Know Your Rights!

Fifteen years of free legal education for the South Asian community across New England.

Get Involved

To fulfill its mission of commitment to community service, and to be an integral part of the fabric of the South Asian community in Massachusetts, SABA GB created the Know Your Rights! program in 2010.

Since its inception, South Asian community leaders have attended twelve two-hour sessions covering employment law, consumer protection, criminal law, civil rights and racial profiling, the court system and the legislative process, family law and domestic violence, immigration, Social Security and disability law, Medicaid, and elder care. The program culminates in an annual graduation ceremony.

Impact

Graduates leave equipped with information and contacts to pass on to their own communities, which span the New England area.

The program won SABA North America’s Outstanding Program Award in 2011 and a SABA North America Foundation Grant in 2015, and has been recognized in various media outlets. Former SABA GB President Manisha Bhatt received the John G. Brooks Legal Services Award from the Boston Bar Association for founding the program and for her work at Greater Boston Legal Services.

How the program has grown

Building on that success, and on the need for more services in this space, SABA GB expanded Know Your Rights! to include quarterly community newsletters - featuring upcoming SABA events of interest to South Asian readers, alongside article submissions from SABA GB attorneys.

We have also added community-based, Q&A-style open forums where community members are encouraged to put questions to experts across the legal, academic and non-profit sectors.

The 8th Annual Know Your Rights! graduation ceremony, organized by Anuj Khertapal, co-chair of SABA GB’s Know Your Rights! Committee, featured a keynote from Wakefield Town Councilor Mehreen Butt, followed by a reception.

Recognition

Community partners

Know Your Rights! is delivered alongside organizations rooted in the communities it serves:

Saheli · Gurjar · India Circle of Caring · Chinmaya Mission · Aavkar · American India Foundation · Lokvani · the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland · the India Association of Greater Boston · Next Generation Foundation

Get in touch

To ask about attending a session, hosting one with your organization, or volunteering as a presenter, contact Manisha Bhatt at mbhatt@gbls.org.

You can also see our other programs or join SABA GB.