About us
Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains
Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains is the Director of the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley and is an Associate Professor in Social Cultural Media Studies. Her current research interests include migration, settlement, and integration; cross-cultural education and curriculum implementation; race, racism, and ethnicity; identity politics; South Asian Canadian Diaspora studies and Punjabi Canadian cultural historiographies. Satwinder has extensive years of professional experience in community development and has worked extensively with organizations in the area of cross-cultural mental health, immigrant women, youth and families and on diversity, equity, inclusion, cross cultural development, women’s rights and socio-religious interfaith dialogue. She serves the community as a diversity educator, community developer and community activist in the field of anti-racism and immigrant settlement integration.
Dr. Tzu-I Chung
Dr. Tzu-I Chung is a cultural and social historian, specializing in the study of transnational migration within the context of historical, cultural and economic interactions between North America and Asia-Pacific. As a curator of history at the Royal BC Museum & Archives, she has developed, facilitated, and led cross-sectoral community heritage and legacy projects. Her research has informed numerous exhibitions, curriculum development, and public and academic publications on the topics of anti-racism, cross-cultural community histories, and critical heritage studies. She is currently a member of the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board, and a peer reviewer for academic journals and a juror for public history prizes and grants.
Mo Dhaliwal
As Director of Strategy at Skyrocket, Mo collaborates with creative minds across the country and continues to create moving experiences for clients and community. His long-standing passion for technology, and his hunger for new experiences led him to Silicon Valley where he honed his talents in software development and Internet marketing. He returned to Canada with a newfound appreciation for the cultural diversity and set out on a personal mission to shatter barriers and encourage cross-cultural understanding. In 2012, Mo was recognized for his contributions by Business for the Arts as the national recipient of the Arnold Edinborough Award, and in 2013 was the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Dr. Balbir Gurm
Dr. Balbir Gurm is a ½ generation community leader, activist and nursing professor with strong values of social justice and seva (volunteerisms), and is a role model for leadership in education, on boards and advisory panels, and engages communities to advocate for policy and system change. She facilitates workshops on diversity and inclusion to address systemic racism. Her multisectoral project, NEVR, breaks down silos by bringing together critical understandings of relationship violence. One product is a free ebook Making Sense of a Global Pandemic: Relationship Violence & Working Together Towards a Violence Free Society. Dr. Gurm’s excellence in education, leadership and dedication are acknowledged with multiple awards including Excellence in Nursing Education (RNABC), NISODS Teaching Excellence, YWCA Women of Distinction and Connecting the Community (2021) BC Achievement (2021), Soroptimist’s Ruby, Times of Canada, Shakti and Leadership Canadian Cancer Society. She is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Nursing and best known for using her privilege to improve health by addressing social justice issues in communities.
Anita Lal
Anita Lal is a fourth-generation settler, born and raised in so called ‘British Columbia’ on the traditional territory of Lhtako Dene and Semiahmoo, Katzie and Kwantlen First Nations. Her Biji, Thakuri Kaur Lal, instilled in her the Sikh values of seva, social justice and advocacy from a young age. These values fuel her work as the co-founder of Poetic Justice Foundation where she has been creating impactful and transformative programming, organizing, and activating the South Asian community. Her approach is always inclusive, intersectional, and critical; she draws attention to biases, inequalities and oppressive systems of racism and discrimination. Recently, her work has focused on creating space and dialogue around anti-casteism and the Dalit narrative. Anita strongly believes in giving back to the community and serves on Boards and Advisory Committees such as the South Asian Canadian Legacy Project, the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley, and Seva Thrift Society. She also undertakes consulting work for the Royal Academy of Bhangra and Moving Forward Family Services, community-based organizations that work with marginalized people. She is inspired by Dr. Ambedkar’s words: Educate. Agitate. Organize.
