Deepak Bhargava

Deepak Bhargava "is the executive director of nonprofit Center for Community Change. Under his three year tenure, the center has seen a significant increase in funding and for the first time in the organization’s 37-year history, has relocated its national headquarters to the historic U Street corridor from Georgetown. For nearly four decades, the Center for Community Change has helped thousands of urban and rural communities nationwide to organize for positive change by uniting low-income people across lines of race, ethnicity, geography and gender to equip them with the tools to change public policies and demand public attention for issues of social and economic justice.

"Prior to his appointment as the executive director, Bhargava served as the director of public policy for seven years at the Center for Community Change. In that capacity, he worked on housing, budget, tax, immigration, welfare, and other issues affecting low-income people. He also directed the Center’s National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support, a coalition of grassroots groups established in 2000 to give low-income people a voice in the reauthorization of the federal welfare law and other areas critical to poor people. Prior to joining the center, Bhargava was the legislative director at the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), where he gained broad experience in community reinvestment and housing finance issues. Born in Mysore, India, Bhargava’s family immigrated to the United States when he was a child. He grew up in New York City and graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University. Bhargava’s vision is to spark an enduring movement for social change and assure that the voice of the poor is an integral part of the national dialog."

• Poverty and Race Research Action Council: Former Directors
• Editorial Board, The Nation
• Former Director (2009), Organizers' Forum
• Advisory Group, Government Alliance on Race and Equity