Nirupa named for Woman of the Year award

Nirupa Sejpal Parmar

LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors and County Commission for Women has selected Nirupa Sejpal

LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors and County Commission for Women has selected Nirupa Sejpal Parmar as a recipient for the 24th Annual Women of the Year 2009 award.  For the past 23 years, the Commission has recognized women who have worked to bring about social and economic change, served as outstanding role models for women, worked on the behalf of women's issues and demonstrated outstanding performance within their professions to further advocate women's rights. 
Nirupa Sejpal-Parmar is a child psychologist who has worked primarily with abused children since 1990. She is also a Board Member for the South Asian Helpline and Referral Agency known as SAHARA, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting South Asian survivors of domestic violence. At SAHARA, Nirupa uses her educational expertise and technical knowledge to volunteer as a therapist for youths as well as a graphic designer creating marketing opportunities through brandings, media relations, websites, event planning and publication management.
Further, in 2007, she founded the "SAHARA Education Department", a computer education center established in conjunction with Hewlett Packard. Sejpal-Parmar also continues to work in the Education Department, teaching computer literacy classes, English classes and conducting educational seminars on various lifestyle issues essential to independent and productive life in American society.
Sejpal-Parmar would like to devote much of her time to the creation of a SAHARA Youth Chapter focusing on mental, emotional, psychological and physical health of the many children either directly or indirectly affected by the harms of domestic violence. 
 She also aims to play a key role in the fundraising and development of a Transitional Living Apartment Home (a temporary residence for victims of domestic violence who are courageously trying to live a healthy and independent life free from abuse) and in the establishment of a South Asian, culturally-sensitive Substance Abuse Program for youth and domestic violence survivors that battle addictions due to a large part of their personal experiences.
In her free time, Nirupa enjoys exploring her passion for cooking through her travels around the world. She is currently authoring her first cookbook in which funds are aimed towards helping abused children and domestic violence survivors. The book, Culinary Consciousness, features the most popular cuisines of each of the respective cultures that she has visited.