SikhLEAD Internship Update

We are proud to announce our successful wrap up of SikhLEAD Regional 2023 Summer Program, which ran from June 10 - Aug 12! This year, our program entailed a few firsts: 

Kickstarting with a Parent orientation
Seva project: Seva Clinics, through the collaboration of Sikh Health Network (SHN)
In-person Interfaith Workshop with Harmeet Kamboj, Programs Manager at Interfaith America

Our cohort members interviewed, matched, and worked at prestigious Internships, from Sikh partner organizations such as: Sikh American Veterans Alliance (SAVA),  your own Dasvandh Network (DVN), and Colorado Sikhs, to diverse partner organizations such as: APIAVote and International Religious Freedom (IRF), as well as prominent offices of members like: Senator Manka Dhingra, Bob Menendez, and Josh Harder, even interning within our own SALDEF-specific departments.

Throughout our Summer programming, our Cohort had the pleasure of listening and asking questions to the following prominent speakers: Dr. Simran Jeet Singh of Aspen Institute, Kulvir Singh - SikhRI, the Sikh American History Project Co-founders - Dr. Amrita Deol and Tejpaul Bainiwal, Sikh Elected Officials Panel, while facilitating and presenting on their own chosen topics and completing the program with Internship and Seva Project presentations. 

As mentioned previously, the Seva project Clinic work was so impactful that we are now receiving interest from other cities/states to start these free Health clinics. Currently there are a total of 9 clinics across the US that SHN is successfully running: 

- 6 Gurdwaras in California: Fremont, Tracy, Milpitas, Fresno, Sacramento, and El Sobrante

- 1 Gurdwara in Oregon: Salem

- 1 Gurdwara in North Carolina: Charlotte

- 1 Gurdwara in Florida: Oviedo.

Most recently, one of our SikhLEAD Regional 2023 Program graduates - Khushi Pannu will be serving as a board member on the SHN team, onboarding clinics in high needs areas within California which is truly a testament to our success this year!

We look forward to planning our SikhLEAD Regional 2024 Summer Program, with the theme of Sikhi-Inspired Leadership. Thank you for your continued support.