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Past & Current Partners
| Ensaaf |
 Ensaaf is an international human rights organization dedicated to ending impunityand achieving justice for gross human rights abuses in Punjab, India, bydocumenting and exposing human rights violations, bringing perpetrators to justice,and organizing survivors to advocate for their rights to truth, justice, and reparations.
Punjab Documentation Project
In the Punjab Documentation Project, Ensaaf is collaborating with Benetech Initiative's Human Rights program to analyze "disappearances" in Punjab, India. Ensaaf has collected multiple sources of documentation, such as interviews, newspaper accounts from a ten-year period, and cremation ground records, comprising over 20,000 accounts of political violence. The two organizations will jointly engage in complex statistical analyses of this documentation, and devise a scientifically defensible survey todocument disappearances throughout Punjab. These quantitative methods will help definitively establish that these crimes were widespread and systematic.
Progress Report
In the first two and a half months of 2009, Ensaaf made great strides in its Punjab Documentation Project. Highlights include the publication of a joint report, photo essay, and podcast with Benetech's Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) after a two-year collaboration, consultations with survey experts, the announcement of a job opening for datamanagement, and further data collection from newspapers and Right to Information Act requests.
Violent Deaths and Enforced Disappearances during the Counterinsurgency in Punjab, India |
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| GyanSewa Trust |
 GyanSewa Trust seeks to provide equal access to educational resources to those who have been deprived and to remove the disparity among rural and urban areas and also among rich and poor. The Trust specifically aims to identify talented students in rural Punjab and provide them with the best available educational resources, allowing these students to compete with the urban students of Punjab as well as other major metropolitan areas. To accomplish this mission, GyanSewa Trust has hired the best available faculty from New Delhi to visit and teach these gifted students of rural backgrounds.
Satellite Education Program
In the Satellite Education Program, teachers from New Delhi have been hired to visit and teach students in rural Punjabi areas. This program is run in over 200 government schools, and essentially targets gifted students from the villages of Punjab who would otherwise have no access to higher education. This program prepares these students to be competitive in nationwide exams, and as a result, provides opportunities for rural Punjabis to enter professional and technical schools. Currently, the educational satellite program focuses on 11th and 12th grade students at Baba Gurbaksh Singh Uttam Singh School.
The Khadoor Sahib Centre was inaugurated in April of 2006, and since then, two classes of students have graduated from the program. Among the students, more than 70% have moved on to other professional courses. The students at the Khadoor Sahib Centre meet with faculty from New Delhi every Saturday and Sunday for classroom teaching. |
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| Nanakshahi |
 Established in 2001, Nanakshahi is a registered trust at SahibzadaAjit Singh Nagar, Punjab with a mission "to develop the Sikh aesthetics and to assist the destitute and downtrodden." Nanakshahi is a research and action organization dedicated to creating awareness of Sikh culture through various avenues.
The projects undertaken include creating audio-visual aides, printing text, sponsoring education, and recognizing outstanding contributors. Known for its expertise in the community as a tool for change, Nanakshahi designs its strategies to improve Sikh aesthetics while at the same time helping the community build a sustained commitment toward savoring the original freshness of the Sikh faith.
Virsa
The Virsa project is an effort to preserve numerous manuscripts, rare historical documents, old printed posters, maps, political documents and photographs relevant to the Sikhs. Through digitization, libraries of information will be replicated and made readily available to the masses.
Historical buildings in Punjab will also be digitally photographed and architects will create blueprints to preserve the original layout and design. Furthermore, all digitization will be utilized to create an Online Digital Library of the entire collection – a means of offering rare and fragile originals for viewing to the public. |
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| Sikh Coalition |
 The Sikh Coalition is a community-based organization that works towards the realization of civil and human rights for all people. In particular, the Coalition works towards a world where Sikhs may freely practice and enjoy their faith while fostering strong relations with their local community wherever they may be. The organization provides direct legal services, advocates for law and politics, promotes appreciation for diversity, and fosters civic engagement. The Sikh Coalition has a full-time staff of 8 and offices in New York City and Fremont, CA.
Sikh Rights Defense
In 2008, the Sikh Coalition promoted its Staff Attorney in New York to Legal Director in the California office. The Coalition aims to hire a new Staff Attorney to fill this gap and meet the growing needs of the Sikh community in America. The staff attorney will provide direct legal services to Sikh victims of hate crimes, employment discrimination, public accommodation discrimination, profiling, and other forms of discrimination.
This addition will allow the Sikh Coalition to take on an estimated 30 cases per year. The hiring search is currently in the works and is expected to reach a conclusion soon.
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| SikhNet.com |
 SikhNet.com is a not-for-profit website dedicated to sharing the Sikh experience and educating people about the teachings of the Gurus. Three employees maintain the site, which has been in existence for nearly 13 years. SikhNet primarily serves the Sikh Diaspora, and receives over 15,000 unique visits per day. Among other features, the site offers an annual youth film festival, inspirational stories for children, daily news, and a Sikh matrimonial service.
Gurbani Archive
SikhNet.com maintains the largest archive of Sikh music in the world, which houses over 10,000 audio and video files (2,400 hours of kirtan). In order to make its collection an interconnected multimedia archive of Gurbani and Sikh related education, SikhNet.com seeks to create a new system that will integrate audio and video media in one place to serve as a learning place listening and viewing. Users will be able to create and customize the content to suit their needs by using new online tools to find new content according to user recommendations and popularity.
