Women & Gender in Sikhi

SikhRI connects people with the teachings of Sikhi and strengthens the bonds of the Sikh community around the world by offering courses and seminars in a variety of mediums.

Harinder Singh is a widely respected educator and thinker who is deeply in love with 1Force, the Oneness that radiates in all. He co-founded the Sikh Research Institute and the Panjab Digital Library, organized the Free Akal Takht movement, and envisioned Kaur and Singh Academy.
Harinder has authored Emperor-Prophet: Guru Gobind Singh Sahib, Guru Granth Sahib: Its Language & Grammar, and Sikhi: Faith & Followers. As an editor, he has worked on Guru Gobind Singh Sahib & Sikhs in Bihar, The Khalsa Raj: Banda, Battles & Body-Politic, and translated Love Harp (Prit Vina).

Harinder Singh’s list of career achievements includes addressing the U.S. Congress, The White House, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, U.S. Dept. of Education, Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, The Smithsonian Institute, U.K. Parliament, and the U.K. Ministry of Defence Chaplaincy Program.

A prolific public speaker, Harinder has spoken at Berkeley, Cambridge, Carleton, Langara, LSE, Northwestern, Oxford, Princeton, SFU, UT-Austin, Williams, Whitman, Yale, as well as JNU, Guru Nanak Dev University, and Punjabi University. He has also presented at the World Affairs Council, Dayal Singh Forum for Research & Culture, The Theosophical Society, Mulnivasi Mahila Sangh, BAMCEF, Chandigarh Museum, Seva Food Bank, Leicestershire Sikh Alliance, as well as numerous Sikh forums and Gurdwaras worldwide. His presentations to the business world included companies such as Accenture, Deloitte, EY, and PwC.

Besides consulting a variety of organizations on curriculums, exhibitions, and films, Harinder regularly appears on radio and television programs globally. He has been featured on many documentaries on Sikh, Panjab, and South Asian matters. He served on the boards of the National Conference on Community and Justice, The Fellowship of Activists to Embrace Humanity, and The Nanakshahi Trust, among others.

Harinder Singh holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering, MS in Engineering Management, MPhil in Guru Granth Sahib, and a Diploma in Persian Language. He is Guru’s Sikh, Panjab’s lover, and Begampura’s Jedi. He currently resides in the United States with his wife and two children. His current focus is on availing the message of the Guru Granth Sahib to global populations and developing critical thinking in Sikh institutions.

Jasleen Kaur is a Research Associate at the Sikh Research Institute. She has received a Religious Studies B.A./M.A. from the University of Virginia, focusing on South Asian Religions through the lens of literature and poetry.

She is one of the commentators and transcreators of The Guru Granth Sahib Project. She is passionate about projects that create comfortable spaces for community members of all ages and backgrounds to engage in dialogue and learn from one another. She also loves singing in her free time, whether on stage with her friends or alone in her kitchen.

She hopes to go back to school to pursue a Ph.D. in either religious ethnography or history and fulfill her dream of teaching and learning from others.

Jasleen Kaur resides with her family in the United States.

Manvinder Kaur Gill is a researcher and social worker whose work is centred on culture, colonialism, and health. She holds a BSc. and a BA (hons.) from the University of Winnipeg. Her MA thesis in religious studies from McMaster University explored the relationship between alcohol and Sikhi. She has held research fellowships at Delhi University and the University of Victoria. She recently completed her Master of Social Work at the University of Toronto where she held a SSHRC scholarship and research assistantship on a project titled “Border(ing) Practices: Systemic Racism, Immigration, and Child Welfare.” Manvinder has clinical experience working with children and families, 2SLGBTQ+ people, and immigrant and refugee communities.

She is the co-founder of Asra: The Punjabi Alcohol Resource (asranow.ca), a youth-led grassroots initiative bringing her research into practice through knowledge translation and peer support for Punjabi-speaking communities. She currently works in Punjab, India as a research associate for MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab on a project centered on improving opioid addiction prevention protocols in Punjabi high schools in collaboration with the Government of Punjab and UC Berkeley.