How a young healthcare leader found her voice

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.

I was born and raised in Andover, Massachusetts. I’m an only child and I’m very close with my parents. They’ve always been supportive of everything I do. I have always been very involved with the Indian community. In High School, I joined an organization called Ekal Vidyalaya which provides education to remote villages in India. I helped fundraise and lead events for them as an Ekal Youth Leader and was able to donate my pocket money to provide a lifetime education to eighty kids. We take education for granted here and think of it as something we “have” to do but in reality, there are kids all around the world who want an education and do not have the resources to attend. As a child, I was always very shy and introverted, but when I went to Boston University, I began to step out of my comfort zone to connect with different people. At BU, I majored in Health Sciences and minored in business administration and management. I’m very passionate about healthcare because I'm a people person. Helping patients get through illness and back to their normal lives is so powerful.

Diving into life after college was scary, I felt a little lost starting my first job. I wanted to network and I found several networking organizations within my field. Still, I realized that while there were many community organizations and charity organizations within the Indian community, there weren't any that catered to professionals. So I created an organization called Young Indian Professionals of New England. I’m passionate about YIP and it has grown tremendously over the past year.

What inspired you to go into healthcare?

My dad’s side of the family is all doctors. Growing up, they would tell me about the clinical side of things and I always thought I wanted to be a doctor. In High School, I was part of a business competition and I realized it was something I enjoyed. Healthcare Management was a good combination of my passion for healthcare and my business skill set. I switched gears from clinical to management to become a healthcare leader who can manage, make policies, and help make healthcare a better place. If we can make a change in a single life, it’s a chain reaction and it can progress to a much wider audience. I’m incredibly passionate about healthcare and the ways that it can make our communities better.

What are some opportunities you see for non-medical professionals in healthcare? Is there anything you wish people knew about non-medical careers in healthcare?

The healthcare industry faces a lot of the same challenges as other industries as we adapt to an ever-changing digital world. There is a real need for better software technology and AI in healthcare. While much of healthcare is still focused on direct patient care, telehealth, and digital AI is growing fast. There are tons of opportunities for people who want to build tech and innovate within healthcare. The increase in digital technology in healthcare will also dramatically increase the number of people we can reach with more advanced telehealth services. Technology can improve patient and provider experience, creating more opportunities for patients to connect with healthcare providers through direct interactions and for providers to spend less time charting, taking notes, etc.

You talk about providing culturally competent patient care, what does that mean to you and why is it so important?

It’s crucial to be able to respect and understand other cultures in healthcare. If we make an effort to understand the patient and the background they come from, what their religion is, and how these things interact with how they experience and view medicine and their everyday lives can make a huge difference in how well we can treat them. It helps us see the whole person and understand them better. At the end of the day, the patient’s lives come first. If you understand where they’re coming from and the cultures and communities that they’re a part of, you can provide the best care for them. I’m part of the DEI board in my hospital and I’m really pushing us to celebrate different cultures and cultural holidays. It shows patients that we care.

What kind of DEI work are you doing right now? What are some of the biggest gaps in DEI in healthcare?

Some of the biggest gaps I see these days center around education. People aren't educated enough on issues our patients might be experiencing. On our DEI board, we like to start every meeting by going over current events. There is a lack of awareness of many issues and situations. People are busy and can’t keep up with everything that’s going on in the world but if we make an effort to understand what’s happening, especially in communities where patients are from, I believe that would improve healthcare systems. The more educated we are, the more history won’t repeat itself. In these times, Social Media plays a key role in defining who we are as individuals and what information we can spread to our communities. The more we advocate on our social media the more awareness we can bring to important issues. In our DEI committee at work, I’m trying to push the marketing team to make statements on current events so that people know that we’re aware and providing the resources we can for patients and their families.

Healthcare providers are leaders who are very influential in their communities. When we take a stance on important topics we set good examples for our communities. For example, making statements on mental health could improve conversations in communities that struggle to talk about it like in the South Asian community. One hard conversation could lead to a powerful movement.

What inspired you to found YIP?

When I graduated from college, I was lost and did not know how to navigate the “real adult” world. I had secured a full-time job but I didn't know how to diversify my network. For the non-Indian side of things, I joined some healthcare and professional networking groups. However, for the Indian side of things, after a lot of research on social media and the internet, I found absolutely no active networking groups that were focused on young Indian professionals. As an American-born Indian, I wanted to stay in touch with my culture and network with other young professionals. In April 2022, I was having a conversation with my mother about how there was a lack of Indian Professional Networking in the New England area. She then said "why don’t you make one?". That is exactly what I did. My organization -Young Indian Professionals of New England - was born. My initial thoughts were that if 10 people joined, I would make 10 new friends/acquaintances. I never imagined that it would build up to this scale.

Young Indian Professionals of New England is a collaborative networking platform dedicated to connecting and inspiring young professionals of Indian origin in the New England area. We strive to create a space where young professionals can network, share their experiences, learn from one another, and stay in touch with our Indian culture. We now have over 5000 members collectively on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. We have created a board of advisors that consists of highly accomplished people in the Boston Indian community. We also have been featured in many publications like the Boston Globe, and News India Abroad. We have launched a YouTube Talk Series where we highlight community groups and individual success stories so that Young Indian Professionals can get inspired and learn from individuals who have succeeded in their ventures. We also just started a small Business Saturday initiative to highlight different Indian small businesses around the Indian community in New England.

How has YIP informed your professional work?

As a young woman founder, people don’t always take me seriously. YIP has helped me find my voice. I have learned that if you find an issue you want to solve nothing can stop you. People doubted me when I started this organization but I was passionate about this and I saw a genuine need. You shouldn’t let people dictate who you are and what you do. I have learned so much about myself creating this organization, but what I found most was that I have a voice and that it matters. Creating this organization has helped people find connections, internships, jobs, advice, and the empowerment and support they need to reach their dreams and goals. It’s helped me be a better leader and better communicator at work. Creating something from nothing and building it to five thousand members was a lot of hard work but it really paid off.

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