SikhLEAD Leadership Development Program a Resounding Success

“This program provided me the most inspiring and valuable weekend of my life.  I not only have 16 other young leaders who I can call family; I also have developed insights which I will take throughout my life” – Leadership Development Program Participant

(Washington, DC—November 7, 2011) Last month, SALDEF successfully held its first Leadership Development Program (LDP), under its new ground-breaking SikhLEAD youth development initiative.  From a large pool of applicants, SALDEF selected 17 highly talented and accomplished young Sikh Americans from around the country for three days of leadership training, self-exploration, and development in Washington, DC.

Watch: Slideshow of the program

LDP is designed to inspire, train, and support a diverse, motivated, and entrepreneurial group of young Sikh leaders as they prepare for a lifetime of community engagement and leadership. The purpose of this opportunity 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.

The attendees participated in a series of activities aimed to help identify their passion, recognize their strengths, and build a stronger sense of identity while building a national network of emerging young leaders.  The program provided training and skills for participants to improve public speaking, explore non-traditional career paths and network with leaders in the community.

Read: Blog entry from one of the participants

SALDEF is indebted to several community members who provided their valuable time to serve as panelists and guest speakers during the 3-day program:

• Dr. G.P. Singh, former CEO, Karta Technologies
• Gurinder Ahluwalia, President & CEO, Genworth Financial
• Dr. Jaideep Singh, Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies, CSU East Bay
• Jyotswaroop Kaur, Director of Strategic Actions for a Just Economy
• Ravi Bhalla, Councilman of Hoboken, NJ
• Satjiv Chahil, former Senior Vice President Worldwide Marketing at Apple

LDP was funded through generous support of community members across the country and the following sponsors: Comcast, Genworth Financial, and Southwest Airlines. To learn more about how you can support the SikhLEAD initiative, click here.