Volunteer Spotlight

The Engine Behind the Mission: Meet the Sambhali U.S. Communications Committee

by Carlea Bauman

When people come to Sambhali U.S. looking to volunteer, they are usually assigned to one of the four committees that serve as the workhorses for the organization. As a strictly volunteer-run organization, the committees are the main drivers of all of its efforts.

Of the four committees–Communications, Development, Finance, and Volunteer Engagement–the largest is Communications. Like the engine of a fine automobile, the Communications Committee is comprised of several moving parts that alternately support, highlight, and drive the mission of Sambhali U.S.

The committee is tasked with the creation of and strategy for social media content, the newsletter, blog, annual report, fundraising communications, website maintenance, and other projects to help raise awareness of Sambhali U.S. Eighteen people currently serve on the committee, with Sambhali U.S. Vice President Ginka Poole the committee chair.

Board member Dina Baker, a marketing and communications expert in her day-to-day work life living near Boston, MA, came to Sambhali U.S. in 2020. She developed the organization’s marketing strategy and continues to contribute to the committee by developing the schedule and themes each year for the fundraising and stewardship email campaigns, as well as writing the appeals along with volunteer Hayley Corey. She also plays a vital role on the Annual Report team by coming up with the theme, editing the report, and writing all the headlines for the articles. “It's important for the headlines and subheads to tell a story that brings the theme alive and invites the reader into the fuller narratives,” she says.

One of the committee’s newest members, Lawrence Sonko, is a digital marketing specialist who lives in Bahrain. He has drafted a strategy for Sambhali U.S.’s LinkedIn profile and is updating and reactivating the organization’s Google Analytics account, which will help drive more traffic to the website. “I am deeply inspired by Sambhali U.S. I believe digital platforms can significantly amplify its impact, helping to raise awareness, increase support, and expand reach.”

Donna Arons, a lawyer living near Trenton, NJ, is the herder of cats whose tenacity results in the production of the Annual Report each spring. She is a founding member of the Sambhali U.S. Board of Directors and the Communications Committee, serving since 2019. “It is a huge team effort,” she says. It starts in January, when Dina suggests theme ideas and the team determines what should be included in the report. Donna then writes the bulk of the articles, with assistance from volunteers like Ruby Atwal and Anne Kelleher. Board President, Shereen Arent, and Dina swoop in on the first draft with edits and fact checking before it is turned over to me, Carlea Bauman, and Ginka Poole for design and layout. As that is happening, Donna works with Sambhali U.S.’s treasurer to finalize the financial data, after which Anush Iyer creates graphs and charts to make the data easier to read. “When everyone is satisfied, we pronounce it completed, and it is released, usually at the beginning of April,” adds Donna.

Ruby Atwal, who lives on Long Island in New York, works with Ginka to manage the websites for both Sambhali U.S. and Sambhali Trust, the latter as part of the technical support that Sambhali U.S. provides at the Trust’s request. In the short time she’s been volunteering with the organization (she started in early 2025), she has improved the formatting and content on the websites and mobile versions to make them more user-friendly. In addition to writing profiles for the Annual Report, she created a brochure for Sambhali U.S. that can be distributed at public events to increase awareness. “I enjoy the variety of assignments I have worked on so far,” says Ruby. “I take great pride in improving the websites so that visitors can easily find information about Sambhali and how they can volunteer or donate to support women and girls in Rajasthan.”

Radhi Dalta, Deepa Dutt, and new volunteer Nikki Reen are among the many communications volunteers who speak Hindi, an important skill as they bring stories to life in newsletter articles and blogs, while Barbara Epp dug deep putting together research on topics such as education and literacy that ground stories with the larger picture of life in Rajasthan. 

Communications Committee volunteers range in age from Ananya Potluri, an incoming college sophomore who began helping on our social media when she was in tenth grade, to those who came to Sambhali with decades of experience, such as retired pediatricians Ellie Hamburger and Meera Raghunathan who provided technical support by putting together a series of health education workshops for Sambhali Trust. Other volunteers bring their recently acquired academic knowledge to the real world through Sambhali U.S., such as Trusha Joshi’s work developing a marketing and social media plan and Tanya Sharma’s implementation of the LinkedIn strategy.

The core motivation for all the Communications Committee members is a desire to support the women and girls in Rajasthan, India. “I was immediately drawn to Sambhali’s mission of providing women with access to education, safety, and financial independence. I believe that women’s rights are human rights,” says Ruby.

Lawrence adds, “A recent piece that deeply moved me featured Rita Nirmal, a 52-year-old woman whose life was transformed through Sambhali Trust. The story of her resilience, her joy in creating, and her emergence from isolation into empowerment truly illustrates the heart of Sambhali’s work. It’s a reminder of why these stories and this mission matter. The work being done is not just impactful, it’s transformational.”

Dina chimes in to sing the praises of Ginka Poole, who keeps the committee humming along from her home in Chattanooga, TN. “It's wonderful to work with Ginka, who is such a strong committee leader while also giving license to each committee member to run with what they are great at contributing.”

Through their dedication and storytelling, the Communications Committee ensures that the voices of Rajasthan’s women and girls are heard far beyond their borders.