Between Friends: Conversations with Maitri

As a new school year begins, thousands of students arrive on campus full of excitement and possibility. But alongside that hope lies a difficult truth: sexual assault remains a seriousissue on college campuses nationwide.

In this episode, we sit down with Smitha Chandrasekhar, Alex Fu, and Shreya Vishwanath to discuss why awareness matters, how students can support one another, and the steps needed to build safer communities on campus.

Tune in for an honest, urgent, and empowering conversation.

With Menaka Iyengar Cooke – Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) recipient.

From surviving domestic violence in a foreign land with no family support…to becoming an award-winning social justice activist, author, and HR leader.

In this powerful episode of the Maitri Podcast, Menaka Iyengar Cooke shares her extraordinary journey of post-traumatic growth. Her story is a reminder that while the road from trauma to healing is long, community support can be the lifeline that changes everything.

🔗 Tune in to hear how Menaka broke the cycleof abuse and turned her pain into purpose.
💜 A must-listen for anyone who believes inresilience, justice, and the power of standing together.

About Menaka:

Menaka came to Australia in 1973, became a single parent soon after.  She got an administrative job but went to night school to educate herself, reinventing herself as an HR professional, retiring as HR Director at the end of a 35+ year corporate career.  As a result of her own experiences with sexism, racism, and ageism, she found her passion in retirement advocating for women’s and community matters, including women’s health (mental and physical), Aboriginal groups, and victims of Domestic Violence, Elder abuse, and bringing the achievements of migrants to light viaher podcast ‘Colours of Australia’.

Over the years, she has received various awards: Fellowship of the Australian Human Resources Institute, Prime Minister’s Award for employing people with a disability, Business Review Weekly award for ‘Family Friendly Policies’, the Prof. Shirley Randall-Women Chiefs of Enterprises Australia Award in 2021 for Social Contribution,  The International Alliance of Women - World of Difference Award in 2022 and now an Order of Australia in the King's Birthday Honours List 2025.

This episode focuses on the cultural conflicts between South Asian parents and their children. Whether it’s clashing over career choices, dating, emotional expression, or even mental health itself, these tensions often leave deep emotional marks, sometimes even lead to abuse and violence. We’ll explore how intergenerational cultural conflicts affect our mental health, and what healing can look like when both generations are ready to listen.Our guest is Shalini Dayal, a licensed family therapist with thirty years of clinical experience in the mental health profession. She has worked extensively with South Asian youth and adults navigating issues related to relational disconnect, communication problems, depression, grief, stress, cultural adjustments, parenting, divorce, and couples counseling.More about Shalini Dayal: https://shalinidayalmft.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/shalinidayalmft/More about Maitri: www.maitri.org

This Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re bringing you a powerful conversation that reminds us: our mental health is just as important as our physical health.In this episode, we shine a light on the often-unspoken emotional toll of unrealistic familial expectations, especially within in-law relationships. From subtle put-downs to emotional manipulation and controlling behaviors, these dynamics can deeply impact couples' well-being and mental peace.• How can we recognize these patterns?• How do we respond with dignity and protect our emotional safety? Join us and our guest, Sushma Trivedi, LMFT, as she shares valuable insights and tools to navigate these challenges and support healthier, more respectful relationships. Sushma Trivedi Bio:Sushma Trivedi's first career was as a physicist. She obtained her Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from IIT, Delhi. She worked in academia and the high-tech industry for more than twenty years before starting a career in the field of mental health. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and sees clients remotely and in person at her offices in Los Altos and Sunnyvale. Because of her cultural and professional background, she likes to integrate science and Eastern philosophy in her counseling work. Sushma believes that all clients have the resources within them to resolve the social and emotional challenges they are presented with in life. She pays close attention to her clients' belief systems, thinking styles, and patterns of relationships and how these are affecting their current life situation. She helps the client identify their goals and become aware of their strengths and resources.You can find out more about her at her website: https://www.sushmatrivedi.com#mentalhealthawarenessmonth #MaitriPodcast #SouthAsianMentalHealth #HealthyRelationships #EmotionalWellbeing #inlaws #EndDV #sushmatrivedi

Welcome to Policy Matters, a quarterly presentation from Maitri Policy Advocacy, where we discuss public policies that shape the prevention, intervention, and overall attention to domestic violence within our communities.In our third presentation of Policy Matters, we interview Casey Swegman of Tahirih Justice Center on the prevalence of child marriages in the US and learn about the upcoming federal proposal to address child marriages nationally.Casey Carter Swegman is a national expert on serving immigrant survivors of gender-based violence. As the Director of Public Policy at the Tahirih Justice Center she oversees Tahirih’s state and federal policy advocacy focused on improving protections for immigrant survivors while simultaneously seeking long-term, systemic change. She engages in extensive domestic and international training and outreach and serves as a liaison to local agencies and service providers working to strengthen the capacity of their local community to respond to the needs of immigrant survivors. Before her role as Director of Public Policy, Casey spent over 10 years in direct service with immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and trafficking, including at Tahirih on the Forced Marriage Initiative and before that with the International Rescue Committee, where she led a program for refugees arriving with special needs.This episode was curated by the Maitri Policy Advocacy Program and facilitated by Smitha Chandrasekhar. Smitha is a senior at the University of Washington majoring in Biology. She is currently on the pre-med track and intends to focus on a career in women’s reproductive health and oncology. Smitha has been volunteering with Maitri for almost a year and is deeply invested in promoting the rights of survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to their own bodies and autonomy.Resources shared in this PodcastChild Marriage Prevention Act of 2024https://www.tahirih.org/news/child-ma...Discussion with Fraidy Reiss, Child Marriage Survivor and founder of Unchained At last   • S5-E1: Unchained At Last: California ...  Asia Child marriage initiative: Summary of the research in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal https://www.icrw.org/wp-content/uploa...Child Marriage in the UShttps://www.tahirih.org/wp-content/up...UNICEF working to end child marriages in the UShttps://www.unicefusa.org/how-help/ad...California Senate Bill 404 on Child Marriage ban https://legiscan.com/CA/text/SB404/id... California Coalition to End Child Marriage https://cacoalitiontoendchildmarriage... It is time to end child marriages in the US https://www.cfr.org/blog/its-time-end.

