Meet the Board

• 2021-2022 SALSA Board

  Talisha Faruk, Co-Chair

  Talisha is a second-year law student at UCLA School of Law, from Los Angeles, CA. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Legal Studies, and a minor in Global Poverty and Practice. Prior to law school, Talisha worked as an Immigration Paralegal at Berry Appleman & Leiden, LLP and as an Employment/Labor Law Paralegal at Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai, LLP. She also worked as a community volunteer and legal researcher at various domestic violence clinics located in San Francisco, CA and Dhaka, Bangladesh, and served as a member of Amnesty International's Digital Verification Corps Lab.

  Along with serving as SALSA’s Co-Chair, Talisha is also on the UCLA Law Dean’s Student Advisory Council, the Chief Managing Editor for the UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law, a UCLA Law Fellowship Program Mentor, an El Centro Legal Clinic, Economic Justice volunteer, and a part of the Criminal Justice Society and Business Law Association. Talisha is currently specializing in Business Law and the David J. Epstein Public Interest Law and Policy Program at UCLA Law. This past summer, she worked with in-house counsel at Rocket Lab USA, Inc. as an Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC SoCal), Corporate Intern.

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  Jay Parepally, Co-Chair

  Jay is a second-year student at UCLA Law from Pittsburgh, PA. He graduated magna cum laude from UC San Diego with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Business. Prior to law school, Jay worked in healthcare consulting and finance for several years in San Francisco. Jay is passionate about addressing the climate crisis and will specialize in Environmental Law. This past summer he worked as a research assistant for environmental law faculty members at UCLA Law’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

  Along with serving as SALSA’s Co-Chair, Jay is a managing editor for the Journal of Environmental Law and Policy and a digital editor for the Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs. He also volunteers with the Labor and Economic Justice Clinic. Outside of law school, he likes to hike in Griffith Park!

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  Janaki Balachandran, Admissions and Professional Development Chair

  Janaki is a 2L at UCLA Law. In addition to serving as SALSA's Admissions and Professional Development Chair, she is a staff editor for Volume 69 of the UCLA Law Review. She spent this past summer working as an Enforcement Extern at FINRA. Before coming to law school, she worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York. She is a Certified Public Accountant and she graduated from NYU with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Accounting. Janaki is looking forward to meeting everyone in the SALSA community this year.

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  Sukhmeen Kahlon, Social Justice/Resistance Chair

  Sukhmeen is a second-year law student from Sacramento, CA. She is in the Critical Race Studies and the Public Interest Law & Policy Program. Sukhmeen graduated from UC Riverside with a B.A. in Political Science in 2019.

  In addition to serving as the Social Justice/Resistance Co-Chair for SALSA, Sukhmeen is also the Political Activism Co-Chair for the Women of Color Collective, a member of Law Students for Decarceration, and a participant in the El Centro Reentry Clinic. Sukhmeen is interested in criminal defense and spent her 1L summer working at the LA County Public Defender’s Office. She is particularly interested in the intersection between criminal defense and immigration, as well as abolition and restorative justice. When she’s not in class or reading, Sukhmeen loves film photography, roller skating, and exploring LA.

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  Eushrah Hossain, Community Building Chair

  Eushrah is a second-year student at UCLA Law from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She graduated from Occidental College with a B.A. in Cognitive Science and minor in Philosophy. Prior to law school, Eushrah worked at the Albuquerque District Attorney's office on pre-prosecution diversion efforts and at a nonprofit that offers mental health services to foster children and youth in juvenile detention in Los Angeles. This past summer, Eushrah worked at Public Rights Project to file suit condemning the passage of Florida Governor's Anti-Protest Bill and to file an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of abortion rights in Mississippi.

  Along with serving as SALSA's Community Building Chair, Eushrah  is also the Co-Chair for the Womxn of Color Collective, a member of Law Students for Decarcetaion, and a participant in the El Centro Visa Clinic. Eushrah is currently specializing in Critical Race Studies and the David J. Epstein Public Interest Program. Outside of law school, she likes going to the beach and making art.

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  Paarth B. Shah, 2L Representative

  Paarth is a third-year JD-MBA (current 2L) at the UCLA School of Law and UCLA Anderson School of Management. He graduated from Princeton University majoring in Public and International Affairs and minoring in of all things, South Asian Studies and Computer Science. After undergrad, Paarth worked at PwC Strategy& and at Cognizant in their Corporate Strategy group. At the law school, Paarth is also a member of RELA, BLA, and ELA and this past summer worked at Baker Botts LLP in their Corporate and Real Estate groups. Outside of studying, you can find him watching corny Bollywood movies and tons of cricket, and above all else downing desi food.