Equal Justice Society President Eva Paterson today announced the hiring of Meher Kaur as our new Civil Rights Program Associate, a newly created position that will help coordinate EJS’s efforts related to the California Civil Rights Coalition and the Remembering 1619 Observance. Meher starts with EJS on July 8.
Meher was previously a communications and development assistant at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. During her time at LCCR, she helped launch the organization’s 50th anniversary webpage, organize the annual gala, and assisted with writing grants. She also worked at the Oakland-based Earp Events and Fundraising, helping plan and coordinate galas, retreats, and fundraising events, as well as engaging in advocacy for local ballot measures.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy from UC Berkeley where she lived in the student cooperatives, holding a variety of managerial roles. She was a member of the Anti-Oppression Group, conducting workshops for the 1,300 residents of the Berkeley Cooperative System. These workshops were intended to encourage members to understand their place at the intersection of privilege and oppression, in order to foster a more inclusive house environment.
Meher was also a member of a 10-person facilitator team leading a class focused on the intersections of gender, identity, privilege and sexuality. As a facilitator, she helped to plan a curriculum that encouraged students to engage with and learn from a variety of topics, from systems of oppression, mental health, safer sex, trauma and healing, and reproductive health for folks of all identities.
Born in San Jose, California, to immigrant parents, Meher moved to India at the age of nine. While in India, she was awarded the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award for Young People, receiving its highest accolade, the Gold award. In high school, she took part in a wide range of extracurricular activities, from representing the school as a member of the basketball team, to organizing blood banks and being a member of the dramatics society.