Washington, DC: The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) has won the 2021 FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award (DCLA) for the Washington Field Office (WFO).
SALDEF Executive Director Kiran Kaur Gill and Program Director Sharan Singh accepted this year’s award on SALDEF’s behalf from Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D’Antuono on June 27.
SALDEF, a Sikh American education, media, and policy nonprofit, supports Sikh Americans by building dialogue, deepening understanding, promoting civic and political participation, and upholding social justice and religious freedom.
Throughout 2021, FBI WFO personnel and SALDEF representatives worked together to cultivate relationships between federal agents and Sikh Americans, according to a WFO press release.
“The FBI and SALDEF have different functions, but we share a common goal: protecting the lives and liberties of the American people,” D’Antuono said.
“SALDEF has served as a bridge between FBI personnel and Sikh Americans, helping us learn more about the people we serve and helping them learn more about the work we do to safeguard their community.”
From Dec 2020 to Dec 2021, SALDEF representatives participated in multiple FBI WFO Cultural Engagement Councils, which led to valuable feedback regarding interactions between law enforcement personnel and Sikh Americans, the release said.
As a result, SALDEF held a presentation about Sikh American culture and history for dozens of FBI personnel and cited best practices for interacting with Sikh Americans.
“The better we know our communities, the better we can serve them,” D’Antuono said. “Cultural awareness training is crucial because it helps the FBI build trusting relationships with the public. The people in our communities need to know they can count on us to protect them.”
