Reshma Shamasunder is Vice President of Program Strategy at Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles. Prior to joining Advancing Justice - LA, Reshma served as Deputy Director of Programs at the National Immigration Law Center and previously consulted with philanthropy, advocacy, and grassroots partners on policy campaigns and issues that benefit low income, immigrant, and vulnerable communities.
Reshma served as Executive Director of the California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC) from 2003 to 2015. Under Reshma’s leadership, CIPC helped to spearhead groundbreaking campaigns at the state level, including placing limits on cooperation between local law enforcement and immigration authorities, preserving and expanding important health and human service programs for immigrant communities, winning driver’s licenses for all Californians, and furthering important immigrant integration efforts.
Reshma currently serves on the board of the California Immigrant Policy Center and previously served on the boards of Health Access California and the South Asian Network in Los Angeles and was an inaugural fellow with the Rockwood Fellowship for a New California, a leadership program for California’s immigrant rights leaders. Reshma has received numerous awards for her leadership on immigrant issues, including the Families USA Health Equity Advocate of the Year Award and the National Immigration Law Center Courageous Luminaries Award.
Reshma holds dual Bachelor’s Degrees from UCLA and a Masters in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