Kim Gough
Kim Gough is the Learning Program Developer at the Royal BC Museum. She has over 20 years of experience working in museums, heritage sites and interpretation centers. Her work for the Royal BC Museum has included school programs, feature exhibitions, volunteer training, gallery interpretation and the development of a smartphone app. In 2017, Kim earned a Master of Museum Education from UBC, focusing on outreach kits for seniors living in care facilities. Continuing with a focus on outreach and community programming, Kim will develop more opportunities for people who cannot physically visit the museum to explore the collections, learn new skills and encourage dialogue and reflection.
Sharanjit Kaur Sandhra
Sharanjit Kaur Sandhra is the Coordinator at the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley, co-curator of exhibits at the Sikh Heritage Museum, located in the National Historic Site Gur Sikh Temple in Abbotsford, BC and a sessional faculty in the Department of History at UFV. She is currently a PhD Candidate in the Department of History at UBC and is interested in looking at the affective experiences of museum visitors through a critical race theory lens. Sharn is passionate about activist work and engagement in the community through academia and museum exhibits.
Janet MacDonald
Janet McDonald joined the Royal BC Museum as a program developer in 1998, after 11 years of wide-ranging experience in exhibition and program work at McGill’s Redpath Museum. She holds an MA in museum studies from University of Leicester, a BA in anthropology and art history from McGill, and has studied applied museum studies, museum exhibition and interpretation at Algonquin College. Recently retired as Head of Learning, Janet oversaw all public and school programming activities as they related to formal and informal learning programs delivered by full-time staff, seasonal staff, contract workers and volunteers. She worked with museum staff, cooperating societies, outside agencies and organizations and other government departments. In developing programs, she sought to explore and ensure a balance between existing popular programs and innovative initiatives designed to address new educational transformations, community engagement and diverse populations.
Dr. Satwinder Bains
Director
Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains is the Director of the South Asian Studies Institute and is an Associate Professor in the School of Culture, Media and Society. Her current research interests include migration, settlement, and integration; race, racism, and ethnicity; and Punjabi Canadian cultural historiographies.
Sharanjit Kaur Sandhra
Coordinator
Sharanjit Kaur Sandhra is the Coordinator at the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley, co-curator of exhibits at the Sikh Heritage Museum, located in the National Historic Site Gur Sikh Temple in Abbotsford, BC and a sessional faculty in the Department of History at UFV.
Dr. Kusum Soni
Coordinator
Dr. Kusum Soni is the Coordinator at the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley. She was responsible for translating and cataloguing the Punjabi language archival records for the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive.
Antoinetta Holierhoek
Financial Assistant
Annet is a Financial Assistant at SASI for the South Asian Legacy project.
Jesse Kaufman
Marketing and Communications Specialist (July 2021 – April 2022)
Jesse is the Marketing and Communications Specialist and has a background in international higher education, marketing and communications.
Thamilini Jothilingam, MFA
Digital Asset Archivist
Thamilini Jothilingam is the Digital Asset Archivist for the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive. Her research and archival interests center at the confluence of art and anthropology, with a focus on gender, memory, cultural heritage, visual histories, and epistemic justice.
Madhavee Inamdar, MA
Former Project Manager (June 2020 – July 2021 )
Madhavee Inamdar was the former Project Manager for the South Asian Canadian Legacy Project at the South Asian Studies Institute. Madhavee offered her expertise in policy, program management and stakeholder engagement to the project.
Magnus Berg, MA
Former Digital Asset Archivist (September 2020 – September 2021)
Magnus Berg was the former Digital Asset Archivist at the South Asian Studies Institute. They are passionate about preservation and access to community histories for marginalized populations and have presented on preservation, LGBTQ2+ metadata, diversity and inclusion.
Sadhvi Suri
Former Digital Asset Technician and Assistant Web Developer (September 2020 – January 2022)
Sadhvi Suri is a graduate of the Bachelor of Computer Information System (BCIS) program at the University of the Fraser Valley and worked as a Digital Asset Technician and Assistant Web Developer for the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive.
