Saswati Paul currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Equal Access International, having joined the Board in 2004. She is an attorney by profession, focusing in particular on employee benefits and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciary issues. 

Previously she was with Greenberg Traurig, LLP, the ERISA boutique Trucker Huss, White & Case LLP, and Baker & McKenzie. Before moving to the private sector, she worked with the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. For nearly eight years she enforced fiduciary compliance under ERISA.

She began her legal career as the first Anheuser-Busch Fellow at the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium and co-authored its first comprehensive national audit on anti-Asian violence. She was appointed to the Maryland Governor’s Task Force on Anti-Asian Violence and served as President of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund of Washington, D.C. In past years, Ms. Paul has also served on the boards of various Asian Pacific American Bar Associations. She was instrumental in establishing the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California’s Hate Crimes Hotline.

While earning a B.A. in Economics from Yale University, Ms. Paul wrote her senior essay on the role of women in economic development. Ms. Paul continues to be involved with Yale and has most recently served as the San Francisco/Peninsula Director for its Alumni Schools Committee, as well as being an alumni interviewer for over 36 years. She also holds a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law, where she was the recipient of the Gryzmish and Dean’s Funds Awards focusing on public interest law. She is a member of the California, Maryland, and District of Columbia Bars, and various U.S. District Courts. 

Paul has served in various capacities on the Parents Association Executive Board of Lick-Wilmerding High School and as Co-President of San Mateo High School’s Education Foundation. She also previously served as President/Secretary and member of the Board of Directors of the Ragazzi Boys Chorus, as well as President of Bowditch Middle School PTSA.