Bina M. Patel

Saathi's Founder and CEO 

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Speaker | Author | Anti-Oppression Coach & Facilitator 

“Are you helping people?”

This was my father’s ever-present question for me since I was a child. It was his way to help me navigate school and career choices, reminding me that I am here for a bigger purpose: to be of service. To this day, his question keeps me honest and purposeful about my work and who I am. It reminds me that my path is clear: to serve the advancement of justice, human rights, community power, and collective progress.

After completing masters degrees in International Human Rights at the University of Denver and Social Finance at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, my career evolved to include working directly with people facing persistent and systemic marginalization. Abroad and in the US, my efforts focused on supporting and facilitating communities exercising self-determination and healing, collaborating with policymakers to drive more equitable and justice-rooted decisions. I served as Deputy Chief of Staff in City Hall in Chicago, where I was responsible for overseeing a portfolio of programs and policies amounting to over $1 billion in the area of human capital, human services, public health, and community development. This led to a career spanning 25 years in direct service and strategy with community-based organizations, philanthropy, and public policy.

In 2013 I launched Saathi Impact Consulting. A collective good consulting firm – Saathi means: to be with; to partner’. This is the defining ethos of Saathi’s approach. I partner with clients to design adaptive strategies, strengthen leadership, and mobilize courageous action – working hand-in-hand to be of better service to the communities we live in.

My work is ever-evolving and relentlessly driven to take on the necessary challenges of reshaping our systems, selves, and communities so that together we can build solutions of belonging, inclusion, and justice.

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#MyLaborIsMyJoyfulProtest