Sun Mar 14, 2010 by Anil Kalhan

DREXEL EVENT: Nisha Agarwal, “Luchando, Creando Poder Popular: A Community-Based Perspective to Fighting Health Disparities,” Wed Mar 31 @ 4:15pm

Come hear Nisha Agarwal, Director of the Health Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, discuss NYLPI’s use of law and organizing to address issues of racial and ethnic health disparities in New York City. Her talk will focus on two innovative campaigns: (1) improving access to pharmacies for limited English proficient individuals and (2) eliminating race and class segregation in academic medical centers. She will describe how these campaigns have evolved from community education and organizing to legal action to legislative victories and how law students can get involved in these projects and others.

Nisha Agarwal is the Director of the Health Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, where she began her legal career as a Skadden Public Interest Fellow. Ms. Agarwal’s work at NYLPI focuses on bringing a racial justice and immigrant rights perspective to health care advocacy. In collaboration with community-based organizations and coalitions across New York City, Ms. Agarwal is working on campaigns on language rights in pharmacies, racial discrimination in hospitals, medical deportation, and the closure of community hospitals and clinics in medically under-served areas. Nisha is also active in the South Asian Bar Association of New York, where she serves as Vice President for Public Interest, and is the co-founder of the Harvard Law School Summer Theory Institute for public interest law students. Ms. Agarwal earned her BA, summa cum laude, from Harvard College in 2000 and received a British Marshall Scholarship for graduate studies at Oxford University. She received her JD from Harvard Law School in 2006.

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When: Wed, Mar 31, 2010, 4:15pm

Where: Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, Rm 240
3320 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA