Executive Committee

For 2025-2026 Term Ending 8/31/26

Rittu Kumar

President

Rittu owns her law firm, Kumar Law, in Beverly Hills, California. She practices extensively in the areas of employment law, business law, and estate planning. She is a former senior partner and trial attorney of a Downtown Los Angeles law firm, having successfully tried cases in both federal and state court. Rittu is also a former Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law for Appellate Advocacy and Moot Court. She has served on the Board as a Trustees since 2021, including the previous roles of President-Elect and Secretary (two terms). She is involved in community service for the South Asian community in the legal, academic, and theatrical arts communities. She gives particular importance to speaking with and mentoring our youth on issues of diversity and inclusion, and has done so with students in elementary school through law school. She previously served as the Law Student Outreach Chair for the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California and co-founded the SALSA chapter at her law school where she served as Vice-President. Rittu is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.

Samir Mehta

President-Elect

Samir has served on the Board of the Foundation since 2022 after completing his term as the President of SABA North America. Professionally, Samir is Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at MiTek, a global company on a mission to transform the building industry with better building solutions. Samir obtained his J.D. at Washington University in Saint Louis, School of Law. A St. Louis resident for the past 15 years, Samir helped found SABA Metropolitan St. Louis and served as its President before joining the SABA North America Executive Committee. He served SABA North America in many roles before ultimately becoming its President in 2021-2022. Samir has devoted a great part of his attorney life to supporting his community. He has received awards for his pro bono work and has championed that work in SABA. Personally, Samir is a proud husband of a smarter lawyer and better human being, Heather Mehta. He is also a father of Bennett and Anika, who he fears and expects will surpass him in every way. Samir studied at Duke University and worked in technology before becoming a lawyer. In his shockingly limited free time, Samir loves running, reading, and travel.

Elizabeth Chatham

Treasurer

Elizabeth Chatham is Treasurer for the SABA North America Foundation. Liz understands the dynamic hiring environment in which her clients operate. She works with clients to obtain temporary work visas (H-1B, L-1, O, P, TN, E-1, E-2 and R visas) and permanent residence options (EB-1, Outstanding Researcher, Extraordinary Ability, Multinational Manager, National Interest waivers, PERM labor certifications, and EB-5 Immigrant Investor), in addition to counseling on individual consular processing and naturalization.

Tejas Shah

Immediate Past President

Tejas Shah is a Partner at Barnes & Thornburg, a full-service business law firm. He is a seasoned attorney in immigration law and also maintains a pro bono practice assisting individuals and families through the National Immigrant Justice Center and Chicago Volunteer Legal Services. Since 2008, Tejas has had leadership roles with the local SABA Chicago chapter, SABA North America and the SABA Foundation. He previously served as a Trustee in 2010 and returns to the Foundation Board to help launch an initiative supporting an impact litigator position focused on the needs of different South Asian communities in the United States. He is a graduate of Duke University and the George Washington University Law School.