Shivani Dhir For New York State Assembly

Economic Opportunity & Empowerment
for our neighbors.

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WHY I’M RUNNING

  • More than 16,000 of our neighbors live below the poverty line, even as median household income approaches 95,000 dollars.

  • Nearly 40 percent of our community is foreign-born, yet too many immigrants are shut out of the jobs they are qualified for.

  • Home values hover near 770,000 dollars and nearly 15 percent of residents moved last year. Homeownership in our district is slipping out of reach for many families.

  • New York State education and union-reports warn that the need for new teachers over the next decade could exceed 180,000.

  • By 2030, estimates suggest a shortfall of over 500,000 RNs nationwide, due to workforce exits, retirements, and increasing demand for care

  • Average infant care costs in New York are over 18,000 dollars per year, higher than in-state college tuition

  • The average childcare worker in New York earns approximately 30,000 dollars per year.

  • A 2019 report found that the state labor department recovered less than 3% of stolen minimum wages from identified employers.

Economic Opportunity
is the other side of affordability.

  • Access to jobs is key to economic stability. I will build a first-in-the-city workforce model that connects them to the skills and careers of a changing economy. It will offer coaching, apprenticeships, ESL, digital skills, childcare training pathways, and worker legal protections, bringing opportunity directly into NYCHA, schools, libraries, and senior centers.

  • Our district faces severe shortages in teaching, nursing, childcare, mental health, & youth development; while, many residents want stable careers in these exact fields. I plan to build clear pipelines into essential public-service careers. I will champion fair pay, safe staffing, & strong retention programs, from local high schools into healthcare, education, & early childhood careers.

  • Wage theft disproportionately harms immigrants, delivery workers, care workers, freelancers, and NYCHA residents. My plan creates a strong, accessible system of worker protection that serves the people most impacted by exploitation.

  • Small businesses and freelancers are the backbone of our community. I plan to expand access to business advising, licensing support, digital marketing help, and financial training to help them grow and compete. I will reduce red tape, stabilize commercial rents, & expand access to capital, especially for immigrant- & women-owned businesses

  • Families struggle with childcare that is too expensive; however childcare workers also face low pay and little stability. I will prioritize a stronger local childcare ecosystem by creating worker-owned childcare cooperatives within the community which will expand affordable childcare, stabilize the childcare workforce, & help parents return to work, train, & advance.

  • Housing stability is economic stability. Families need opportunities to stay rooted and build long-term security. I will expand first-time homebuyer assistance, including down-payment support, credit repair, and financial empowerment, while preventing predatory corporate purchases that displace residents.

MEET SHIVANI

Hello neighbors! I’m Shivani Dhir, and I’m running for New York State Assembly in District 36 because every person deserves stability, economic opportunity, and the power to build a good life. I came to the United States at 14 in September 2001 and watched my parents rebuild our lives through small business ownership, long hours, and community support. Those early experiences taught me that real security comes from opportunity that is genuinely within reach, not luck or connections.

I have lived in Astoria for nearly 15 years, and my professional work has focused on designing workforce and economic mobility programs that serve thousands of New Yorkers. Every day, I see how policy can open doors for people and how much potential we lose when our systems are too rigid, too confusing, or simply not built with working families in mind. Too many of our neighbors are working hard but cannot get ahead because the pathways to good jobs, training, and support were never designed around their realities.

I am running to make sure their voices translate into action, and to bring a practical, community-rooted approach to Albany—one focused on growing incomes, expanding opportunity, strengthening worker protections, and making it possible for families to build stable, rooted lives here in Queens.

Local Impact

I’ve served the community through volunteer work with Planned Parenthood, CUNY Citizenship Now!, Braven, Astoria Food Pantry, the Encourage Kids Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, and voter protection and civic engagement efforts. I also give monthly to organizations that strengthen our neighborhoods and support vulnerable communities, including Astoria Food Pantry, Socrates Sculpture Park, Planned Parenthood, Doctors Without Borders, Human Rights Campaign, PBS, New York Public Radio, All for Lunch, National Parks Foundation, and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. My civic engagement includes supporting progressive candidates and being a member of unions such as AAUP-AFT. As a part-time CUNY Law student focused on social justice, I bring both commitment, expertise, and lived experience to this work.

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