Jasjit Singh

Jasjit Singh

Executive Director of Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF)

The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) works to empower Sikh Americans through advocacy, education and media relations. SALDEF’s mission is to protect the civil rights of Sikh Americans and ensure a fostering environment in the United States for future generations. See more here!

Hometown:  Schaumburg, IL.

Job Responsibilities:  As the Executive Director of the organization, I am involved in a variety of different activities. I am in charge of working with the Executive Board to define and execute our strategy, to build the team, and to hire and manage staff. I also do a lot of organizational development, which is very focused on raising money for the organization.

How did you begin this work (did you college major relate):”]

In college, my major was Business Administration with a focus on Information Systems. I do feel the skills I learned and the classes I took were useful, in that in my current role I have to do a lot of operations, marketing, strategy, some basic level accounting and finances. So having that interdisciplinary knowledge is important.

I started in the private sector as a consultant with Deloitte & Touche for 5 years. It was a great organization where I met some really great people from whom I learned valuable lessons. I worked with many large corporations, also doing great work, that were models of efficiency and scale.

At the end of the day, I did not get a sense of fulfillment from my work. I had friends at SALDEF and heard about their work. I realized I could be doing something more in line with what I am passionate about, and saw my skills as being a natural match for SALDEF. Ultimately, I wanted to make a bigger impact within the Sikh community as well as build a growing team.

Did you always aspire to be where you are now:

No, not really. As I child I never thought, “I want to be the Executive Director of a non-profit.” However, throughout my childhood, I did want to make an impact. I really wanted to help people who needed it. I see that desire to make an impact and help others as the connecting point for my work now.

What work do you hope to do in the future:

I hope to take SALDEF to the next level. I firmly believe our community is at the tip of the spear of many issues, particularly around hate crimes, racial profiling, religious and employment discrimination. The Sikh American community is facing these difficulties on a daily basis. We want to see progress on these issues not just for our communities but for the betterment of all communities nationwide. I want SALDEF to be a vehicle that is pushing that agenda.

How has your identity as APA affected your career path and choices:

I certainly wouldn’t be here without recognition from my community. Up until the age of 16, every leadership position I’ve had were from youth programs that I was exposed to at a younger age. For example, I was involved in leadership programs and later became a camp counselor at Sikh youth camps. It’s not only practice of leadership but also to see others lead. As an undergraduate, I became the founder and president of the Sikh Student Association and learned what it meant to be a leader in context with a community. My first two internships were with Sikh start up companies. At first it is difficult to find positions when you have few credentials. You really learn to lean on your network, which for me, was my community. When I look at the foundation, my leadership skills were cultivated by my community and in the context of serving the community.

What obstacles/ challenges have you faced due to your APA identity:

I’ve been very fortunate in my personal life that I haven’t seen my identity as an obstacle or a challenge, but really as an asset. That being said, from my position, I do see the very real challenges my community faces. It makes me recognize how personally fortunate I have been to have a supportive network.

What is some advice you have for APA interns and young professionals:

Keep your ears and eyes open for mentors. All around you there are people of all ages who will help you along your path, whether it is professionally or personally. They will help you cultivate confidence to realize that you do have, inside of you, a natural genius for something. Mentors around you and your own experiences will lead you. There is a saying, “the best student is the one with the best teachers.” You will learn a great deal.

Manpreet Teji

Manpreet Teji

Program Associate of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)

South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) is a national, nonpartisan, non-profit organization that elevates the voices and perspectives of South Asian individuals and organizations to build a more just and inclusive society in the United States. It is the only national, staffed South Asian organization that advocates around issues affecting South Asian communities through a social justice framework. See more here!

Hometown: Oak Brook, IL.

Job Responsibilities:  I work on leadership development and civic and political engagement. An upcoming program I am working on is SAALT’s Be The Change, an annual national day of service (this year’s Be The Change will be held Oct. 5^th—see more here). Already there are 30 teams nationwide who will be involved in local work at this year’s Be The Change.