Arshdeep Sandhu
Assistant Web Developer (January – April 2021/ March – April 2022)
Arshdeep Sandhu is a 4th year Bachelor of Computer Information System (BCIS) student at the University of the Fraser Valley and worked as an Assistant Web Developer for the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive
Varshaa Kashyap
Research Assistant (December 2021 – April 2022)
Varshaa Kashyap is a 4th year Bachelor of Arts (BA) – Psychology student at the University of the Fraser Valley. She worked as a Research and Cataloguing Assistant and was responsible for describing and classifying multiple collections for the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive.
Ansh Seth
Research Assistant (January – April 2022)
Ansh Seth is a 3rd year Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) – Accounting student at the University of the Fraser Valley. He worked as a Research and Cataloguing Assistant and was responsible for describing and classifying archival records for the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive.
Jahnavi
Research Assistant (December 2021 – April 2022)
Jahnavi is a 4th year Bachelor of Computer Information System (BCIS) student at the University of the Fraser Valley. She worked as a Research Assistant and was responsible for digitizing and processing multiple collections for the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive.
Shivam Vashisht
Research Assistant (January – April 2022)
Shivam Vashist is a 4th year Bachelor of Computer Information System (BCIS) student at the University of the Fraser Valley. He worked as a Research Assistant and was responsible for digitizing and processing multiple collections for the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive.
Meg McGinnis
Practicum Student (February – March 2022)
Meg McGinnis is a practicum student with the Department of Library Information Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley. She was responsible for describing and classifying archival records for the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive.
Tania Teixeira
Cataloguing Technician (September 2021 – February 2022)
Tania Teixeira studies Library Information Systems and was responsible for digitizing, cataloging, and thesaurus construction for the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive.
Alisa Sohi
Research Assistant (May – August 2021)
Alisa Sohi is a graduate student of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information Program. She worked as an Assistant Digital Asset Archivist for the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive.
Tim Ubels
Practicum Student and Digitization and Cataloguing Technician (February – March 2021/ May – August 2021)
Tim Ubels is a graduate of the Library and Information Technology Program at the University of the Fraser Valley. He worked on digitizing, cataloguing, and thesaurus construction for the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive.
Benjamin Arends
Work Study Student (February – March 2021)
Ben Arends is a graduate of the Library and Information Technology Program at the University of the Fraser Valley. He worked on digitizing, cataloguing, and thesaurus construction for the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive.
The Reach Gallery Museum
The South Asian Canadian Digital Archive (SACDA) has partnered with The Reach Gallery Museum to digitize and describe a portion of the Del Monte Studio Collection. The Reach has selected around four hundred sittings and thousands of individual images done by the photographic studio from 1956-2000 with South Asian families in the Abbotsford region.
Dr. Kanwal Singh Neel
Dr. Kanwal Singh Neel is a career educator who has served as a teacher with the Richmond School District, and the Associate Director of Professional Programs in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada. He is currently a coordinator with SFU’s Friends of Simon, an outreach program where university students tutor and mentor immigrant and refugee children after school. Kanwal is an internationally acclaimed mathematics educator, speaker at many international conferences, host of the award-winning television series Math Shop and one of the authors of Mathematics Makes Sense textbook series published by Pearson Canada. Highly engaged in his community, Kanwal has been a tireless volunteer for over 50 years in the South Asian community. He was coordinator for the 75th Anniversary of the Komagata Maru Incident, and during the centennial of the Incident he served as an advisor to the Komagata Maru: Continuing the Journey Project with the SFU Library. He is well known in the sports world as an international track and field official. Dr. Neel is also supporting the Curriculum Development project of SACLP through his significant work with the Open School BC, especially offering his support for stakeholder engagement to promote diverse community participation. Additionally, Dr. Neel is serving as a valuable member of the South Asian Canadian Historic Sites Advisory Committee.
