Staff

Sapreet Kaur, Executive Director (National)

Sapreet is the Executive Director of the Sikh Coalition, and has been in this role since September
2009. She was a member of the Coalition’s Board of Directors for two years prior to joining the
organization as staff.

Sapreet previously served as the Managing Director of Strategy within the Human Assets team at
Teach for America (teachforamerica.org), a national non-profit whose mission is to build the
movement to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting our nation's most promising future
leaders in the effort. At Teach for America, Sapreet was responsible for facilitating the formulation
and evolution of human capital priorities and strategies covering areas such as compensation,
staff retention, organizational strength, and employee satisfaction.

She volunteers with the Girl Scouts of the USA (girlscouts.org) and serves as a board member of
the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (wagggsworld.org), a 10 million member
worldwide movement across 135 countries providing non-formal education where girls and young
women develop leadership and life skills through self-development, challenge and adventure.
Sapreet is also a member of the National Organization of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers,
having served as a business volunteer in Uganda and Kenya from 1998-2001. She previously
served on the Board of Directors of Fellowship of Activists to Embrace Humanity (fatehworld.org),
a human development organization committed to fighting poverty and promoting education in
South Asia.

Sapreet is a graduate of the Stern School of Business at New York University with a dual degree
in marketing and international business.

Amardeep Singh, Director of Programs (National)

Amardeep Singh is the co-founder of the Sikh Coalition, the largest Sikh civil rights organization in the United States.  He currently serves as its Director of Programs where he oversees the Coalition’s use of litigation, advocacy, community organizing, and strategic communications to advance social justice goals.

Amar has represented dozens of Sikh victims of airport profiling, employment discrimination, and hate crimes since the organization’s inception after 9/11. Along with Department of Homeland Security officials, he helped to formulate guidelines governing the searches of Sikh passengers in U.S. airports. His work also led to the formulation of a regulation protecting 1.1 million New York City public school students from bias-based harassment in schools. Click here to read more

Harsimran Kaur, Legal Director (Fremont, CA)

Simran joined the Sikh Coalition as a Staff Attorney in February of 2007 and moved into the Legal
Director position in 2008. As Legal Director, Simran is responsible for all of the Coalition’s legal
cases, and litigates a docket of high impact cases that seeks to safeguard the civil rights of Sikhs
and other minorities. Simran is recognized as a national expert on the rights of Sikhs in the
workplace, and has been asked to speak on the subject by the American Bar Association and the
National Employment Lawyers Association.

Simran has been an active volunteer for the Sikh Coalition since its founding. She previously
worked with the Coalition in an “of counsel” capacity, assisting with lobbying efforts and acting as
a liaison to federal agencies. Before joining the Coalition, Simran was an associate at Wiggins,
Childs, Quinn & Pantazis, LLC, a litigation boutique firm specializing in federal civil rights matters
and race-based employment discrimination in Washington, DC. During her tenure, she litigated
individual, multi-plaintiff, and complex class action cases. Simran also held a judicial clerkship
with the Honorable Alfred Nance of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, where she worked on a
variety of civil and felony criminal matters.

Prior to her legal career, Simran did anti-poverty work in Philadelphia, PA. She obtained her Juris
Doctor from the George Washington University Law School and Bachelor of Arts in History from
Haverford College.

Manbeena Kaur, Education Director (New York City)

Manbeena Kaur was born in San Francisco, CA but has lived most of her life in Fort Worth, TX.  She joined the Sikh Coalition team as Operations Manager in 2006.  Since then, she has been promoted to Education Director, a new position at the Coalition.  The education program seeks to create a positive image and foster appreciation for Sikhs around the country by engaging in nationwide and community-based educational initiatives. 

With a B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Texas at Austin, Manbeena has taught in Texas and New York.  Manbeena also worked at the American Embassy School in New Delhi.  She has previously served in various leadership roles including serving on the planning committee for the Surat Sikh Conference for three years and organizing various youth focused projects both in New York and Texas. 

