a Certificate in Religion and Public Life, and was part of the Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative. He has worked in human rights advocacy spaces spanning Washington D.C. to the West Bank. He is interested in understanding the dynamic influence of religion in shaping political ideologies and discourses, and the ways religious formations can be engaged to support peacebuilding, justice, and human flourishing in our contemporary moment.