About Us

Seema joined the Kiran team in 2017 as a Client Services Manager. Seema earned her BA in Immunology and a BS in Psychology from the University of Maryland and went on to receive her Masters in Social Work with an emphasis on Child Welfare from the University of San Jose, CA. She then worked at Abode Services in California as a Counselor and a Service Coordinator for homeless individuals and families in the Silicon Valley area. Seema also supervised MSW interns from UC Berkeley, San Jose State, and Santa Clara University. Seema’s unique combination of education in science and social sciences culminates in a trifecta of research, counseling, and results-driven methods while working with in-need and at-risk populations. As a Social Worker, Seema believes in the strengths-based perspective and assists clients in identifying and enhancing their own strengths with the help of available resources. Throughout her career, she has provided comprehensive case management and advocacy services for women in areas of drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, family counseling, employment, and child reunification. In addition, Seema has been actively involved with the Wake County PTA and various other advisory and implementation committees for WCPSS. She took on the role of Executive Director at Kiran in 2020.

Aparna joined Kiran in 2020. She is an attorney licensed to practice in India and State of New York. Aparna received her Bachelors in Arts and Bachelors in Law from India. She practiced in India for a year before she moved to the US. She then received her Masters of Law from State University of New York at Buffalo’s School of Law. She has been admitted to practice in the State of New York since 2010. Aparna worked at Neighborhood Legal Services from 2010 to 2019, concentrating her practice around representing victims of domestic violence in family and matrimonial matters. She was also active on the Attorney for Children panel for the Fourth Department in State of New York, representing children in custody/visitation, abuse/neglect and divorce proceedings. Aparna firmly believes in a holistic approach to helping targets of domestic violence. Empowering the victims of domestic violence with not just legal assistance but also with the resources available in the community to help them move forward independently has always been the focus of her legal practice.

Shaifali joined Kiran family in Oct 2021 as a Client Services coordinator. She has a BS and MS in Biochemistry/Nutrition and was Gold Medalist & valedictorian in both her degrees. In her initial year of career in India, she taught biochemistry to students at CHRI Medical College in Gwalior, India. She switched on to being a full-time mom and played a very active role in school PTA, school volunteering, soccer mom, tennis mom and a band mom while her two boys were in the Wake County school system. She got back into a workforce about two years back and was the customer service lead in her last role. Also, she paints on glass as a hobby which includes painting on storm doors, lanterns and on framed glass pieces. She believes that art can help to therapeutically process and understand emotions by creativity. Shaifali is clear headed, patient & a good listener, deeply believes in woman empowerment. She believes that domestic violence has no place in the society and regardless of the situation, a woman should always be provided dignity and respect by the spouse, family, and by the society at large. Confidence is the number one asset a woman needs to have so she can manage the good and any challenging times in her life. This role at Kiran is truly her calling and she looks forward to her positive contribution to the cause.

Julia Charles is a first-year MSW student at Virginia Commonwealth University. She received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Furman University in Greenville, SC. After college she completed the paralegal program at Duke University and worked as a health care and administrative law paralegal for several years. Julia chose social work because she wants to effect change through both working with individuals and examining policy on a macro level. At Kiran, she is excited to support people who have experienced domestic violence as well as assisting with community educational programming opportunities.

Rekha Parikh is a member of the North Carolina Domestic Violence Commission. She has been actively involved in serving men and women in the South Asian community for the past 15 years. She served as a hotline crisis counselor for Interact and Kiran. She moved on to become an Advisory Committee Member and the chair of Fundraising. She brings years of experience in coordinating the Hindu Society of North Carolina Health Fair and other community events. Rekha currently serves as the Chair of the Kiran Executive Board and plays a vital role in raising funds for Kiran’s client services fund. She manages her husband's orthopedic practice and continues to have a passion for women’s issues by supporting many charities.

Surabhi is a corporate attorney with several years of experience advising global corporations on commercial transactions as well as through various stages of the corporate life cycle. As an inhouse counsel, she advises on global supply chain transactions, enterprise-wide technology and IP matters, and compliance matters. Surabhi is admitted to practice as an attorney in the State Bar of New York and in India. She received her law degree in India and Master of Laws degree in Business Law and Policy from University of California, Los Angeles. Surabhi currently serves as the Governor's Appointee to the NC Domestic Violence Commission and also worked as the Executive Director of Kiran in the past. She is a passionate advocate for women’s rights and has been a hotline volunteer for Kiran since 2014 and continues to participate in outreach events. She also has past work experience with nonprofit organizations in India working on women and child rights.

