The story of Manjusha Kulkarni begins in India, where she was born before immigrating to Alabama at the age of two. Her parents, both physicians, arrived with the hopes and determination shared by many immigrant families: to build opportunity through hard work and service.
But opportunity did not come without obstacles.
As a teenager in Alabama, Kulkarni watched her mother challenge discriminatory policies that barred non-European doctors from leadership positions at a Birmingham hospital. Filing a class-action lawsuit against the state, her mother not only fought injustice—she won. That victory left a lasting imprint on young Manjusha.
At school, Kulkarni often felt “othered,” one of the only Asian American students in her environment. Those experiences of exclusion sharpened her understanding of systemic bias and planted the seeds of activism. She began to see law not just as a profession, but as a powerful instrument for change.
Manjusha Kulkarni: Academic Excellence and Legal Foundations
Driven by purpose, Manjusha Kulkarni earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Duke University before obtaining her Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law.
She worked at the Southern Poverty Law Center and clerked with the American Civil Liberties Union as well as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. These institutions sharpened her expertise in combating racial profiling, discrimination, and injustice.
One of her earliest landmark involvements was as part of the pro bono legal team representing Japanese Latin Americans who had been kidnapped by the U.S. government and incarcerated alongside Japanese Americans during World War II. The resulting class-action lawsuit led to reparations and a formal apology from President Bill Clinton. For Kulkarni, this was not merely legal work—it was restorative justice in action.
Leading AAPI Equity Alliance into a New Era
In 2017, Manjusha Kulkarni became Executive Director of the AAPI Equity Alliance, formerly known as A3PCON. Under her leadership, the organization evolved from a quiet coalition into a bold and visible force for policy advocacy and community empowerment.
Today, AAPI Equity Alliance represents over 40 community-based organizations serving 1.6 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Los Angeles County. Through Kulkarni’s vision, the coalition has expanded its work in:
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Health care access
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Mental health equity
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Interpersonal violence prevention
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Language access rights
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Policy reform and civic engagement
She believes data, storytelling, and coalition-building must work together. “There is a lot of work to be done to know and understand what is happening in our communities, and then bring about belonging for significant populations,” she has said.
Manjusha Kulkarni: Co-Founding Stop AAPI Hate – A National Awakening
In 2020, amid a surge of anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic, Manjusha Kulkarni co-founded Stop AAPI Hate alongside Cynthia Choi and Russell Jeung.
What began as a rapid-response reporting center quickly became the nation’s largest tracker of anti-AAPI hate incidents. The coalition collected thousands of firsthand accounts—stories of harassment, assault, discrimination, and fear that might otherwise have gone invisible.
By transforming anecdotal pain into measurable data, Kulkarni and her colleagues forced institutions, policymakers, and media outlets to confront reality. Their work shifted the national conversation, influencing federal and state responses and empowering communities to demand protection and accountability.
For this groundbreaking leadership, Kulkarni and her co-founders were recognized on the TIME100 list, honored in the Bloomberg 50, and awarded the 2021 Webby Social Movement of the Year Award. In 2024, she received the James Irvine Leadership Award and was named one of Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Great Immigrants of 2025.
From Hate to Healing: A Voice on Global Stages
Manjusha Kulkarni’s expertise extends beyond community advocacy into global policy discussions. She has shared her insights with the Aspen Institute, the World Bank, and the United Nations. In January 2024, she delivered a TEDx talk at the University of California, Berkeley titled “From Hate to Healing.”
In that talk, she delivered a powerful message:
“When we as a nation exclude, incarcerate, and investigate individuals because of their race, religion, and national origin, we betray our values, and we cause real harm to our citizens.”