In September of 2024, Mallika joined the ACLU-TN staff as our Communications Strategist. As a 2nd-generation immigrant growing up in West Virginia and Tennessee, Mallika learned quickly that maintaining a strong and creative online presence was key to advocating for themself and their community.
After graduating in 2020 from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor's in Anthropology and Hispanic Studies with a concentration in Human Rights, Mallika completed an AmeriCorps term at the Centro Hispano de East TN creating central communications structures for the organization. This work followed them to the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and TIRRC Votes, where Mallika worked for 2 years creating vital email, press, and social media strategies and processes to boost digital engagement (from the URL to the IRL, as they say) amongst 1st and 2nd generation immigrants and refugees in Tennessee.
At the ACLU-TN, Mallika will work alongside the Communications Director to fully strengthen and solidify communications processes with social media, emails, and press work. They take pride in being able to expand their work into a broader sphere of social justice communications, so that as many Tennesseans as possible are informed about the ACLU-TN's work, and realize the importance of our mission.