Chhaya's “Architects of Change” awards gala will be held on October 26, 2023, at Sound River Studios in Long Island City!  The event will bring together 250-300 civic-minded New Yorkers, including elected officials, prominent South Asian community members, and representatives from leading civic and cultural institutions and businesses.

This year, we will be honoring three awe-inspiring, pioneering community champions:

Queens Borough President, Donovan Richards Jr.: President of The World's Borough and a decades-long champion and advocate for all New Yorkers, empowering numerous historically disadvantaged communities through initiatives that support immigrants, small businesses, combat climate change, allocate funds to Queens’ schools, cultural institutions, hospitals, libraries, parks, and much more.  

Sarah Sukumaran: Queens-diehard with Sri Lankan roots, life-long sneakerhead, and founder of Lilith NYC, bringing design, performance, data analytics, and a feminist sensibility to shoes. 

Reshma Patel: Chhaya Board co-chair extraordinaire, public-finance pro, trailblazing candidate for City comptroller, and long-time champion for South Asian and Indo-Caribbean civic engagement, culture, and social justice.

Chhaya is the first South Asian community development corporation in the nation and, in the years since our founding, we have helped New York’s South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities overcome the constraints of poverty, obtain economic stability, and build community leadership. Some 100,000  New Yorkers have been touched by Chhaya’s work, which has helped them buy their own home, obtain citizenship, learn English, know their rights as tenants, immigrants, and New Yorkers, and engage in civic life as community leaders and voters.