Staff

Sapreet Kaur, Executive Director

Currently Sapreet is the Executive Director at the Sikh Coalition, having 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. 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 and Advocacy (New York City)

An attorney, Amardeep Singh is a co-founder of the Sikh Coalition and became the Coalition’s first full-time staff as the Legal Director in 2003. Amar has represented dozens of Sikh victims of airport profiling, employment discrimination, and hate crimes.  Along with Department of Homeland Security officials, he also helped to formulate guidelines governing the searches of Sikh passengers in U.S. airports.   With his assistance, New York City’s Police Department now allows Sikhs to serve as traffic enforcement agents while wearing their turbans.  He has represented the Sikh community during meetings with the United States Attorney General, Secretary of Transportation, and the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.    

Prior to joining the Coalition, Amar worked as a Researcher in the U.S. Program of Human Rights Watch (HRW). While at HRW, he authored its report, “We Are Not the Enemy: Hate Crimes Against Arabs, Muslims, and Those Perceived to be Arab or Muslim after September 11.”  Amar has also written published articles on the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

In 2008 Amar received a joint award for his community service from the Asian American Bar Association of New York, Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York, and South Asian Bar Association of New York. In 2007, Amar was honored by the South Asian Law Students Association at St. Johns University’s School of Law during the law school’s Annual Ronald H. Brown dinner. He was also honored by New York Disaster Interfaith Services with a “Best Practices” award for his work on mitigating bias in the wake of public disasters. During 2005, he was honored by the Sikh Centennial Foundation as its Human Rights Activist of the year.  He also received the Chavez, Houston and Korematsu Public Service Award from Benjamin Cardozo Law School in April 2005.  In November 2005, Mr. Singh was a co-recipient of the Union Square Award, from the Union Square Foundation.  

Amar sits on the advisory committee to Harvard University’s Discrimination and National Security Initiative. He is also currently the Vice-President of the South Asian Bar Association of New York.

Neha Singh, Western Regional Director (Fremont, CA)

Neha joined the Sikh Coalition as advocacy director and staff attorney in June 2007. She moved to California to open the Coalition's Western Region operations in July 2008.

Over the past several years, Neha has worked on a variety of human rights and civil rights cases. She represented 11 Yemeni men being detained at Guantanamo Bay, an African diplomat seeking asylum in the United States, non-profit groups in West Papua, and lobbied for grassroots human rights groups’ access to international courts. She spent nearly two years at Allen & Overy LLP, where she represented large multinational corporations in transactional and litigation work.

Neha is a graduate of Yale Law School, where she focused on international and human rights law. She also holds an M.Sc. in Journalism from Columbia University. She completed her undergraduate degrees in English and International Relations from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Neha is also a freelance writer and a regular columnist for Sikhchic.com. She grew up in Southern California.

Harsimran Kaur, Legal Director (Fremont, CA)

Simran joined the Sikh Coalition as a Staff Attorney in February of 2007.  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 others minorities.  Simran is becoming 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 had been an active volunteer for the Sikh Coalition from its founding, previously working 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. 

Sonny Singh, Community Organizer (New York City)

Sonny started working at the Coalition in May 2008 as the Community Organizer in New York City. 

Sonny has been involved in movements for social and economic justice since he was in high school.  Since moving to NYC in 2003, he has worked in the labor movement for the union UNITE HERE and was most recently a Community Organizer at CHAMP – the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project – where he worked to build a new generation of HIV prevention justice activists. 

Sonny received his M.Ed. in Social Justice Education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2003, where he studied and practiced the art of popular education, using education as a tool for social justice and liberation.  While in Amherst, he was also the Community Development and Programs Coordinator at the Office of ALANA (African, Latino/a, Asian, Native American) Affairs on campus. 

Sonny grew up in Charlotte, NC and Phoenix, AZ.  He is also a trumpet player, dholi, and vocalist, and can be seen performing regularly in the NYC area.

Ravneet Kaur, Community Organizer (Fremont, CA)

Ravneet came on board as the Coalition's Bay Area Community Organizer in January 2009.

Ravneet has a B.A. in Anthropology & Diplomacy and World Affairs from Occidental College. During her undergraduate education, Ravneet began to see the link between research, advocacy and policy. This connection was particularly apparent during her internship at the United Nations. 

Ravneet is currently a Ph.D. student at UCLA in Social Research Methodology, where she received her M.A. in Research Methods. Her research interests focus on research design, immigration studies, k-12 schooling, gender studies, and South Asian studies. She is particularly interested in using research as an organizing tool.

Manbeena Kaur, Operations Manager (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. 

Paul Russell, Director of Development (New York City)

Paul joined the Sikh Coalition as a full-time volunteer in the summer of 2007. In 2009, he was promoted to Director of Development. He is responsible for leading national fundraising efforts while also building the structures to support a growing department meeting ambitious goals.

Prior to joining the Sikh Coalition, Paul volunteered for the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan. In Kazakhstan, he organized a group of concerned Muslim, Russian, Chechen and Tatar locals who created a self-sustaining community resource center to curb underage drinking and violence. Paul lived in Sri Lanka where he was hired as a consultant for the Norwegian Refugee Council to document the practices and policies affecting two tsunami refugee camps. He holds an M.A. in Sustainable Development with a focus on multi-dimensional approaches to examining poverty, as they relate to women's rights.

Paul is a retired jazz musician, avid mountain hiker and has a lifetime commitment to social justice. He resides in Brooklyn.

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.

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.

Tejpreet Kaur, Operations Manager (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. 

Manleen Singh, Legal Fellow (New York City)

Manleen joined the Sikh Coalition in September 2009 as a legal fellow.  She provides support to the legal department by researching relevant case law, drafting letters and memoranda, and anything else needed for any particular case. 

During her law school career, Manleen worked for CONNECT, a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention and elimination of family and gender violence.  At CONNECT, Manleen helped undocumented survivors of domestic violence attain legal status under VAWA by compiling their applications and drafting affidavits.  She also answered the Legal Advocacy Helpline and provided support and information regarding shelters, counseling, and the Criminal and Family Court systems to each caller per his or her needs.  Manleen also worked as a Summer Associate at Kaye Scholer LLP where she established a pro bono relationship with the firm and CONNECT. 

Manleen completed her J.D. at New York Law School in 2009.  She holds a B.A. in English and Psychology, with a minor in Women’s Studies from Boston University in 2005. 

Janice Lee, AmeriCorps VISTA Program Associate (New York City)

Janice joined the Sikh Coalition in August 2009 as a Program Associate through AmeriCorps VISTA.  As a Program Associate, she works closely with the Development Director on fund development, donor information management, fundraiser event planning, grantwriting, and communications. 

Janice is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, where she received her B.A. in English in 2008.  During her time as an undergraduate, she enjoyed discovering herself in playwriting and supporting various theater endeavors, as well as being involved with Asian American Sisters in Action (AASIA), an on-campus political activist group.  She initiated an awareness project on mental health in the Asian American community during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) in 2007.

Janice's other interests including painting and drawing, attending performances of all types, and incorporating her interest in the well-being of humanity, on all fronts, into her writing.  She hopes to pursue a Ph.D in English.