Seema Mohan Agnani
Revson Fellow 2004-2005
Director of Training and Technical Assistance
Citizens for NYC
Seema Agnani currently serves as the coordinating consultant for the Fund for New Citizens at the New York Community Trust, a collaborative of 22 foundations and donors that support immigrants in New York City and the organizations working on their behalf. Previously, she held the position of Director of Training and Technical Assistance at Citizens for NYC, where she oversaw a program that provides capacity building grants, training, and technical assistance to 100 volunteer-driven organizations citywide. Before joining Citizens for NYC, she was Managing Director of Chhaya CDC, an organization that she co-founded to meet the community development needs of South Asians in New York City. Prior to that, she worked for six years at Asian Americans for Equality, first as a housing development associate helping the organization develop over 200 units of affordable housing, and later as Manager of Resource Development. Ms. Agnani is a founding board member of the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective and serves on the board of the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development. She is the recipient of both a Great Cities Chicago-London Urban Fellowship (1994) and a Union Square Award (2002). Born in the Chicago area, she holds a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a Masters of Urban Planning and Public Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. During her Revson year, she took courses in public affairs, history, and political sociology.
(The Revson Fellow’s biography that appears above was last updated in 2004. Revson Fellows may update their biographies on this site by sending email to: revson@columbia.edu)
The Revson Program is an unparalleled opportunity for committed New Yorkers to refuel-through conversations, classes, projects and reflection. For me, the Revson year provided a much-needed pause to assess the past and plan for the future, with guidance and support from the academic and activist communities. At the end of the year, I emerged stronger and clearer about my work goals, and personally more enriched and replenished by new relationships with colleagues and professors. With the Revson network and annual meetings to look forward to, the program keeps sustaining those of us working to make New York City a better place to live for all New Yorkers.
