Oral History Project

Transferring knowledge and sharing of experiences via oral communications has been an integral part of traditional non-western societies from time immemorial. In the 28 years of existence, Maitri has bloomed from being a volunteer run program to 14 staff strong organization with about a 1.5 million dollar budget. Through the oral history project we strive to achieve two goals:

• capture, craft, and disseminate the historic narrative from the people that were involved at the beginning of the organization’s journey

• lead the way for small culturally responsive organizations to do their storytelling of resilience and innovation within their communities. We hope to enrich the history of movement against domestic violence in the US through meeting these goals

The beginnings of Maitri is yet another classic ‘Silicon Valley fairy tale.’ But it wasn’t a story rooted in technology. It is the story of four women who decided to pick up messages from distressed women asking for help.  There was no prince charming riding a handsome Arabian horse, coming to rescue of immigrants and victims of domestic abuse. It was these four women who worked together to create a way out for those women in need, for them to lead a life as a survivor instead of being a victim of domestic violence.

This was back in 1991. Looking back at it 30 years later, the beginning does not seem ordinary. Together with community ostracization, these founders dealt with individuals from a region rarely on friendly terms with each other. Riddled with conflicts, bitter history and continuing religious strife, South Asian immigrants carry historical trauma and distrust in a diverse landscape. Yet, the women’s common plight stemming from patriarchy and generational subjugation seemed to have bridged that divide and brought them together under the Maitri Umbrella.

Each year, as we move forward with new vigor to transform our communities and eradicate domestic violence, the wisdom of our determined founders add to our confidence. Bringing this history to everyone and anyone who takes interest in movement building seem like a natural extension of ourselves. So we got to work collectively - staff members, volunteers and creative supporters opening doors for new ways of building the movement to create the “Maitri Oral History Project”.

*Pilot phase funded by Gathering Strength Project of Blue Shield California.

Roma Majumdar

Roma Majumdar has been living in the U.S. since the late seventies and has worked with Spectra Physics, based in Mountain View for 19 years. She is currently retired. Ms. Majumdar is one of the founding members of Maitri and has contributed greatly to the growth of the agency programs particularly in the first 15 years.

Read her oral history here.

Meghna Hindia

Meghna Hindia  began as a peer counselor at Maitri in 1999 before working on the hotline answering emergency and distress calls for a few years. She has been involved with Maitri ever since and serves as a volunteer Board member till this date. Meghna is a licensed marriage and family therapist with a private practice in Mountain View, CA. Her website: http://www.meghnahindiamft.com/

Read her oral history here

Shantha Ranganthan

Shantha Ranganathan a long time California resident has been a MAITRI volunteer since June of 1995. She is a software engineer who retired from Intel and is now pursuing a second career as a paralegal. She currently works in the County Counsel's office in San Mateo County.  She lives in Sunnyvale with her husband and two children.

Read her Oral History here

Sonya pelia

Sonya Pelia is a successful C-Level marketing executive with a passion for driving revenue at B2B SaaS startups. At her last bootstrapped startup, she doubled revenue in 12 months, without a sales team. 

Sonya runs a dual career in nonprofit leadership with a vision of ending gender-based violence. She has been a volunteer with Maitri since 1993 and is also a member of the Board. In addition, she also advises other non-profit founders and boards. 

Read her Oral History here