Sundal Ali is the Executive Director of South Asian SOAR, a national network of 50+ South Asian gender-based violence organizations working to strengthen the field and end violence in South Asian communities. A convener, facilitator, and lifelong servant leader, Sundal brings over a decade of experience building culturally responsive programs for survivors of gender-based violence and leading equity-driven systems change.

Sundal’s path into this field began as a prevention education fellow at a DC-based anti-trafficking agency, an experience that ignited a lifelong passion. That passion took her to East Africa and South Asia, where she led reproductive health projects and conducted community-based research with survivors of trafficking and exploitation. Returning home to Dallas, she worked as a prevention educator at a local rape crisis center before building and leading a program serving youth impacted by sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, work that deepened her understanding of the intersectional systems that shape a survivor’s journey to healing.

The desire for root-cause, systems-level change led Sundal to race equity work within a large urban school district, where she built capacity for equitable leadership and practices to better serve marginalized communities. Along the way, she found her co-conspirators in Central Texas’s social justice movement, who sharpened her anti-racist, inclusive leadership philosophy.

Leading SOAR is a culmination of Sundal’s work, serving survivors, building and scaling programs, and centering equitable practices for diverse communities. She remains steadfast in elevating the voices of survivors and the direct service providers who show up for them every day, while strengthening the collective power, leadership, and infrastructure needed to build a movement capable of lasting change.

Outside of work, Sundal is an avid hiker, traveler, gardener, novice painter, and proud dog mom.