Entertainment

Internationally Renowned Comedian Bali Bhan and local bhangra and musical talent

2009 Honorees

Judy Chu

Dalip Singh Saund Legislative Leadership Award

Dr. Judy Chu serves as the Vice Chair of the California State Board of Equalization. Before this, she served as an Assemblywoman, representing the 49^th District of California from 2001 to 2006. As part of the Assembly Select Committee on Hate Crimes, Ms. Chu provided the Sikh American community a voice by holding hearings on the hate crimes affecting Arabs, Muslims and Sikhs throughout California in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks and continuing your investigation by having two additional forums dedicated specifically to Sikh Americans. Her leadership also made it possible for California to pass vital hate crime legislation which expanded the rights of hate crime victims and required more accurate data collection and tracking of the incidence of hate crimes.

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Joseph Persichini Jr.

SALDEF Public Service Award

Since November 3, 2006, Mr. Joseph Persichini Jr. has served as the Assistant Director in Charge of the Washington Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Under his vision and leadership, the Washington Field Office has led the FBI’s efforts in developing, an open and honest partnership with the Arab, Muslim, and Sikh American communities. His vision of bringing the post-9/11 communities together with the FBI to ensure the national security of the United States and address hate and bias in our communities, has provided other FBI field offices and even government’s across the world with an engagement model of success to follow.

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James D Standish

Dorothy Height Coalition Building Award

James D. Standish joined the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom as Executive Director in August 2008. Mr. Standish has extensive experience working on human rights issues, and particularly religious freedom. He has lived ten years in Asia, four years in Europe, and eight years in Australia, and has traveled widely throughout the world.

Mr. Standish is widely published, has discussed religious freedom issues on nationally broadcast television and radio, and has testified on religious freedom matters before the United States House of Representatives.

Mr. Standish received his undergraduate degree from Newbold College in England, a M.B.A. from the University of Virginia and a J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University.  He is a member of the Bar of Virginia State and the District of Columbia, and has been admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit.

Richard Foltin

Dorothy Height Coalition Building Award

Richard T. Foltin, Legislative Director and Counsel in the American Jewish Committee's Office of Government and International Affairs in Washington, D.C, is responsible for the development, promotion and execution of AJC's legislative agenda (which includes religious liberty, civil rights, immigration, hate crimes, the intersection of national security and human rights, and foreign affairs issues). 

Before moving to Washington, D.C., Mr. Foltin served in AJC's New York headquarters as director of governmental affairs and associate legal director and, prior to that, was an associate with the litigation department of a major New York law firm.  He has testified before Congressional committees and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, most recently on religious discrimination in the workplace before the House Committee on Education and Labor.  Mr. Foltin is a member of the bars of New York State, Washington D.C., the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.       

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Nishkam Sikh Welfare Council

Bhagat Singh Thind Community Empowerment Award