SALDEF National Gala Draws Over 600 Attendees On October 11, 2014, over 600 Americans from diverse backgrounds attended SALDEF’s National Gala in Washington, D.C. for an evening of celebration and recognition. Whether they heard from SALDEF’s Executive Director Jasjit Singh, SikhLEAD graduate Amrita Kaur Bamrah, or award recipients, the message was clear: The Sikh American community’s stories and values allow us to work towards creating a fair and just nation for ALL Americans. VIEW: Photos on SALDEF’s Newly Launched Instagram: www.instagram.com/sikhamericans WATCH VIDEO: Awards were presented to Dr. Narinder Singh Kapany, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Peterson Milla Hooks & GAP for their “Make Love” campaign featuring Waris Ahluwalia. SALDEF placed the spotlight on its SikhLEAD programs, Media Initiative, and policy work, highlighting the first-ever Sikh American PSA and Langar on the Hill. SALDEF’s Jasjit Singh also pledged a commitment of leveraging its media and policy work to continue SALDEF’s mission of protecting the rights of every Americans. Social media was filled with responses from our allies from a range of backgrounds and organizations, like Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. 
FOLLOW: #SALDEF2014 on Facebook and Twitter to read more testimonials. SikhLEADers Amrita Kaur Bamrah and Harmann Singh also reflected on their experiences in SALDEF’s Internship Program on Capitol Hill. Bamrah remarked, “My lasting memory of my SikhLEAD internship was that SALDEF was playing a huge role in shaping the Sikh American image. I was truly struck by how many influential organizations knew who Sikhs were in Washington D.C. Seeing how many people had been touched by the work from SALDEF, I felt proud that Sikh Americans are being represented by such an amazing organization.” READ: Amrita Kaur Bamrah’s #SALDEF2014 speech on Medium. Other speakers included MSNBC anchor Richard Lui, one of the only Asian American males on broadcast television today, who introduced SALDEF’s first-ever Sikh American PSA, a commercial for the Sikh American community, and explained why Comcast more than doubled its initial support for the project, with a total donation of 2.5 million dollars in airtime. WATCH: The first-ever Sikh American PSA VIEW: Photos from SALDEF’s 2014 Gala SALDEF thanks all of the volunteers, SikhLEAD alumni, and sponsors, including Ik Manzil, Comcast Corporation, Southwest Airlines (the official Airline of SikhLEAD), Scalability Experts, and members of the 2014 Gala Host Committee, for making the event possible. If you weren’t able to attend, you can still support SALDEF today!
