Membership FAQ

I want to join! How do I get involved?

Great!  Start by joining the listserv (see box at left or visit our listserv homepage).  There you can catch up on messages posted by various group members and read minutes from past meetings.

Then come to one of our events and to a general meeting to check us out.  We’re always looking for help so you can get to know us by helping us out with one of our events or initiatives.

Who belongs to SAPAC?

All kinds of people.  Many of the members are born in the U.S., some are immigrants from the countries that form South Asia (see the About page for an explanation of “South Asia”), and some are from Canada.  All religions are represented in our membership (as well as people who may be agnostic or atheist).  Some of the listserv subscribers don’t live in the Chicago region or in the U.S., for that matter.

Do you have to be South Asian to join?

Not necessarily--we have people of many different ethnicities and backgrounds subscribing to the listserv and people of all races and ethnicities come to our events.  Listserv subscribers have an interest in the South Asian diaspora or care about issues that affect South Asia.

All of the active volunteers and core team members are of South Asian origin or have some South Asian ancestry.

What’s the age range of SAPAC members?

Most SAPAC members are in their twenties and thirties, with some younger and some older than this range.

What is the SAPAC Core and how do I become a member?

SAPAC does not have a president or governing board. We are a collective with two levels of membership: General and Core. The General membership consists of the people who come to individual SAPAC events and activities and of the over 300 individuals who subscribe to the SAPAC listserv.

The SAPAC Core is the central decision making body and includes 15-20 members. The Core has 3 "administrative" committees: Mission/Structure, Finance, and Communications/Website. It also has committees for each of its project areas: Education, Arts, and Local Community Empowerment.

The Core is open to anyone who expresses an interest, comes to at least three SAPAC meetings, and takes leadership in SAPAC activities.