Rinku Sen

Rinku Sen

Rinku Sen is the President and Executive Director of Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation, formerly the Applied Research Center (ARC) and Publisher of ColorLines magazine.

A leading figure in the racial justice movement, Rinku Sen has positioned ARC as the home for media and activism on racial justice. She has extensive practical experience on the ground, with expertise in race, feminism, immigration, and economic justice. Over the course of her career, Rinku has weaved journalism and organizing to further social change. Rinku Sen is Vice Chair of the Schott Foundation for Public Education, and an Advisory Committee member of the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity.

Education/writing

Rinku started her organizing career as a student activist at Brown University, fighting race, gender and class discrimination on campuses. She received a B.A. in Women's Studies from Brown University in 1988 and an M.S. in Journalism at Columbia University in 2005. She has written extensively about immigration, community organizing and women's lives for a wide variety of publications including Third Force, AlterNet, tompaine.com, Race, Poverty & the Environment, Amerasia Journal and ColorLines. Her book, Stir It Up: Lessons in Community Organizing (Jossey-Bass) was commissioned by the Ms. Foundation for Women and released in the fall of 2003. Her latest book, The Accidental American: Immigration and Citizenship in the Age of Globalization (Berrett-Koehler) was released in September 2008.

Early activism

Rinku Sen formerly served as the communications director and the director of the Transnational Racial Justice Initiative at ARC. Prior to thatshe held various leadership roles at the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO), a national network of organizations of color, where she trained new organizers and crafted public policy campaigns from 1988-2000.

Women's March

Advancement Project

Both Advancement Project's National Office in Washington, D.C. and Advancement Project California are governed by a 16-member board of directors. As of 2019, the board included Bill Lann Lee, Joe Alvarez, Arlene Holt Baker, Harry Belafonte, Stephen R. English, Rinku Sen, Helen Kim, Daniel Leon-Davis, Ash-Lee Henderson, Alberto Retana, Barrett S. Litt, Molly Munger, Katherine Peck, Constance L. Rice, Tom Unterman, and Jesse Williams.

Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program

Rinku Sen is an alumna of the Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program.

JournoList

Rinku Sen, of ColorLines, was an identified member of JournoList - an email group of approximately 400 "progressive" and socialist journalists, academics and "new media" activists.

JournoList members reportedly coordinated their messages in favor of Barack Obama and the Democrats, and against Sarah Palin and the Republican Party. JournoList was founded in 2007 and was closed down in early 2010.

McCoy connection

Sheltreese McCoy is the inaugural Crossroads Coordinator at the University of Wisconsin. In this role, she has produced the first and most comprehensive Queer People of Color Resource Guide, presented annually at The LGBTQ Task Force’s national Creating Change Conference, and has facilitated numerous workshops and trainings about intersectionality, race and racism, homophobia, and erasure. The Crossroads Initiative also hosts discussion groups, a welcome week barbecue, launched the Reel to Real film series featuring queer and trans* people of color, and has brought renowned national speakers to campus including Janet Mock, Kenyon Farrow, Rinku Sen, and Marc Lamont Hill.

National Leading From the Inside Out Alum

Rinku Sen, Executive Director, Applied Research Center, was a 2010 Rockwood Leadership Institute National Leading From the Inside Out Alum.

Pramila Jayapal made several friends on the year long course. Ai-jen Poo, Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Rinku Sen, Executive Director Applied Research Center, Ilyse Hogue, former Director of Political Advocacy and Communications, MoveOn.org, Judith Browne Dianis, Co-Director, Advancement Project, Vanita Gupta, Deputy Legal Director, Director of Center for Justice, American Civil Liberties Union.

The group has worked closely together ever since.

Take Back the American Dream Conference 2011

Rinku Sen was one of the 158 speakers who addressed the Take Back the American Dream Conference 2011 . The Conference was hosted by the Institute for Policy Studies, and Democratic Socialists of America dominated Campaign for America's Future,

North Star Fund 35th Gala

In 2014, at Chelsea Piers, North Star Fund held its annual Community Gala. This 35th Anniversary Community Gala was a spectacular celebration of North Star Fund and the achievements of our diverse community of philanthropic and grassroots activists and organizers. The event raised $870,000, which broke every previous record.