Open School BC
Founded in 1919 as the B.C. Elementary Correspondence School, Open School BC first offered printed courses to students in rural settings. 100 years later, the school is offering online courses, educational services and resources for both public and independent schools, as well as the public sector. The delivery of educational materials may have changed dramatically, but the goal is still the same: supporting learners and teachers with high-quality resources. In 2019, Open School BC commemorated a century of work in distributed learning with a year-long online celebration. Through the South Asian Canadian Legacy Project (2020-2022) at South Asian studies Institute, University of the Fraser Valley in partnership with Open School BC, the research team will work on the development of learning resources for South Asian Canadians which will be relevant to the social studies curriculum for K-12 schools in BC.
StudioThink
StudioThink is a web design and branding agency operating out of the Metro Vancouver Area. Founded in 1997, StudioThink has worked with organizations such as Haida House, the City of Abbotsford, and Surrey Homelessness and Housing Society on web design and branding projects. The South Asian Studies Institute has partnered with StudioThink to design the front end portal and logo for the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive.
BC Labour Heritage Centre
The BC Labour Heritage Centre Society was founded in 2004 with JJ (Jack) Munro as Chair. The Society preserves, documents and presents the rich history of working people in British Columbia. The Society engages in partnerships and projects that help define and express the role that work and workers have played in the evolution of social policy and its impact on the present and future shaping of the province. The Society’s motto is “Preserving Our Past, Preparing Our Future”,The association of South Asian workers with Labour Heritage Centre goes back since early 1900’s when Darshan Singh Sangha was elected one of the Shop Stewards of I.W.A. With the end of the Depression, labour’s long hostility towards Asian workers slowly began to change. The International Woodworkers of America (I.W.A.) led the way by hiring three non-Caucasian organizers to break down the barriers of race and unite workers across ethnic divides in the forest industry’s diverse workforce. Though rarely remembered as union pioneers today, Roy Mah, Joe Miyazawa and Darshan Singh Sangha all played key roles during the union’s intense organizing drives of the 1940s. https://www.labourheritagecentre.ca/ethnicdivides/,The BC Labour Oral History Project has been conducting audio and video interviews with working people involved in the history of British Columbia since March 2016. The Project has a shortlist of individuals with whom we are pursing interviews. These interviews are digitally archived and the first set of 12 full-length video interviews and summaries are available to the public online through Simon Fraser University’s Digital Collections. https://www.labourheritagecentre.ca/research/oral-history/. In partnership with BC’s Labour Heritage Centre, South Asian Studies Institute’s goal is to do the research and development of an online comprehensive B.C. Labour Movements Social Histories Research Project under the South Asian Canadian Legacy Project (2020-2022).
Royal BC Museum
The Royal BC Museum Corporation is one of Canada’s greatest cultural treasures. The museum was founded in 1886; the Archives, in 1894. In 2003, these two organizations joined to become British Columbia’s combined provincial museum and archives, collecting artifacts, documents and specimens of British Columbia’s natural and human history, safeguarding them for the future and sharing them with the world. Through research and learning, the Museum strives to broaden understanding about the province and inspire curiosity and wonder. They are passionate about sharing British Columbia’s story with the millions of visitors who walk through the doors and explore their website each year. Their collections, research and presentations enable them to tell the stories of British Columbians in the ways that enlighten, stimulate and inspire. By exploring their social and environmental history, the Royal BC Museum advances new knowledge and understanding of British Columbia, and provides a dynamic forum for discussion and a place for reflection. Since 2014, the South Asian Studies Institute has partnered with the Royal BC Museum to record, narrate and include in a historical record the stories of Punjabi settlers in the Province of British Columbia. To date, the SASI and the RBCM have collected interviews and collected archives of 148 Punjabi families across the entire Province. The details of the RBCM and SASI partnership can be read: Royal BC Museum in Partnership with the SASI Unveils New Exhibit: Haq & History as part of the Punjabi Canadian Legacy Project (PCLP).
