NEW YORK CITY(TIP): Indian Americancivil rights activist and attorney Deepa Iyer received Justice in Action Awards from The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) at its 2017 Gala on March 2, 2017 at Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers, in New York City.

A leading racial justice activist, Deepa Iyer served for a decade as the executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), focusing on community building in post-9/11 America. She teaches in the Asian American studies program at the University of Maryland. As Senior Fellow at the Center for Social Inclusion, Deepa Iyer provides analysis, commentary and scholarship on the ways to build racial equity and solidarity in light of the rapid demographic transformation in America’s neighborhoods, schools and workplaces.

The AALDEF Justice in Action Awards recognizes exceptional individuals for their outstanding achievements and efforts in advancing social justice. Past recipients include Congressman John Lewis, Yoko Ono, David Henry Hwang, Sandra Leung, Fareed Zakaria, Jose Antonio Vargas, BD Wong, Don H. Liu, Mira Nair, George Takei, Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Harry Belafonte, Seymour Hersh, Larry Tu, Ivan Fong, John G. Chou, A.B. Cruz III, and Margaret Cho.

Since 1974, AALDEF has been protecting and promoting the civil rights of Asian Americans across the nation through litigation, advocacy, organizing, and community education. All proceeds from the gala will go directly towards supporting AALDEF’s legal and educational programs in immigrant rights, economic justice for workers, voting rights and civic participation, educational equity, housing and environmental justice, and the elimination of hate violence, police misconduct, and human trafficking.