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Khemka
has been serving as the Steve Fund’s Senior Strategy and
Programs Adviser since the early days of the Fund. She was
instrumental in many of the Fund’s major projects. Her
recent focus was on expanding the Steve Fund’s programs and
services to assist colleges, universities and nonprofits,
including workshops, webinars, expert speakers, training and
technical assistance led by multicultural mental health
research and practice experts.
Khemka
has 15 years of experience working in the corporate and
philanthropic sector focusing on corporate social
responsibility, grants management and program
implementation, thought leadership, and fundraising. Khemka
was a Vice President at the JPMorgan Chase Global
Philanthropy group focusing on business management,
strategy, and communications. Previously, she was a Program
Officer at the Goldman Sachs Foundation managing a large
portfolio of grantees and supporting program planning,
evaluation, and capacity building. Prior to that, Khemka
worked at the Private Equity Group in Goldman Sachs focusing
on investor relations/fundraising, as well as Institutional
sales in the Goldman Sachs Asset Management where she worked
with the firm’s largest clients in the US and Canada.
Khemka
was a Management Fellow at Columbia University, where she
received her Masters in Social Work. She completed her
undergraduate studies at Brown University with a BA in
Business Economics. Her work in philanthropy has been
featured in Huffington Post, Forbes, the New York
Times and Stanford Social Innovation Review.
“Anuja
Khemka has been instrumental not only in the creation of the
Fund but in making it what it is today,” says Evan Rose,
President of the Board of the Steve Fund. “Her leadership
has made the Steve Fund the nation’s go-to place for all
matters related to supporting the mental health of students
of color. We are thrilled that Anuja has accepted the
board’s offer to become executive director.”
“I am
incredibly excited to be given the opportunity to lead the
Steve Fund at a time when our mission of improving support
for the mental health of students of color at America’s
colleges and universities has become even more pressing. I
truly believe that the Fund, together with its strategic
partners and supporters, will be able to create
transformational change in America’s higher education
institutions, to the benefit of students of color, and
ultimately, to the benefit of all students.”
Studies
show that students of color at American colleges and
universities are almost twice as likely not to seek help
when they feel depressed or anxious. They also report more
micro-aggressions than their European American counterparts.
These mental health disparities also correlate to
persistence outcomes. Only 49 percent of African Americans
students complete their 4-year college education, compared
to 71 percent of white, non-Hispanic students, according to
a CollegeBoard report.
Recent activities of the Steve Fund include:
* The
publication, in partnership with the Jed Foundation, of the Equity
in Mental Health Framework,
with ten evidence-informed recommendations and
implementation strategies for improving support of the
mental health of students of color on college and university
campuses.
* A
partnership with Crisis Text Line, an online crisis support
service, and with the Knight Foundation to enable students
of color to text the keyword “Steve” to 741741 to be
connected with a trained crisis counselor.
* Steve Fund scholarships for young scholars to
research psychological challenges confronting their
respective populations, in cooperation with four notable
U.S. mental health organizations.
* A
convening for more than 350 leaders in mental health and
higher education for the Steve Fund’s fourth annual Young,
Gifted & @Risk Conference in partnership with the University
of Pennsylvania last November.
* Partnerships with organizations such as Sponsors for
Educational Opportunity (SEO), the NAACP, and Management
Leadership for Tomorrow as part of the Steve Fund’s efforts
to bring mental health programming to organizations serving
people of color.
In 2018,
the Steve Fund plans to focus on supporting implementation
of the Equity in Mental Health Framework at higher-education
institutions, expanding the Steve Fund’s Knowledge Center
and Programs and Services, adding activities that support
young people of color in the transition from college to life
beyond, and expanding the Fund’s activities that support
their families.
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