There are a record-breaking number of women running for President in 2020. On September 12th, some of these women will take the stage in an attempt to secure the Democratic nomination and, ultimately, face off against Donald Trump in the general election.
Join us for pizza and commentary by Chitra Aiyar, Executive Director, Sadie Nash Leadership Project, and journalist Susie Banikarim, ‘97 — along with real time analysis from your fellow students on Twitter #athenadebatewatch.
The views expressed by commentators are their own and do not represent the views of Barnard College.
Chitra Aiyar is Executive Director of Sadie Nash Leadership Project a feminist youth leadership organization supporting over 500 young women and gender-expansive youth of color each year in New York City and Newark to be agents of change in their lives and in the world. Prior to joining Sadie Nash in 2013, Chitra served as Senior Staff Attorney at African Services Committee, representing African and Caribbean immigrant community members and local Harlem residents in eviction defense, immigration, public benefits and labor matters. Before becoming an attorney, Chitra’s focus was international development; she worked on microcredit at Grameen Foundation USA and was a Fulbright Scholar at BRAC researching access to education for rural girls in Bangladesh.Chitra has worked in radio (serving as one of the hosts of Asia Pacific Forum, a show that covers progressive issues in Asia and Asian-America on WBAI 99.5 FM) and in film as co-producer of Claiming Our Voice, a short documentary on migrant domestic workers engaging in art and activism. She is a founding board member of Law @t the Margins, a Steering Committee member of the Asian Women Giving Circle, and a recent mayoral appointee to New York City’s Commission on Gender Equity. Chitra has taught a variety of courses as an adjunct professor at Hunter College, New York Law School, Teachers’ College/Columbia University, and CUNY School for Professional Studies. She is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and New York University School of Law. Chitra lives in Brooklyn in a 3-generation household with her partner, 2 daughters, and mother-in-law.
Susie Banikarim is an award-winning journalist, producer and director.She was most recently the Editorial Director and Executive Vice President of Gizmodo Media Group where she oversaw Deadspin, Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Jezebel, Kotaku, Lifehacker, Splinter and The Root. Prior to joining GMG, Susie was filmmaker-in-residence at Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy where she directed and produced a documentary on media coverage of the 2016 presidential election.Previously, she was the Chief Content Officer of Vocativ, a media and technology startup. Before that, Susie was a 2014 Nieman Fellow and lecturer at Harvard University. She also helped launch Katie Couric’s syndicated talk show, served on Tina Brown’s management team at Newsweek Daily Beast as deputy director of editorial and executive produced Daily Beast TV.A rare veteran of both television and digital media, Susie is a frequent speaker & panelist on media, content strategy, visual storytelling and entrepreneurship. She began her journalism career at ABC News where she eventually served as a senior producer for World News and an anchor producer for Diane Sawyer, George Stephanopoulos, Charlie Gibson and David Muir. Susie has received the Edward R. Murrow Award for feature reporting and five Emmy award nominations. She is a cum laude graduate of Barnard College and has a master’s degree from Columbia University's School of Journalism.