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Nonprofit Receives $2,000 Award to Highlight 5 Stories of South Asian Women, Girls, and Non-Binaries in Colorado
DENVER— Centering the principles of innovation, gender-inclusive leadership and social enterprise, the Ujyalo Foundation is a Denver-based nonprofit organization that has been working since 2014 to uplift the stories and lived narratives of South Asian women, girls and non-binaries. Now, because of a $2,000 award from the Colorado Equity Compass (CEC), the Foundation will make five new stories available to the public to enact positive policy change. “We plan to … bring their issues and concerns to the forefront that can be used by policymakers and organizations to better design interventions and solutions that directly impact the people,” Amuda Mishra, the Founder of Ujyalo Foundation says. “This is especially necessary because of the recent incidents of Asian hate that have triggered feelings of ‘isolation and alienation’ in these communities leading to many mental health issues.”
These stories will be made available via the Weaving Identities program. Often under-represented and under-resourced the communities are left behind when it comes to addressing the needs of the community to foster holistic interventions and programs required to resolve the issues of social and health equity. Storytelling is a medium to allow the communities to share their lived experiences and concerns which can be used to build a holistic approach to address the gaps to achieve social and health equity.
“Given the patriarchal construct women, girls and non-binaries are still left out when it comes to sharing their experiences and being included in the process of designing interventions,” Ujyalo Foundation representatives added. “The stigma around mental health and lack of community support heavily impacts women, girls and non-binaries who do not have access to resources and opportunities in these communities.”
“The CEC is pleased to announce that the Ujyalo Foundation has received a $2,000 award to pursue stories intended to center the voices of Colorado’s Southeast Asian community,” says CEC Project Lead Dr. Rachele Espiritu. “These stories are vital to showcasing the need for greater social and health equity and address the connection of the SDOH to long-term health and wellbeing.”
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About the Ujyalo Foundation Weaving Identities is an initiative curated by Ujyalo Foundation to bring the stories and lived narratives of South Asian communities that are often underrepresented. The main objective of the initiative is to bring the stories and voices of South Asian women, girls and non-binaries, especially from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Afghanistan that are not captured by the quantitative data to the front line so that the concerns of these communities are effectively represented while designing interventions and policies.
About the Colorado Equity Compass Across Colorado, communities are facing inequities that impact their health and wellbeing. Different factors, including systemic racism, a lack of affordable housing, and environmental concerns, contribute to these inequities.
As a project of The Colorado Trust, CEC helps communities — and the organizations that serve them — better understand these issues and advocate for change using data and stories. This work consolidates diverse resources, connects peers, and both aligns and empowers communities and institutions via an Equity Data Navigator. The model showcases inequities and the social determinants of health (SDOH) across communities. CEC also serves as a hub for community storytelling and information-sharing.
For more information and to view the Equity Data Navigator, visit coequitycompass.org. For media inquiries, contact CEC at hello@coequitycompass.org or the Founder of Ujyalo Foundation and Weaving Identities at amuda.mishra@gmail.com.