As a first-generation immigrant from India, I grew up immersed in a deeply multicultural environment, moving from state to state as the youngest daughter of an Indian Army officer. I was trained in both Eastern and Western psychological frameworks—earning my graduate degree and completing a rigorous internship at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), followed by doctoral work at Vanderbilt University in the U.S. There, I encountered the realities of working with marginalized African American youth in the juvenile justice system—an experience that shifted my life’s work toward intersectionality, systems advocacy, and trauma recovery. Over the past 35 years, I have worked at the nexus of culture, trauma, and inequality. My practice has spanned racial justice, foster care, human trafficking, and sexual assault. I have trained clinicians in Mongolia, created culturally grounded programs for Indian adoptees, developed tools to identify trafficking survivors in Ukraine, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, and consulted on trauma systems across four continents. But perhaps what grounds me most is the work I do today. Since 2020, I have led a therapeutic residential shelter in Indiana for women and children escaping sex trafficking and sexual violence. We have rehabilitated 76 homeless families to date, with more waiting. This shelter is not just a program—it is a living model of community resilience, survivor-led healing, and culturally responsive psychological care. We will soon expand to an 8-bedroom facility, thanks to our local Mayor and community leaders. Throughout my career, I’ve worked to support the next generation of psychologists—particularly BIPOC, immigrant, and multilingual clinicians. I have mentored doctoral students, trained peer-survivors to become trauma coaches, authored a book and chapter about enculturation within the United States, and advocated for inclusive, anti-racist policies at the UN.