Naindeep Singh received the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award for his work helping Sikh communities in California with his nonprofit organization The Jakara Movement.
“I think the largest narrative within the community has always been that they felt it was sort of set apart or marginalized,” Singh said to the Fresno Bee. “For us at Jakara, we give youth the sense that, ‘No, this is actually your community, you absolutely belong.’ I think that is fundamental and the most important work we do — opening doors and creating paths for all communities.”
Oneof seven people to receive the award, Singh will also be rewarded $250,000 for his organization and an honorary mural. Singh is also a Central Unified School District trustee member.
Initially starting as a conference in 2000, The Jakara Movement was created in 2005. Singh helped found the movement and has been the executive director since 2009.
The movement is a community grassroots movement that works to “empower, educate, and organize” Punjabi Sikhs. The organization works with Sikh youth to educate them, give them leadership training and create civic engagement. They also help with pandemic-related issues like food distribution, hosting vaccine clinics, and more.
What started out with only volunteers for the first decade, the organization now has a dedicated paid staff of 41 people. The Jakara Movement spans across 25 college chapters in 15 California counties and in 70 high schools as clubs representing over 400,000 Sikh Californians.
Among some of their recent accomplishments The Jakara Movement was able to reach 550,000 Californians to raise awareness for the 2020 U.S. Census. The Census was able to collect data on the Sikh community as an ethnicity for the first time using the “write-in” option with the help of The Jakara Movement. The organization also helped vaccinate 16,000 Central Valley residents with the COVID vaccine, working with other communities to do so.
“He continues to stand up for the youth, who for too long have felt that because of their faith, and the bigotry that we have in our communities, that they may be persecuted,” said Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, to the Fresno Bee.
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