Dr. Inderjit Mann
Dr. Inderjeet Mann is working as a Political Scientist for the South Asian Canadian Legacy Project. He is developing a chapter on the political history of South Asian Canadians. Dr. Mann holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and International Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi. Dr. Mann has been affiliated with Simon Fraser University in a research capacity. His Post-Doctoral Research on Political Participation of Ethnic Minorities in Canada was undertook at JNU and at the South Asian Studies Institute. The Post-doctoral work was funded by Indian Council of Social Sciences Research and the Shastri Indo Canadian Institute. His graduate research degree, M.Phil. was undertaken in the area of Human Rights. Dr. Mann has taught political science at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Central University of Punjab and Government College, Bathinda. He participated as a Chair in the World Congress of Political Science held at Montreal in 2014. He has also participated with Amnesty International India as a member. His current research interests include a focus on South Asian Canadian Diaspora and its issues and multifaceted aspects in Canadian state and society. Currently Dr. Inderjeet Mann is the 2021 South Asian Research Fellow at the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley and is working on the Farmers Movement in India and the Diaspora’s response (with a special focus on Punjab).
Paneet Singh
Paneet Singh is a playwright and filmmaker whose work is largely inspired and informed by Sikh and South Asian culture and history, and who is most well known for his two stageplays, The Undocumented Trial of William C. Hopkinson, which has sold out every performance since its 2016 premiere, and the critically-acclaimed A Vancouver Guldasta, which was an honourable mention in “The Best of Vancouver Theatre in 2018” by Vancouver Presents. Paneet was also picked as one of 2018’s “most exciting fresh faces to watch” and a “major player” in Vancouver’s South Asian Theatre community in 2019 by Colin Thomas. Outside of theatre and film, Paneet’s work is mostly based in history and education. He is a co-host of The Nameless Collective Podcast, which follows histories of South Asians in British Columbia. Through the South Asian Canadian Legacy Project (2020-2022) at South Asian studies Institute, University of the Fraser Valley in partnership with Paneet Singh, the research team worked on the production of short films on Historic Sites.
Henna Mann
Henna Mann is one of the filmmakers for the South Asian Canadian Legacy Project (SACLP) at the South Asian Studies Institute (SASI), University of the Fraser Valley. She is a second year student at York University in Toronto, Ontario where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Production. She is working towards specializing in documentary filmmaking with hopes to write and direct journalistic documentaries. Her most recent documentary in collaboration with SASI touches the history, research and mission of SASI with interviews from the members of the Faculty and the SACLP team. While studying full-time, Henna is also a part-time photographer and videographer. She works as the Media Director and Influencer Marketer for The Communications Studies Students Association (CSSA) at her University. As a Director and Marketer, she hosts the popular Weekly CSSA Advice Segment. She worked on a short film for SACLP covering the history and creation of Canada’s National Historic Site, Gur Sikh Temple and British Columbia’s Sikh Heritage Museum.
Abbotsford Community Foundation (ACF)
The Abbotsford Community Foundation was conceived by a series of initiating events that started with a substantial donation by the Trethewey Family to the Matsqui Parks and Recreation Commission in 1978. The Abbotsford Community Foundation has experienced steady asset growth over the years. This has come about through the generous giving of a number of people in the community plus the establishment of several special funds by other not for profit groups and special interest organizations within the area. ACF’s current endowment is over $12 million and from 1980 to 2019 has distributed more than $11 million in grants and student awards. These grants have been made to many charitable organizations for programs and projects in Abbotsford related to education, culture, arts, sports, agriculture enhancement, recreation and social issues like homelessness and poverty. In 2020, the ACF will have a record year of granting with $950,000 allocated for community granting!
University of the Fraser Valley – Department of Information Studies
The South Asian Studies Institute has partnered with the Department of Information Studies at UFV to provide students with practicum placements on the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive (SACDA). As part of their placement, students received training on digitization best practices and item-level description using the Canadian standard Rules for Archival Description. The students’ work will be visible in the forthcoming SACDA portal.
