Sikhs in Storytelling Event

Nardeep is a South Asian American filmmaker hailing from the suburbs of Philly by way of Switzerland. His debut feature, Land of Gold, which he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in, had its world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Festival.

After winning a slew of awards at international film festivals, Land of Gold was acquired by HBO and can be streamed on Max. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and the FAMU International in Prague, Czech Republic, he is the recipient of the 2021 AT&T Untold Stories program, the ScreenCraft Film Fund, is an alumnus of the Salon, and is a PAGE Screenplay winner. His work spotlights underrepresented communities, generational trauma, and the binding forces of human connection.

Nardeep is also an accomplished actor, with recent credits including Chicago Fire, Ghee Happy, Rebel, SWAT, Why Women Kill, Jane the Virgin, Orbital Redux, Dance Dads, Safe Spaceand Mira, Royal Detective, where he voices over 35 characters.

Hi there! I’m an associated writer/editor for E! News Online. I was previously a digital reporter for NBC News and a part of NBCU Academy’s Embed Program. I graduated from The City College of New York with a B.A. in political science and journalism in 2021.

I currently report on entertainment news. At NBC News, I worked on stories about the Asian American community and covered an array of topics on the NBC News Digital website, focusing on pop culture and entertainment. I also managed NBC Asian America’s Instagram account alongside the social media team at News Digital and increased user engagement on the vertical’s Instagram. I completed an environmental journalism fellowship with Inside Climate News, worked at City College’s student-run publication “The Campus” for three years and previously interned for Gothamist as an editorial intern.

I survived a genocidal massacre on the streets of Delhi in November 1984 which consumed the lives of thousands of Sikhs across India. I gave a testimony about this experience at the US Capital briefing in 2018, ‘Religious Freedom in India’.

The tragedy of the attacks of 9/11 created a whole new fork in my life’s journey. I was a cartoonist by night from late 2002 onwards. I detailed this journey in an essay ‘My Life in a Turban’ in Salon. In 2016, I transitioned out of software technology to travel across the nation as a speaker, storyteller, artist and activist on a mission to represent the underrepresented.

The mission continues armed with my turban, beard, humor, liberal doses of compassion & kindness and always trying to keep an open mind like a young kid.

Harmeet Kaur is a culture writer for CNN. She covers race, identity and social justice. Kaur is dedicated to telling stories about minority communities with sensitivity and nuance, whether through daily news stories or enterprise reporting. She is also a writer for CNN’s award-winning 5 Things newsletter. Previously, Kaur was a producer on the digital programming team.

There, she helped readers make sense of the news through push notifications, worked with teams on headlines and story framing and curated homepages across platforms. She started her career at CNN in television production. Kaur is a graduate of Emory University, where she studied international affairs and journalism. Originally from the small town of Pikeville, Kentucky, she currently resides and works in New York City.

Navpreet Singh also known as Nav the Poet is a spoken word artist. videographer, video editor, and content creator who has been writing and performing since 2011. Nav travels across the US sharing his art, stories, and experiences, and uses media to break barriers and build bridges. All of this is done to foster dialogue and develop a deeper understanding of one another so that together we may create a better world.

Anoopreet is a viral storyteller who has crafted communications strategies for over 100 public companies. She started her career at J.P. Morgan, then went on to launch a global fashion brand that counted Beyoncé as a fan and earned her a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Now, Anoopreet is turning her skills and attention towards reviving Sikh wisdom in a way that is modern, relatable and actionable — starting with children’s books.

Sonia Kaur is a Californian who moved across the country for love. She is a sarcastic Sikh mother of three children and will very soon be the shortest member of her family. Soni spreads the message of real, imperfect motherhood through humor across social media as @ThatPunjabiMom.

She is carving out a space online to share her visibly Sikh family with the goal that they can be seen as a mainstream American family. Her passion in life is to share, in any way she can; whether that is sharing her own knowledge and experiences, or sharing her time through seva that helps others. Creating content, in both written and video form, allows Sonia to express herself creatively and grow that passion. At the center of her life is, and always will be, Hukam. Sonia’s faith in Sikhi is what keeps her centered and allows her to stand strong in the face of life’s adversities. She is grateful to be able to do my part in ensuring that the strength and love that comes with the title of Kaur is passed down to future generations.

Ravjot Mehek Singh is an award winning Sikh Indian American Film and TV Director and art activist. With many multifaceted successes under her belt at a young age, many Indian and American magazines and news outlets refer to her as one of the youngest female directors in Bollywood and one of the first openly LGBTQ+ Sikh women directors in South Asia. By the time she was 21, she had directed 3 television talk shows for Dish Network through the largest Asian American TV channel Jus Punjabi. She began directing Bollywood music videos and was listed as being the youngest female music video director to be launched by T-Series (India’s largest record label) in 2021.

Ravjot’s work also takes on installation art which has been featured in major galleries such as the Guggenheim Museum in New York City in collaboration with other talented artists and in various art galleries throughout America. Most recently, her curatorial debut show “Pardafash” gained critical acclaim as one of the only shows in the world to address the often censored struggles Sikhs went through in 1984 in India. The show featured 11 prominent Sikh artists from the diaspora and has become a traveling exhibit with major news coverage. As an LGBTQ+ art activist, Ravjot has been featured in prominent magazines, articles, and shows including Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan magazine.

Harjus Singh is a professional Film Director & Screenwriter in Los Angeles.

Meeta Kaur is a seasoned writer, researcher, and community educator and speaker.

Currently, she is the lead creator and editor for Kaurs Reimagine, Sikh Women Blaze New Trails, a story collection that spotlights truth centered storytelling as the site for acceptance, healing, and transformation. Kaur, the editorial team and the writers have created a working space that prioritizes whole human collaboration, transparency, relearning and unlearning, support, and gentle encouragement to lead with courage.

She was also the lead visionary and creative editor for the story collection Her Name Is Kaur: Sikh American Women Write About Love, Courage, and Faith. This story collection highlights Sikh American women expanding “the love story” through their lived experiences. The stories illustrate how Sikhi is lived as an ever evolving love story in human form.

Kaur believes in the innate goodness of every human being while understanding the arduous journey we take learning about love in this world. It is in that moment of understanding and accepting the world, we return home to ourselves and the wondrous Creator.

A proud California native, Kaur lives in Washington D.C. with her life partner, Banjot Singh Chanana, her children, Benanti Kaur and Sidak Singh, and Labordoodle, Pluto. The chapter in D.C. is known as life-changing growth.

I’m Saranjit Banga, a Bay Area native with Panjab in my heart and the threads of my life woven through diverse living experiences in California, Iowa, and Texas. Now, I find my spirit drawn to the vibrant energy of New York City, where I hope to script the next chapter of my journey.

To my core, I’m a woman who is always questioning society, the status quo and realizing the beauty of accepting Waheguru’s Hukam. My life is a canvas where Seva and self-discovery dance in harmony, creating a narrative where the threads of my journey weave seamlessly into the realms of personal growth. I derive fulfillment from the exploration of my deepest desires.

This journey transcends the boundaries of the mind, spirit, and body, a continuous exploration that unveils the essence of being a sovereign Sikh woman. No matter what my age, where my location, or who I’m with, Waheguru has given me the power to love the woman I have become.

Joy Kanwar is the Arthur Pinto and Steven Bohlen Dean of Inclusion and Diversity and Professor of Legal Writing at Brooklyn Law School. Her scholarship centers on legal history, identity, and techniques to help students become lawyers who are prepared to enter the profession in a well-trained, reflective, and “whole person” way. Dean Kanwar is particularly interested in making the study of law relevant and engaging for all students.