Dream to Do Good: Gouri Banerjee's Journey in Academia, Volunteerism, and Challenging Norms
“While some women dream of fame, wealth, and amazing professional success, I dreamt of doing something “good”. Today’s woman dreamer, Gouri Banerjee, co-founder of Saheli and a retired college professor in Boston, has dedicated herself to tirelessly helping Asian immigrants and local communities. Inspired from a young age by her parents to do good, Gouri shares how her life experiences shaped her passion for challenging norms and women’s studies, as well as her current work with aging South Asian population. A true driver of change, Gouri compels us to think about how we define women empowerment in our own lives and how we can “do good” in our own communities. Enjoy her story below!
I often feel that I have lived an extraordinary life, one well beyond the expectations of my youth. Much of the most impactful moments have been in helping women who have not been as privileged as I with issues of domestic and intimate partner violence.
As the co-founder of a social work agency called Saheli, Support and Friendship for South Asian Women and Families, in Boston, I worked with South Asian women who have been abused, abandoned, humiliated and hurt by their spouse and families, and left their marriages to establish a more safe and peaceful life. Accompanying these untethered women on a long and difficult journey of recovering from trauma, I often wondered how more privileged South Asian women, could be inspired to help others live good lives.
While some women dream of fame, wealth, and amazing professional success, I dreamt of doing something “good”. The desire to do good was inspired by my father, an extraordinary scholar, a devout, loving and religious man. It also came from my strong mother, a patient, tolerant, and calm woman, always staying in the background.
Growing up in New Delhi in a large Bengali household in the 1960s, I was inspired by the strength of families and the love and sacrifice of parents. India was under rapid change then, traditional and modern values clashed ceaselessly and I was often not quite sure of my own place. On the one hand, I witnessed male privilege, misogyny, the preference for male children, and the shaming of women who challenged traditional values. I saw women, some relatives, so miserable in their marriages that they put an end to their own lives, or lived in the midst of great sadness, male dominance and divorce. I also saw successful female Prime Ministers and legislators, professors, doctors and scientists. I saw how much marriage was valued above all else for Indian women and I wondered why that was the case. These contradictions in modern India inspired me deeply to do something.
Reflecting back, I see my youth as an Indian girl quite unremarkable; I was being groomed to be an educated wife and mother. My opportunity to do something more meaningful came when as a young bride, twenty-one years old, I came to the United States as the wife of an engineer, as immigrants, to a land, I believed, to be one of endless promise. I think, it’s this second phase of my life in a new land, that allowed me to pursue my dreams.
At Boston University, working towards a Ph. D. degree, I studied development economics and geography, capitalism and European colonialism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, patriarchy and homophobia. I read feminist literature, and witnessed huge gaps in the lives of educated South Asian professional women in the US and the not so well educated. I witnessed the persistent struggle of American women, to be safe, obtain a fair wage and security in employment.
As I mulled about these issues in an academic setting, I was drawn towards doing good by volunteerism. I volunteered in numerous organizations— the Winchester Multicultural Network, four Parent Teacher Associations, a Peace and Anti-Nuclear movement, three political campaigns, and several local Indian clubs and ethnic groups. My husband, and my children Rajat and Joya, were eager participants in volunteerism as well, it was a family “thing.” For us all, doing something to improve the lives of others, was deeply inspiring.
The opportunity to do significant “good” came when Mrs. Kamal Misra, a senior member of the India Association of Greater Boston, invited me to join her to create a group to work on behalf of abused Indian women. I was excited to be asked; it was the start of my journey with Saheli, both as a co-founder and as a volunteer board member. Being a grassroots organization, Saheli gave me the opportunity to combine my education, aspirations, and the desire to do good, and combine my strengths into a grand project that lasted for twenty-five years. I had an extraordinary adventure.
I was a co-founder at Saheli Boston, with my friend Usha Vakil, since 1996. I would say that along with good judgment, I’ve had good luck. As an educated Indian woman, I had a lot of privilege, and the support of many South Asian women and men. You need all three to be successful, whether in marriage, parenting, careers or relationships!!
