“The past 13 years have been an amazing journey, and I am so grateful for every community member, sevadaar, partner, and colleague on the staff and board who have been a part of it with me,” said Satjeet. “I am incredibly proud of the organization and the team that we’ve built together, and the things we have achieved as a result. And even though I am stepping away from my leadership role at the Sikh Coalition, I look forward to staying engaged as a volunteer--because I truly believe that the work we do is a collaboration across the community.”
When Satjeet stepped up to lead the organization in 2018, she oversaw the largest staff expansion in the Sikh Coalition’s history. Her leadership throughout this period of growth facilitated successes across the organization’s programmatic areas, including the passage of new hate crime laws, victories in workplace discrimination cases, six new states adding Sikhi to their social studies standards, and the development of a large and varied library of resources for teachers. She effectively steered the organization through unprecedented crises, among them the farmers’ protest in India, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the aftermath of the 2021 mass shooting in Indianapolis. In all of this work, she consistently strengthened the Sikh Coalition’s partnerships with allied organizations, deepened our grassroots efforts to engage sangats across the nation, and put great individual care towards the management and development of our staff.
“We are immensely grateful for Satjeet’s tremendous commitment to the Sikh Coalition over more than a decade,” said Narinder Singh, Sikh Coalition Executive Board Chairman. “Satjeet leaves the Sikh Coalition a more impactful and effective organization. Ultimately, her legacy will persist not just in the victories achieved under her guidance, but in the people that she helped, mentored, engaged, and empowered throughout her time with us.”
For the immediate interim, the Sikh Coalition’s day-to-day core programmatic work will be managed by Senior Managing Director of Programs Mark Reading-Smith and Legal Director Amrith Kaur Aakre. Additionally, board members Nitasha Kaur Sawhney and Harpreet Singh will be stepping in as co-Interim Executive Directors to manage and support senior staff leadership, as well as provide capacity and expertise to the team. The Sikh Coalition expects to share other updates pertaining to the Executive Director search in the near future.
As always, the Sikh Coalition urges you to practice your faith fearlessly.
