Last month, SALDEF successfully concluded its inaugural Leadership Development Program (LDP), under its ground-breaking SikhLEAD youth development initiative. The program selected 17 highly talented and accomplished young Sikh Americans from around the country for 6 days of leadership training, professional development and advocacy training. The program spanned two weekends, the first in Washington, DC in October and the second in Los Angeles, CA in May. The latter of these weekends focused on providing the participants with “tools for change” including an understanding of how to influence policy makers, organize communities, and leverage media to positively impact the Sikh community. See Slideshow of Pictures “We are proud of each of our new graduates and are excited to see the great things they will do for the community”, said Kavneet Singh, SALDEF’s Managing Director. “We also look forward to their involvement with the next class of participants as they take an active role in creating a network of emerging Sikh American leaders.” LDP is designed to inspire, train, and support a diverse, motivated, and entrepreneurial group of young Sikh American leaders as they prepare for a lifetime of community engagement and leadership. The purpose of this program is to empower Sikh American youth in becoming effective leaders committed to exploring and realizing both their personal potential and that of the Sikh American community. SALDEF is indebted to many who provided their valuable time to serve as panelists and guest speakers during the program: • Dr. Varun Soni, Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California • Tanzila Ahmed, Asian Pacific American Legal Center • Jheanelle Wilkins and Bree Romero, The Leadership Conference • Salam Al-Marayati, Executive Director, MPAC • George Wu, Former Executive Director of OCA LDP was funded through generous support of community members across the country and the following sponsors: Comcast, Genworth Wealth Management, and Southwest Airlines. We would also like to thank Hargobind Singh of LA Active Adventures for his assistance with the LDP program. If you would like to support the SikhLEAD initiative, click here. Applications for the next class will be available at SikhLEAD.org very soon!