Join us for a powerful episode of the Maitri Podcast featuring Anisha Durve—survivor, author, and motivational speaker—who is dedicated to raising awareness against gender-based violence. In this compelling discussion, we uncover the red flags of abusive relationships, explore the critical role communities play in either enabling or preventing partner abuse, and highlight the resilience and healing that survivors can achieve. This conversation is a beacon of hope, proving that post-traumatic growth is possible.The Power to Break Free Foundation: www.Power2BreakFree.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@powertobreakfreeBook: https://a.co/d/iLcP73R

Welcome to Policy Matters, a quarterly presentation from Maitri Policy Advocacy, where we discuss public policies that shape the prevention, intervention, and overall attention to domestic violence within our communities.

In your Second Episode, we revisit the need for funding Domestic violence services in CA. Earlier in January of this year, Governor Newsom announced the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and it failed to take into account what advocates have been asking for: increased funding for domestic violence services. We reverberate the response released by the VOCA Advocacy Alliance of CA and seek your support in reaching out to the Legislatures.

This episode is created by Maitri Policy Advocacy

Resources in the Episode

California VOCA Funding Advocacy

https://www.cpedv.org/voca-funding-advocacy

California VOCA Alliance

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bHy24HKsyVC0Sth0fM666Y188_xDVwqZ/edit

UN Secretary-General's statement on domestic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJgVTeZrWLk&ab_channel=UnitedNationsinIndia

Maitri VOCA Advocacy in VALOR US Platform in 2022

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2310663309127820

Welcome to Policy Matters: A quarterly presentation from Maitri Policy Advocacy, where we discuss public policies that are at the heart of shaping the way prevention, intervention, and overall attention to domesticviolence within our communities. In our first presentation, we look at the medical mandate of reporting domestic violence that has been in the minds ofsurvivors and advocates alike for a long time seeking to change the law.Joining us for the conversation, are Chris Negris, the Associate Director of Public Policy Strategies at the California Partnership to End DomesticViolence, and Anisa Ali, Program Manager of Health at Futures without Violence.

This discussion was led by Smitha Chandrasekhar, SmithaChandrasekhar is a senior at the University of Washington majoring in Biology. She is currently on the pre-med track and intends to focus on a career in women’s reproductive health and oncology. Smitha has been volunteering withMaitri for almost a year and is deeply invested in promoting the rights of survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to their own bodies and autonomy.

Chris Negri (he/him) is the Associate Director of Public Policy Strategies at the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence. Working with Partnership staff, members, and allied organizations, he hopes to contribute to policy victories that fund prevention work, improve the lives of survivors, and address critical problems such as the financial and housing insecurity that survivors often face. He is particularly passionate about and dedicated toworking on child welfare issues, mindful of the harm that the child welfare system often inflicts on children and families affected by domestic violence, particularly youth of color and LGBTQ+ young people.

More About Chris :https://www.cpedv.org/profile/chris-negri

Anisa Ali believes that all survivors deserve access totrauma-informed, culturally responsive health care and that health settings can be an important place of support for survivors. As a Program Manager at FUTURES, Anisa provides training and technical assistance for the NationalHealth Resource Center on Domestic Violence, including on the Campus Leadership Program, the Survivor Leadership Cohort, and California state policy work. Shewas a fellow for the Solís Policy Institute-State, through the Women’s Foundation of California. Anisa earned her MA in Gender and Women’s Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her undergraduate degrees inInternational Studies and Spanish from Virginia Tech.

More About Anisa: https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/anisa-ali-14/

Resources from the Episode:

AB 3127 Factsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFlrrOX3bbmuM8BqwFaMTN5UvjsNNYDN/view

Should California doctors report domestic abuse to the police?Here’s how physician lawmakers voted: https://calmatters.org/health/2024/05/california-doctor-domestic-violence-reporting/

In this podcast, Nazeehah Khan, a sexual assault survivor, activist, and the founder of Restraining Orders Without Borders had an in-depth conversation with our host Nandini Ray. Nazeehah shared her ordeal, hopes, and how she transformed her pain into power. Listen to the episode here: Nazeehah Khan is the Founder of Restraining Orders Without Borders (ROWB), a national legislative campaign expanding restraining order jurisdiction for nonresident survivors of domestic violence and sexual violence. ROWB has passed laws in Hawaii, and Oregon, and is pending the passage of SB 554 in California. Nazeehah holds a Masters in International Relations from the University of Cambridge. She was born and raised in Hawaii and is of Indo-Fijian heritage. Nazeehah’s story and activism have been published in different media outlets including Forbes, KITV_abc, RISE, the Star-Advertiser.Learn more about ROWB here: https://www.rowbnational.com/Learn more about Maitri here: www.maitri.orgListen to the Maitri Podcast and share with your networks.