Isha Weerasinghe, (she/her) is CLASP’s associate director of mental health and well-being. She works on how the mental health system can be improved, focusing on communities of color and other communities on the margins, often with intersectional identities, including young adults and parents. Ms. Weerasinghe previously was the director of policy and advocacy at the Association for Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO), where she advocated for better access to linguistically concordant and culturally responsive care for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AA&NHPIs). She also led/participated in city and national coalition building and provided policy guidance on the local and national-levels, for AA&NHPI-serving community health centers and organizations, in health access and equity. Ms. Weerasinghe conducted community based participatory research, as well as local and state policy advocacy at New York University’s Center for the Study of Asian American Health (CSAAH), working within New York City and New York state. She started her federal policy career in policy advocacy to improve the lives of people living with hepatitis B. Isha has a B.A. in biology from Bryn Mawr College, and an M.Sc. in health policy and demography from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is the Vice Chair of the board of Fihankra Akoma Ntoaso (FAN DC) and also sits on the board of 9to5.
