On April 5th, the Interfaith Center of New York will hold a full-day conference for the city’s religious and civic leaders, exploring the emerging challenges for religious leadership under the presidency of Donald Trump. In the afternoon, a panel discussion will be held on Empowering Communities against Hate Speech & Hate Crimes. The panelists:
Sapreet Kaur has been the Executive Director since September 2009, of the Sikh Coalition, the largest Sikh civil rights organization in the nation, . During her time at the Sikh Coalition, Ms. Kaur has pursued a series of strategic initiatives, including strengthening hate crimes training, the Sikh Coalition’s engagement in California, deepening community relationships through new cutting edge development programs, and scaling the media and communications capacity to meet the needs of the organization’s other advocacy areas.
David J. Kennedy, Esq., Chief of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, Southern District of New York Office, is charged with overseeing the enforcement of federal civil rights statutes. Civil Division Assistant US Attorneys under his leadership have worked closely with other attorneys in the Criminal Division to prosecute criminal civil rights cases, such as police and corrections officer brutality cases, hate crime cases, and violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. Mr. Kennedy is also Adjunct Professor of Clinical Law at the New York University School of Law.
Rishi Singh is the director of youth organizing at Desis Rising Up and Moving better known as DRUM. As an undocumented immigrant, Rishi is directly touched by immigration policies the U.S. and his families are also deportees from Canada. He was the NYC Peoples Global Action on Migration Development & Human Rights Coordinator in 2013 and is a recent DACA recipient. He has been a leader of DRUM’s immigrant rights work as an undocumented youth since 2003 and is the lead organizer and liaison for DRUM with the United We Dream network, and for the Administrative Relief campaign.
This conference is a professional development and capacity building opportunity for religious leaders, allowing faith leaders to learn about social issues, create networks for mutual support, and meet civic leaders and service providers. We invite all concerned New York City faith leaders to attend this retreat to share your actions and ideas, and explore opportunities to work together to address the concerns of your communities.