Having been in academia, for over a third of my life at Boston University, Salem State University and Emmanuel College, it was inevitable that I continued to read a lot — women’s issues and the pioneering work of accomplished South Asian diaspora women in diverse fields of knowledge. At Saheli, I lead the domestic violence program and I navigated my way around the social, economic and family injustices stacked against Asian women. We focused upon timely interventions, prevention of abuse and empowerment. I established a legal program at Saheli for women’s safety and protection, and a funding program for the sustainability of the future of Saheli. I brought our survivor-centered social justice lens to the task of improving the lives of survivors of violence, their families, and to South Asian communities. Finally, I had found a cause close to my heart, in my own community, and a good use for my knowledge of South Asian culture and language.
From 2000 until 2020 my fellow colleagues at Saheli and I were deeply immersed in establishing a new, successful grassroots South Asian social work agency. We were all volunteers and board members with a very small staff; we worked towards lofty goals.
How did we establish Saheli? Every weekend, for over a decade, my fellow Sahelis and I attended events organized by South Asian ethnic groups in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. We raised awareness about domestic abuse in our own communities, met inspiring leaders in other agencies, lawyers, doctors, funders, and state representatives. We collaborated with men and youth, attended South Asian gatherings, organized Walks Against Violence, and held discussions about the broken immigration system in the US.
We built trust, friendship and deep roots in the South Asian community. I raised funds for Saheli by grant writing, built relationships with the District Attorney’s Offices, Lahey Medical Center, the Community Health Networks, and major funders of social justice causes such as the Lenny Zakim Fund and the Harry Dow Memorial Legal Fund, among others. Other social work agencies and their volunteers in the Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Nepali communities often joined us. Generous South Asian community members who knew co-founder Usha Vakil, social worker Rita Shah and I, trusted us, and donated generously. Well-known community leaders Manju Sheth, Anu Chitrapu, Geeta Aiyer, Neelam Wail, Kaplesh Kumar, Anil Saigal, Upendra Misra and Girish Mehta were strong and consistent pillars of support.
I retired from teaching at Emmanuel College as an Associate Professor Emerita. I retired from the Saheli Board in December 2020 and in doing so, I believed that I was passing the baton of leadership on to younger, talented women would have the same opportunities that I had.
Looking ahead to the future, I see Saheli being run by committed professional women, ready to face the challenges of the changing demographics of Massachusetts and the US, and the threats and violence associated with status and privilege of the dominant white population.
For myself, much still needs to be done. The pandemic certainly created challenges for those trying to access prevention and empowerment services, but it also enlarged gaps in getting vaccinated, learning remotely, accessing counseling, and obtaining basic needs. I am now more involved in working with the aging South Asian community. I am also committed to improving language access, cultural responsiveness in services, expanding legal protections for abused women, promoting further economic security, and seeking justice for victims of litigation in the district courts.
Using the extraordinary knowledge that I have gained over twenty-five years of volunteer service at Saheli, I continue to work, at a less hectic pace, to assist other grassroots groups to grow. I look forward to the future with great optimism.
Thank Your Gouri for sharing your story with us! We are excited to have you in our global women’s network!
Bio: Gouri Banerjee Ph. D. is co-founder and a senior advisory committee member of SAHELI, Support and Friendship for South Asian Women, an Asian social work agency committed to response, prevention and education about domestic violence among South Asians. She has worked for over twenty-five years with Asian immigrants, other domestic violence prevention groups, and court systems in Middlesex County and the Boston Metropolitan area. She has consulted and worked with other Asian groups in Boston, and participated in numerous immigrant initiatives including ‘know your rights’, legal advocacy, housing and public benefits for low-income people. Gouri has trained Saheli agency managers and staff, raised awareness about domestic violence in the South Asian community, and developed strategic plans and initiatives to improve agency outcomes and achieve organization mission. Gouri has a Ph. D. from Boston University’s College of Liberal Arts, Department of Geography, was an adjunct assistant professor at BU and Salem State University, and retired as an Associate Professor Emerita, Emmanuel College, Boston. She is currently a consultant at Empower Success Corps (ESC) in Boston and a member of the Winchester Cultural Council.