Sona Shah

Sona A. Shah is the inaugural Equity and Inclusion Program Manager at the City of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Arts in International Development & Social Change from Clark University.

In 2018, Sona joined the City of Austin to lead the Asian American Resource Center, one of the few city-funded cultural centers in the United States. Before her tenure with the City of Austin, she worked in higher education at the University of Texas at Austin, where she also taught a service-learning course.

With a professional and personal trajectory spanning over twenty years, Sona has dedicated her career to the intersections of social change, environmentalism, and racial justice, both within and outside institutional frameworks. In her leisure time, Sona enjoys reading, swimming, hiking with her family, and singing karaoke with friends.