Sandeep Amy Kaur, Staff Attorney (New York City)

Sandeep joined the Sikh Coalition as Staff Attorney in September 2009. Sandeep provides legal services to victims of hate crimes, employment discrimination, public accommodations discrimination, profiling and other forms of discrimination. 

Sandeep is a graduate of the American University’s Washington College of Law, where she was a Public Interest/Public Service Scholar and recognized by multiple organizations for her advocacy efforts on behalf of the Asian Pacific American community. Over the past several years, Sandeep has provided direct legal services to community-based organizations and clients and has experience working on immigration, employment discrimination, housing, disability, and family law issues.

Sandeep obtained her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Rajdeep Singh, Director of Law and Policy (Washington, D.C.)

Rajdeep joined The Sikh Coalition in December 2009. As Director of Law and Policy, he focuses on developing and promoting policy solutions for civil rights issues through an interdisciplinary combination of government affairs, media relations, and interfaith coalition building.

Prior to joining The Sikh Coalition, Rajdeep served as Director of Law and Policy at the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), where he initiated national civil rights campaigns and articulated Sikh perspectives in various settings, including television; radio; newspapers; community forums; and panel discussions.

Rajdeep has a background in bank regulation and is the author of The Application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to Appearance Regulations that Presumptively Prohibit Observant Sikh Lawyers from Joining the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps, which was published by the Chapman Law Review in 2007. He received his law degree in 2006 from William & Mary Law School and his undergraduate degree in philosophy in 2003 from the University of Miami (FL), where he also auditioned to be a game show host.

Tejpreet Kaur, Community Organizer (New York City)

Tejpreet started working for the Sikh Coalition in March 2009 as Operations Manager. 

As Operations Manager, Tejpreet is responsible for all Coalition operations, national volunteer coordination and intern management, as well as ensuring the fiscal and technological management of the organization.  Tejpreet brings extensive office management experience, along with almost 10 years of volunteer experience with non-profit organizations in Canada and globally.  She spent two months in Namibia conducting research for the University of Toronto, where she investigated how HIV/AIDS contributed to economic instability for women living in informal sectors.  In addition, she has actively participated in anti-oppressive work involving systemic issues affecting and limiting advancement for women, immigrants, low-income households and people of color

Tejpreet holds a Bachelors of Arts and Sciences from the University of Toronto.  In her spare time, she enjoys practicing yoga and is currently working on a Sikh Women’s Voices project, where she is documenting intergenerational stories of Sikh women’s experiences of migration, struggle and resistance.  

Simran Kaur, Advocacy Manager (Fremont, CA) 

Simran joined The Sikh Coalition as Advocacy Manager in September 2011 and is charged with leading our outreach and advocacy efforts in California as they relate to our national agenda.

Prior to joining The Sikh Coalition, Simran managed a health program for Children's Hospital Central California.  Simran travels regularly for global health projects and has worked to improve access to health for immigrant and refugee communities.  She is an active member of the Sikh community in California, volunteering with Jakara Movement and co-founding The Langar Hall - a progressive Sikh blog.  Simran is also a Core Member of the Sikh Feminist Research Institute, is Community Liaison for Saffron Press (an independent publishing house focused on multicultural literature with a special interest in books for and about Sikh children) and acts as the Affirmative Action Officer on the Board of Directors for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California.  Simran obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego and her Masters in Public Health and Masters in Medical Sciences degree from Boston University School of Public Health. .

Satjeet Kaur, Development and Communications Manager (New York City)

Satjeet Kaur joined the Sikh Coalition as an Education intern in October 2009, and took on the role of Operations Manager in September 2010 before moving to her current position as Development and Communications Manager in January 2011.  As Development and Communications Manager, Satjeet is responsible for the Coalition's national fundraising efforts and communications. 

Prior to joining the Sikh Coalition, Satjeet was coordinator at SAMAR, a South Asian focused marrow donor recruitment group.  She also served as the co-president for the United Sikh Association at NYU for two years.

Satjeet graduated from New York University with a Bachelors of Arts in Religious Studies and Psychology.  In addition to her work at the Coalition, Satjeet is actively involved as a volunteer in community projects such as Lahir, Sikh Scouts and the Bridgewater Khalsa School.

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