How did you begin this work (did you college major relate):

I had a keen interest in social justice in general ever since I was very young and after 9/11, particularly around Sikh Americans. When I went to college in the Midwest, there were not many social justice programs. The first time I really began getting involved was with Senator Durbin on Capitol Hill. I was able to see how policy actually moves through Congress. It was an eye-opener experience to see how D.C. actually runs. It wasn’t until I began work with the Sikh Coalition as a Social Justice Advocacy Intern that I actually got my feet wet in public sector and social justice work. It opened my eyes to strategies and resources that you can give to the community to make real change. It solidified what doing and why I’m doing it and eventually drew me to SAALT.

My major actually does not relate to what I am doing right now. I was an economics major and thought I would end up in doing research at a think tank. I played around with changing major toward end of my college career to focus on something more social justice orientated and ended up also studying political science, which gave me some foundations. To flourish in this field, it is important to really understand what the work is about and the issues affecting the community. That’s what you need to learn and that’s the day-to-day work: always learning and meeting people doing great work, and also learning from their experiences.

Did you always aspire to be where you are now:

When I started college, that was definitely not the goal. I thought it would be an aspect of my life but not full-time. After my eyes opened to the whole world of non-profit work and services to the community, I realized, I could see myself doing this work everyday. Ever since 11 had the interest in serving the Sikh community, but it wasn’t until I was a Sophomore or Junior in college that it really clicked. I tried it out and realized how passionate I was about the issues affecting my community.

What work do you hope to do in the future:

I do hope to one day go to law school. I want to work with the community on a policy level in the future, because I am interested and invested in it, and having legal background will be useful for me to better address the issues. In terms of future work with SAALT, I hope to continue to nurture the programs I am working on — particularly leadership training. I also want to work on expanding Be The Change. I am also interested in continuing SAALT’s DACA immigration campaign work and seeing how that progresses. Finally, I want to continue my personal growth and develop my relationships with mentors at SAALT to continue to learn and grow.

How has your identity as APA affected your career path and choices:

It has affected my career path and choices very directly. The whole reason I got involved in this sector was because of my identities as Asian and Sikh, and that was the direct impact. When saw what own community went through after 9/11, it clicked and I realized that this a concern I have for my community and I want to serve them. I am able to put heart into something and see growth of my own community.

What obstacles/ challenges have you faced due to your APA identity:

A lot of it has to do with basic stereotypes of APA in general. Many people didn’t think social justice work was cut out for me. They were surprised I didn’t go to graduate school and assumed that I lacked the skills to do stereotypical APA jobs, such as law, medicine or business. In reality, I choose to do social justice work because it is what I want to do! I had to define myself and push away from APA stereotypes. I have had positive and sometimes difficult experiences as an APA woman. I went to a very small liberal arts university and many of the people involved in social justice work were majority White men. So, sometimes it was a little difficult to get involved.

I have been very lucky in that I haven’t faced as many challenges because of the strong mentorship I have received and from programs that have fostered my identity as an APA woman, such as the ELLA Fellowship and the Sadie Nash Leadership Project. Through these programs I was able to build relationships with other women and was able to create a support system of other women leaders doing social justice work.

What is some advice you have for APA interns and young professionals:

When I was a senior in college, the advice many mentors gave me, was to keep an open-mind and let yourself take risks. I was so involved in idea of timeline and a structured career path. In some ways, this put me at a disadvantage and held me back at first because I was preventing myself from some opportunities. Taking those risk and being open to challenges that may be different from your original plan is important. If you don’t take risks, you miss out on so much and so many key opportunities. You need to take some risks and be open to them because it’s part of the journey — being open to change. I use this advice everyday and appreciate the mentors who gave me this important piece of adviceBy being open, your life will change.