Notable guests included Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray, Katherine Acey, Nisha Atre, Martha Baker, Andrea Batista Schlesinger, Jay Beckner, Ingrid Benedict, Bill Bragin, Peter Brest, Art Chen, Bobby Cohen, Joe Conason, Larry Condon, Anne Delaney, Maddy deLone, Deni Frand, Elizabeth Gilmore, Elspeth Gilmore, Mark Green, Gary Hattem, Pierre Hauser, Michael Hirschhorn, Sarah Kovner and Victor Kovner, Dal LaMagna, Josh Mailman, Christine Marinoni, Christina McInerney, Pam McMichael, Ruth Messinger, Cynthia Nixon, Shola Olatoye, Ana Oliveira, Erica Payne, Lisa Philp, Mark Reed, Rinku Sen, Tani Takagi, Elizabeth Wagley, Michael Waldman, Maggie Williams, Barbara Winslow, and Kyung Yoon.

Ear to the Ground Project

Ear to the Ground Project;

We would like to express our deep respect and appreciation for everyone who took the time to talk with us, and the organizations that generously hosted us during our travels. Interviews were confidential, but the following people have agreed to have their names listed for this publication:

Most of those listed were connected to Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Rinku Sen was among those on the list.

Stanford panel

Jasiri Oronde, November 20, 2015 ·

Powerful panel going on right now at Stanford University with H. Samy Alim, Mychal Denzel Smith, Isabel Garcia, Rev. Osagyefo Sekou, and Rinku Sen #thenation.

Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity Advisory Board/2015

• Ron Chisom, The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond
• Gihan Perera, New Florida Majority
• Richard Healey, Grassroots Policy Project
• Kalpana Krishnamurthy, RACE Program, Western States Center
• Marisa Franco, Director and Co-Creator Not1More Deportation Campaign; Mijente
• John A. Powell, Haas Diversity Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley
• Julie Quiroz-Martínez, Movement Strategy Center
• Rinku Sen, Applied Research Center/ColorLines Magazine
• Makani Themba-Nixon, The Praxis Project
• Keith Lawrence, Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change
• Kien Lee, Community Science
• Martha McCoy, The Paul J. Aicher Foundation/Everyday Democracy
• Denise Perry, Director, Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity (BOLD)
• Glenn Harris, President Center for Social Inclusion
• Maria Poblet, Executive Director Causa Justa/Just Cause

Alliance for a Just Society board

• Alliance for a Just Society board, as of February 2016;
• Melanie Collins
• Kelly Conklin
• Tim Conmee
• Beverly DeLeonardis
• Gary Delgado
• Leonel Garcia
• Gail Gutsche
• Michaelynn Hawk
• Jesse Graham
• Daniel HoSang
• Kayse Jama
• Deana Knutsen
• Donna Polk-Primm
• Ramon Ramírez
• Rosemary Rivera
• Rinku Sen
• Joe Szakos
• Robinhawk Wilson

Revolutionary Strategies to Beat the Rising Right Wing

Revolutionary Strategies to Beat the Rising Right Wing, was a nationwide conference call organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Sunday October 30, 2016.

What's the nature of this right-wing threat? What has this election cycle changed about the political terrain we're fighting on? How do we need to prepare for whats coming after the election? Hear about these crucial questions from our panel of top political strategists, including Nelini Stamp, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Linda Burnham, and Sendolo Diaminah.

Those invited, on Facebook included Rinku Sen.

Facing Race conference

The Facing Race conference participants gathered just days after the conclusion of the most contentious election season in decades, November 10-12, 2016 — Atlanta, Georgia.

Both major parties exposed their deep splinters, Trumpism became the new normal and many politicians were forced to deal with issues that communities of color raised to national prominence. In Facing Race's closing plenary on November 12, racial justice leaders speak to the challenges of governance before us, and how the movement can position itself to make the most of the next four years.

These are the activists and thought leaders featured in "Where Do We Go From Here?" listed in alphabetical order:

• Kara Denise Brewer Boyd, director, American Indian Farmers
• Marisa Franco, director and co-founder, Mijente
• Glenn Harris, president, Center for Social Inclusion
• Pramila Jayapal, U.S. congresswoman-elect for Washington's 7th Congressional district; founder, OneAmerica; co-director, We Belong Together campaign
• Van Jones, author and co-founder, Rebuild the Dream
• Linda Sarsour, advocacy and divic engagement coordinator, National Network for Arab American Communities
• Rinku Sen, president, Race Forward

External links

• Center for Third World Organizing website
• Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program website