Rinku Sen is an

Indian-American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

author, activist, political strategist and the executive director of Narrative Initiative. She is also the co-president of the Women’s March Board of Directors. Sen is the former president and executive director of the

racial justice Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...

organization

Race Forward Race Forward is a nonprofit racial justice organization with offices in Oakland, California, and New York City. Race Forward focuses on catalyzing movement building for racial justice. In partnership with communities, organizations, and sectors, ...

and publisher of ColorLines.com and ''Mother Jones'' magazine.

Early life and education

Sen was born in Calcutta, India before her family moved to upstate New York when she was five years old. She was raised in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a U.S. state, state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the List of U.S. ...

and received a B.A. in

Women's Studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

from Brown University in 1988 and an M.S. in Journalism from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in 2005. During an interview wit
NBC News
she recalls how her earliest recollections of her life in India were tinged by race. She grew up in predominantly white neighborhoods and spent her childhood trying to fit in with her peers. She was a student activist at Brown University fighting against race, gender, and class discrimination. This is where she started learning how to organize. She was a coordinator for th
United States Student Association
where she trained other student organizers. She developed her love for organizing and teaching how to organize here and went on to join th
Center for Third World Organizing
as a trainer and went through their Movement Activist Apprenticeship.

Career

She has written two books. Her first book, ''Stir It Up: Lessons in Community Organizing'' (Jossey-Bass) was commissioned by the Ms. Foundation for Women and released in the fall of 2003. Her second book, ''The Accidental American: Immigration and Citizenship in the Age of Globalization'' (Berrett-Koehler) was released in September 2008, winning the

Nautilus Book Awards The nautilus (, ) is a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae. The nautilus is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina. It comprises six living species ...

Silver Medal, as well as a Finalist for the ForeWord Magazine 2008 Book of the Year Award (May 2009), and the 2009 IPPY Book Awards in "Current Events" Bronze Medal (May 2009). She drafted th
Shattered Families
report, shedding light on the number of children who are in foster care as a result of their parents being deported. She led th
Drop the I-Word Campaign
which prompted media outlets including the ''Associated Press, USA Today,'' and ''LA Times'' to stop using the word "illegal" when referring to immigrants. Rinku has also worked as a political strategist with other organizations and foundations, including PolicyLink, the ACLU and the Nathan Cummings Foundation.

Honors and awards

In 1996, ''

Ms. Magazine ''Ms.'' is an American feminist magazine co-founded in 1971 by journalist and social/political activist Gloria Steinem. It was the first national American feminist magazine. The original editors were Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Mary Thom, Patricia ...

'' named her one of 21 feminists to watch in the 21st century and she was named in 2008 by ''

Utne Reader ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne'') ( ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...

'' as one of 50 Visionaries who are changing the world.

References

External links

* *
Interview on NBC NewsRinku Sen: Environmentalism and Racial Justice on LinkTV

Rinku Sen: Organizing for Racial JusticeRinku Sen Introduces "What Is Systemic Racism?"NSL Bites: Rinku Sen on Racial Equity in Your Institution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sen, Rinku American activists American feminist writers American women journalists 21st-century American non-fiction writers American women writers of Indian descent Brown University alumni Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women writers