Bhojwani moved to New York City in 1987 as a student at Teachers College, Columbia University and obtained her Master's degree in education with an emphasis on teaching English with the intention of returning to Belize to teach.

[2] She instead took a job with Asia Society, immersing herself in issues pertaining to Asian Americans and realizing that policymakers did not look like the constituents she served.

In April 2002, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed her to the newly created role of Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs, where she expanded protections and services for the city's undocumented immigrants, domestic workers, and non-English speakers.

[8] She had considered running for office against Sheldon Silver,[6] but decided to instead focus on building a diverse pipeline of local and state elected officials.

[1] Bhojwani resumed her doctorate at Teachers College in 2014, writing her thesis on immigrants and electoral politics.