Seema Agnani

Seema Agnani is the Executive Director of the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD) – a coalition of more than 100 community-based organizations in 19 states and the Pacific Islands. Collectively the coalition improves the lives of over two-million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who live in poverty by providing voice, tools, and shared knowledge to drive change. She was a founder and served as Executive Director of Chhaya Community Development Corporation, an organization that works with immigrant New Yorkers on housing justice and economic development issues. She was formerly the Coordinating Consultant to the Fund for New Citizens at The New York Community Trust, managing a donor collaborative of more than 20 foundations supporting immigrant rights and integration work in New York City. Seema also served as the Director of Training and Technical Assistance at Citizens Committee for NYC and Project Manager for Asian Americans for Equality in New York City where she oversaw affordable housing and community facility developments in the Lower East Side. Currently, she serves on the Community Advisory Board, Consumer Financial Protections Bureau and is an officer of the board of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT). She was originally from the Chicago metro area, her parents emigrated to the US from India.

Sub-specialties: housing justice and community development, immigrant rights, immigrant economic justice, South Asian and Asian American issues.