Gregory Cendana

Gregory Cendana

Executive Director of Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA)

Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO is the first and only national organization of Asian Pacific American (APA) union members. Since its founding in 1992, APALA has played a unique role in addressing the workplace issues of the 660,000 APA union members and as the bridge between the broader labor movement and the APA community. Backed with strong support of the AFL-CIO, APALA has 13 chapters and pre-chapters and a national office in Washington, D.C. See more here! 

Hometown: Born in Guam, raised in Sacramento, CA

Job Responsibilities:  As Executive Director of APALA, some of the main responsibilities I have include creating and strengthening community partnerships, relationships, coalition work, organization development, fundraising and membership engagement including the National Executive Board. In addition, I serve on several boards and is extremely involved in LGBTQ and APA organizations, including the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, Labor Coalition for Community Action, Asian Queers United for Action-DC, Jobs with Justice, and the Generational Alliance. This year I was appointed by DC Mayor Vincent Gray to serve on the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Advisory Committee.

How did you begin this work (did you college major relate): 

As an undergraduate of UCLA, I studied Sociology with a Minor in Labor and Workplace Studies. After participating in GrassRoots Organizing Weekend (GROW), a training that teaches strategic organizing and how to create effective messaging that reaches the furthest and widest audience, I was transformed and inspired. I became involved in GROW as a student trainer. I was also involved in the United States Student Association (USSA), the country’s oldest and largest national student association, representing millions of students. It was exciting to be a part of student organizing. I was eventually approached to be a part of leadership and eventually became the President of USSA. I had made connections and thought it would be a great opportunity. I did it and was extremely happy that I did because I realized that there were few people who shared my social identities, particularly as APA and LGBTQ. These identities need representation for their stories and voices to be shared and I felt the need to advocate for underrepresented and underserved communities.

Did you always aspire to be where you are now:

Never! I never thought I would be in D.C. or an Executive Director or that I would even leave California! I hadn’t engaged the world outside my bubble. After becoming involved in National movements and moving to D.C., I met people and started to really understand legislative policies and push for local level work, understanding how I could be a part of shaping policy debate and discussion and the uplifting of community voices through my work, such as the work I’m involved in at APALA around immigration. The work I do with APALA gives me a sense of pride that APALA is doing our part for these issues, and other organizations are as well.

What work do you hope to do in the future:

As mentioned previously, I never planned to be in DC or even in my role at APALA now. Through my experiences, I am committed to ensuring the voices of diverse communities are heard and there are resources to address the important issues of our times. Personally and in my leadership role now, I want to support youth engagement and leadership development — to engage in our networks, mentorship, and training support.

How has your identity as APA affected your career path and choices:

Working for APALA, I’ve had opportunities to learn a lot about communities and about how to best engage with our communities. It’s a very unique opportunity to learn and grow my understanding. Our, the APA, voice is left out of mainstream. The more that I, and APALA, can do to uplift APA voices to mainstream is powerful. Often times, I am the only LGBT, APA, young person in room. These perspectives are important and need to be included. Being APA, LGBT, and a young Exec. Director, and seeing how these perspectives are often excluded has strengthened my resolve to ensure that these identity perspectives are included on all levels.

What obstacles/ challenges have you faced due to your APA identity:

There are a lot of challenges because of model minority expectations, stereotypes, math, shy etc. So, when people meet me with different expectations, they realize I’m not like that. It’s one of those things where it’s having to help people understand diversity and complexities of our culture and community.

What is some advice you have for APA interns and young professionals:

1) Find at least one if not many mentors – I have many that help me with a variety, integrate id and culture into work, another pushes and guides on personal development helps me balance body, mind – surround self with people who share my values and my vision.

2) Dream Big! Often times there are perceptions about what is possible or feasible in the world. Never expected at 24 I would be an Exec. Director. So, my message to folks is to say, hey it’s possible and part of that is because people pushed me to dream and be visionary.

3) While career is important and thinking about future also, have fun! Enjoy the moment now! I have to remind myself I’m also a person. A person who needs to have fun. For me it’s dance, concerts, trying to cook. It’s part of process and helpful and keep you grounded.