Ritu is a Non-Profit professional having worked on social justice issues for 18+ years including gender-based/Human rights since the 1990’s. She has worked in a variety of roles including crisis intervention, case management, and training/outreach with a focus on underserved and vulnerable communities. She was the Executive Director for Kiran Inc, which serves South Asian victims of domestic violence in 2015. She was instrumental in writing Kiran's first grant to receive funding and setting up a board in 2009. She grew up in New Delhi, India and has lived, studied, and worked in India, Belgium and Australia. She is a resident of Raleigh, North Carolina. She has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Development Policy from the University of Antwerp, Belgium.She is embedded in her local community and volunteers with the community support groups. She is passionate about empowering underserved communities to be seen and heard in decisions impacting them. Ritu loves gardening, reading books, walking and exploring all the trails of Raleigh.

Renu Jain has a Ph.D. in biochemistry and has been working as a clinical researcher in the pharmaceutical industry for over 17 years. Her passion to help others is reflective in her work and volunteer efforts in the community. At work she has contributed to the development of new medicines for children living with HIV, children with hemophilia and also for patients with many other rare and hard to treat disease states. She is known for her excellent management skills, clarity of thought and ability to efficiently lead teams to achieve their goals. Additionally, at work she has been a volunteer in the GSK Science in Schools program and the Women in Science program where she is a mentor to undergraduate women in North Carolina colleges where these women may have little advisory support but are ambitious to pursue a career in STEM. Outside of work, within her local community Renu has been part of the National Charity League since 2005, where she has been volunteering with over 20 local non-profit organizations supporting these charities in numerous ways. To name a few of the organizations she has continued to support include Habitat for Humanity, Reed and Feed, Ronald McDonald House, Dress for Success, Adopt a Pet and Guardian Ad Litem. Her ongoing focus throughout her life has been on empowering women and enriching educational opportunities for children in all of these efforts.

Aboli is a dual licensed attorney in India and North Carolina, USA. She has worked with global technology companies as in house/corporate counsel and advised on all aspects of commercial and technology transactions including Intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions and data privacy. Aboli is passionate about giving back to the community and volunteers and serves as general Counsel and BOD for two other non-profit organizations in North Carolina.

Charitra Adhikari is originally from India where she earned her BS in Biomedical Sciences, she moved to US over 12 years ago to pursue her MS in Biomedical Sciences. She has over 12 years of work experience working across different sectors including healthcare both in India and US. She has her Executive MBA from Duke University, which brought her to North Carolina, and now works as a Product Manager in Technology sector. Growing up in India and observing how women are treated in the society inspired her to advocate for women’s rights. She attributes her strong feminism to a human right’s professor in college who inspired her to understand and advocate for feminism and women’s rights in society. Since then, she has always been passionate about volunteering, social-work, and community service since a young age - which inspired her to pursue a career in healthcare. Even during her undergraduate education days - she would volunteer for various non-profit organizations based in Mumbai for a variety of causes. She organized an inter-collegiate event called LAADLI in collaboration with Population First (awareness campaign against female feticide) across 100 colleges in Mumbai. She was highly involved in National Social Service scheme, which supported a variety of social causes for the underprivileged community in Mumbai. She was the leader of women in Business club at her business school where she led various events to advocate for diversity and inclusion in the corporate/business world. She is also extremely passionate about women’s rights/women’s domestic violence issues, equal representation of genders in corporate world/technology space, gender discrimination, supports LGBTQA+ in general in society and leads by example by acting as a change agent. Her ongoing focus throughout her life has been on empowering women and other minority groups.

Manpreet Lehal is the CEO & founder of a local counseling group practice with several locations in the triangle area. She has a professional background as a licensed mental health clinical counselor over a few decades helping individuals and families overcome life struggles. She created her group practice in 2017 with a mission to help more people in need of emotional support & living a fulfilled life. She also has a family mediation and consulting practice for families going through divorce and separation. She is passionate about empowering individuals, breaking social stigma, and advocating for equality for those living in a disadvantaged situation.

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Parul Parikh has served as a member of Kiran's Advisory Board for more than six years. She believes strongly in Kiran's mission and participates in fundraising programs to support the organization's services. Parul's prior volunteer work includes her contributions to cultural programs hosted by the Hindu Society of North Carolina and the Triangle Gujarati Association. She is an award-winning choreographer of Gujarati folk dance. Parul has been living in the Triangle area for nearly 30 years with her family.

Neena has been and continues to be an active volunteer in her community and with many organizations. She was the President of Green Farms Academy Parents’ Association Connecticut. She was awarded the annual Community Service award by the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), Connecticut. She has also volunteered with Ravenscroft School, Mercy Learning Center, Girl Scouts, and soup kitchens. She is currently volunteering with North Carolina Museum of Arts (NCMA). Neena holds a Master’s degree in Nutrition from Raipur, India and enjoys hiking, traveling, cooking and arts.