This project will make the archive more accessible by allowing the user to easily find, browse and download related media content. This will include linking audio recordings to online translations of the Guru Granth Sahib, which will allow the consumer to read and listen simultaneously.
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| Sikh Research Institute |
 The Sikh Research Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization seeking to develop a principle-driven community by protecting the core and enlarging the resource pool. The Institute’s mission is to facilitate training and development while inspiring Sikh values, create global awareness of Sikh?, and deliver solutions to the key challenges faced by the Sikh community.
The Sikh Research Institute aims to develop a principle-driven community by protecting the core and enlarging the resource pool. The Institute’s efforts are divided into three focus areas: Training and Development, Global Awareness, and Strategic Solutions. All programs and projects strive to develop and share a positive Sikh perspective. The Sikh Research Institutes strengthens individuals and builds communities by enhancing leadership skills and endorsing community action. All development initiatives attempt to weave diversity, multiculturalism, and acceptance into the fabric of civil society.
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| Sikh Student Association of Southern Methodist University |
The Sikh Student Association exists to provide a forum for SMU students to learn about Sikhi, its history, beliefs, and culture. This awareness occurs through working relationships with other organizations and performing community service. SSA also aims to develop a campus-wide understanding about the Sikh religion through educational, social, religious, and intercultural programs. SMU SSA is devoted to bringing understanding of the meaning of the Sikh tradition among all denominations.
Sikh Turban Week
During “Sikh Turban Week,” members of the Sikh Student Association at Southern Methodist University visited various college campuses across Texas to raise awareness about Sikhi. College students, faculty, and staff had the opportunity to learn more about the Sikh tradition, particularly the historical and religious value of the turban. A variety of news sources covered the events, which were attended by more then 600 people.
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| Surat Sikh Conference |
 Surat aims to provide students and young professionals with an opportunity to learn about Sikhi, reflecton its significance in their lives, be inspired by exemplary role models, and build a support system in the attempt to delve into a deeper understanding and ultimately be intuitively wise regarding their religion.
The conference is a forum for students and professionals to discuss, develop, and exchange ideas relating to Sikhi, while providing support and friendship to one another. Surataims to provide each of its participants with five key components: education, reflection, motivation, friendship and support.
Surat Scholarships
Surat recognizes and understands that economic pressure and restraints exist for some families. Due to these pressures and restraints not all students can afford to attend the conference. Surat would like to provide an opportunity to those students who would like to attend the conference, but cannot afford to do so. The conference hopes to provide all interested participants with an opportunity to learn more about Sikhi and flourish as individuals.
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| Ujjaldidar Singh Memorial Foundation |
 The Foundation aims to support Sikh children through activities that educate and promote pride in their Sikh heritage and promote the understanding of Sikh religion and culture to others.
Ujjaldidar Singh Memorial Foundation was formed in 1993 in memory of Ujjaldidar Singh. The Foundation proudly participates in community service, community events, KirtanDarbars, and parades. The Foundation also holds a Punjabi School in Granada Hills, two Sundays every month to teach young children Punjabi, Kirtan, Tabla, and Bhangra.
Sidak Scholarships
This year, the Ujjaldidar Singh Memorial Foundation is providing six scholarships to Sikh youth in California to attend Sidak, a two-week leadership development program hosted by the Sikh Research Institute.
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| University of Texas at San Antonio |
 The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions, serving as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development for Texas, the nation and the world.
The University of Texas at San Antonio serves the San Antonio metropolitan area through programs and services offered from its three campuses. With more than 28,400 students enrolled in 131 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, UTSA is the second-largest component in The University of Texas System and has been one of the state's fastest-growing public universities for much of the last decade.
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| Challenger Learning Center |
 The Challenger Learning Center of San Antonio (CLC SA) is a hands-on and minds-on experience. Once mission participants pass through the portal of the CLC SA, they encounter an interactive, computerized simulator with a Mission Control patterned after NASA's Johnson Space Center and an orbiting spacecraft. Participants rev up their imaginations and transform themselves into astronauts, engineers, doctors, and scientists as they team together to achieve success in a 2-hour simulated space mission.
The primary goal of the Challenger Learning Center of San Antonio (CLC SA) is to inspire enthusiasm for math, science, and technology among all ages, particularly 6th to 8th grade students, by experiencing an interactive space flight simulation.
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| Trinity University |
 Trinity University offers innovative, challenging academic programs that empower our students with the knowledge and insight required to be successful, no matter what their goals may be. Located in vibrant and culturally rich San Antonio, the University is student-driven, faculty-inspired, and community-connected. Trinity students benefit from a flexible curriculum, exceptional and accessible faculty, a distinctive, engaging residential life program, and an attractive and lively campus.
The Strategic Plan adopted by the Board of Trustees in May of 1998 affirms the mission statement approved in 1994. That statement declares Trinity to be “an independent, primarily undergraduate, co-educational university in the tradition of the liberal arts and sciences, related by historic ties and covenant to the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.” Implicit in the mission is the important role of selected professional programs and "the University's commitment to being a residential campus and to leadership development." The section of the Strategic Plan describing “Institutional Mission” concludes by asserting, “The University is challenged by the opportunity to be a national leader among liberal arts colleges and universities.”
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