Deepak Bhargava is President of the Freedom Together Foundation. He leads its mission to build power among people who have historically been denied it, so they can change unjust systems and create a more democratic, inclusive, and sustainable society. Before assuming the presidency in February 2024, he spent many years as a foundation grantee and board member, most recently as vice chair of the board.
Deepak brings over 30 years of expertise in social justice movements as a leader, campaigner, and strategist.
Prior to becoming Freedom Together’s President, he led the grassroots organization Community Change for 16 years, working to strengthen the community organizing field and launch coalitions that won major policy victories on issues such as poverty, health care, and immigration. Deepak also served as a distinguished lecturer at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and a Senior Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute.
Deepak has trained and mentored hundreds of leaders who have played key roles in progressive organizations and social justice movements. At CUNY, he co-founded a new organization, Leadership for Democracy and Social Justice, that trains and supports early and mid-career activists working for social change, especially people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, and those from working-class backgrounds.
He also served on the boards of numerous organizations, including the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights, the Open Society Foundations (US), and 350.org, where he was Board Chair. He currently serves on the board of the Democracy Fund.
Deepak is the co-author, with Stephanie Luce, of Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World (New Press, 2023) and co-editor, with Ruth Milkman and Penny Lewis, of Immigration Matters: Movements, Visions, and Strategies for a Progressive Future (New Press, 2021). While he was a Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, he co-authored, with Rich Stolz, The Statue of Liberty Plan: A Progressive Vision for Migration in the Age of Climate Change, and, with Shahrzad Shams and Harry Hanbury, The Death of “Deliverism” (published in Democracy Journal) and The Cultural Contradictions of Neoliberalism: The Longing for an Alternative Order and the Future of Multiracial Democracy in an Age of Authoritarianism.
He has written extensively about community organizing, public policy related to poverty and economic justice, progressive strategy, civic engagement, and racial justice, among many other topics, for The New York Times, The Guardian, USA Today, The Nation, The American Prospect, Huffington Post, and Democracy Journal, and he has been featured in major news outlets such as National Journal, The Washington Post, Politico, National Public Radio, and MSNBC.
Deepak was born in Bangalore, India, and grew up in New York City, where he currently resides with his husband, Harry W. Hanbury, a documentary filmmaker.
