No. 01
Faraz Siddiqui
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Finance · New York
Vol. 01 · No. 01
A civic seal you can read
New York · MMXXV
NYC City Council Districts
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SHOBAI
/ˈʃoʊbaɪ/ noun · Bangla · everyone
Helping immigrant and first-generation communities navigate power, information, and opportunity.
SHOBAI Inc. is a New York 501(c)(3) nonprofit helping immigrant and first-generation communities in Queens build the knowledge and tools to navigate systems that can otherwise feel inaccessible.
Our work focuses on civic learning and AI literacy. We help young people understand how New York City works, who makes decisions that affect their communities, how they can influence those decisions, and how to use AI effectively and safely to learn, communicate, find resources, and access opportunities.
- Status
- 501(c)(3)
- EIN
- 41-2765738
- Seat
- New York
§ I — Programs
Scroll to read§ I — Programs
Our Programs and Services
Civic learning and AI literacy for immigrant and first-generation communities in Queens. Each program below shows whether it is currently active or still being developed.
- IYouth developmentIn Development
High School Youth Program
A program for high school students focused on practical skills, civic knowledge, AI literacy, and navigating opportunities.
- IICivic mediaActive
Community Voices
Street interviews with New Yorkers about the issues shaping their neighborhoods, published on Instagram.
- IIICommunity educationIn Development
Literacy Workshops
Planned community workshops across civic, AI and digital, financial, and legal literacy.
The Seal
Tap any number — or scroll
Element 01 of 05
The wordmark
Shobai (শবাই) is Bangla for everyone.
It names the standard we hold ourselves to: the programs we run must serve the whole of a community, not a favored slice of it.
Element 02 of 05
The eight birds
Eight birds for the eight nations of the 1985 SAARC summit in Dhaka — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and later Afghanistan.
They mark the South Asian region we come from, without narrowing the communities we mean to serve.
Element 03 of 05
New York State
The silhouette at the center is New York State.
SHOBAI is incorporated here, operates here, and answers to the institutions here. The communities we serve are building their lives inside this map.
Element 04 of 05
The dhan
Dhan — the rice that sustains us, and that we brought with us.
The stalks frame the seal the way the harvest frames a year: as the thing that makes everything else possible.
Element 05 of 05
The concentric rings
Three rings: the family, the community, the institution.
Our work moves inward from the outermost ring — helping immigrant New Yorkers navigate the institutions of their new home, so that families and communities can hold.
§ III — Our Mission
Our Mission
SHOBAI exists to help close the knowledge and opportunity gap faced by immigrant and first-generation communities.
Many young people grow up learning how to navigate unfamiliar systems for themselves while also helping their immigrant families do the same. Others may enter adulthood with established networks, financial stability, institutional knowledge, and generations of experience to guide them.
SHOBAI works to narrow that gap by giving young people access to civic knowledge, AI literacy, practical resources, and opportunities to better understand and participate in the systems around them.
We currently focus our work in Queens, with the goal of expanding throughout New York City as our volunteer network and resources grow.
§ — Focus
What We Focus On
ICivic learning
Understanding how power works.
Young people should understand how their city works, who makes the decisions that affect their communities, and how they can influence those decisions.
Immigrant and South Asian communities have historically had less access to political networks, civic knowledge, and decision-making power. SHOBAI works to help change that by starting with young people.
We help New Yorkers understand local government, identify issues affecting their communities, learn who has authority over those issues, and discover practical ways to participate, advocate, and make their voices heard.
IIAI literacy
Using AI effectively and safely.
We believe artificial intelligence can help close gaps in access to information, education, and support, but only when people know how to use it effectively and safely.
AI can be more than a tool for completing homework. Used well, it can act as an affordable tutor, help someone communicate more clearly, explain unfamiliar concepts, identify free programs and public resources, prepare for opportunities, and help families navigate complicated systems.
Our goal is to teach young people to use AI proactively so they can learn faster, find opportunities, solve problems, and compete with people who may already have greater access to tutors, professional networks, and other resources.
AI also comes with risks. Our education includes understanding inaccurate information, verifying AI-generated answers, protecting personal information, recognizing privacy and security concerns, and knowing when AI should not be trusted.
§ IV — History
Why SHOBAI exists.
The barriers our parents ran into were not accidents. Forms written above the reading level of the people required to sign them. Offices open only during the hours you are supposed to be at work. Appointment systems that assume broadband and a printer. We are the generation that absorbed the cost of that design, and we started SHOBAI because we would rather fix the door than keep carrying people through it.
SHOBAI Inc. was incorporated in New York in November 2025, beginning with the Bengali-speaking diaspora we knew best, in the neighborhoods where our own families had run into that same design. Every program since has followed the same rule: name the barrier precisely, then remove it.
- Incorporated
- Nov 2025
- Status
- 501(c)(3)
- Seat
- New York
§ V — The Roster
On file with SHOBAI Inc.
04 of 04
The people of SHOBAI.
A roster, kept short on purpose. We name our staff so you know exactly who is reading your letter.
No. 02Firasat Siddiqui
Program Officer, Youth Leadership
Youth Leadership · New York
No. 03Tasnim Loqman
Program Officer, Design
Design · New York
No. 04Faija Rowsyan
Marketing Officer
Marketing · New York
§ VI — Contact
Contact SHOBAI
Contact SHOBAI about our programs, volunteering, partnerships, community projects, or organization information.
To whom it may concern,
If you are a program officer, a partner, or a family looking for us, write. A person replies.
We read every note. We answer in the language you write in, when we can. We don't use auto-responders.
SHOBAI currently focuses its work in Queens, New York. Our long-term goal is to expand throughout New York City as our volunteer network, partnerships, and resources grow.
Sincerely,
The people of SHOBAI
Signed in ink
§ Established
MMXXV · New York