Mitacs
The South Asian Canadian Legacy Project of the South Asian Studies Institute, UFV, is the successful recipient of the MITACS Business Strategy Internship grant of $10,000 from January 11, 2021 to May 11, 2021. MITACS introduced this new grant based on the new economic landscape due to COVID-19. This internship presents an opportunity to an UFV student to learn the new realities of community outreach and changing nature of business strategies in fulfilling organizational and project goals. The intern gets an opportunity at a professional level by working and engaging with diverse and inter-disciplinary stakeholders from the community, and learning about the Archives and Museums sector to facilitate a successful transition into a new growth opportunity. Mitacs is a non-profit national research organization that, in partnerships with Canadian academia, private industry and government, operates research and training programs in fields related to industrial and social innovation.
Advisory Committees
Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains
Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains is the Director of the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley and is an Associate Professor in Social Cultural Media Studies. Her current research interests include migration, settlement, and integration; cross-cultural education and curriculum implementation; race, racism, and ethnicity; identity politics; South Asian Canadian Diaspora studies and Punjabi Canadian cultural historiographies. Satwinder has extensive years of professional experience in community development and has worked extensively with organizations in the area of cross-cultural mental health, immigrant women, youth, and families and on diversity, equity, inclusion, cross cultural development, women’s rights, and socio-religious interfaith dialogue. She serves the community as a diversity educator, community developer and community activist in the field of anti-racism and immigrant settlement integration.
Donna Sacuta
Donna Sacuta is Executive Director of the BC Labour Heritage Centre, a position she has held since January 2017. Prior to becoming Executive Director, Donna worked as a Project Manager for the Centre and established the Plaques Around the Province Project to bring labour history stories to local communities. Born and raised in British Columbia she has lived in many regions including Fernie, Vancouver, Kamloops, Fort St John and Prince George. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Highest Honours) in Labour Studies from Carleton University (Ottawa). Donna has worked for the BC Government and Service Employees Union, has held positions on local labour councils and various community and political organizations around the province.
Bailey Garden
Bailey Garden is a social, political and environmental activist originally from Calgary, AB. She is the Project Manager at the BC Labour Heritage Centre, as well as the creator of the Centre’s Oral History Workshop & Guide. Bailey is an alumnus of Simon Fraser University and has worked on several oral history research projects based around British Columbia, on a wide range of subjects including labour, land use, industry, immigration, diversity and more. She is a proud member of UFCW 1518.
Anita Lal
Anita Lal is a fourth-generation settler, born and raised in so called ‘British Columbia’ on the traditional territory of Lhtako Dene and Semiahmoo, Katzie and Kwantlen First Nations. Her Biji, Thakuri Kaur Lal, instilled in her the Sikh values of seva, social justice and advocacy from a young age. These values fuel her work as the co-founder of Poetic Justice Foundation where she has been creating impactful and transformative programming, organizing, and activating the South Asian community. Her approach is always inclusive, intersectional, and critical; she draws attention to biases, inequalities and oppressive systems of racism and discrimination. Recently, her work has focused on creating space and dialogue around anti-casteism and the Dalit narrative. Anita strongly believes in giving back to the community and serves on Boards and Advisory Committees such as the South Asian Canadian Legacy Project, the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley, and Seva Thrift Society. She also undertakes consulting work for the Royal Academy of Bhangra and Moving Forward Family Services, community-based organizations that work with marginalized people. She is inspired by Dr. Ambedkar’s words: Educate. Agitate. Organize.
Moninder Lalli
Ms. Moninder Kaur Lalli is a librarian at Simon Fraser University who was part of a team that developed the vision for the Komagata Maru Website, a project funded by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration under their Community Historical Recognition Program (CHRP) (http://komagatamarujourney.ca/). It is a key resource on the history of the Indo-Canadian community, and includes digitized content such as the rare diary of the Khalsa Diwan Society by Arjan Singh Chand, an out-of-print book by Giani Kesar Singh on the Komagata Maru, Sushma Datt’s documentary for the 75th Anniversary of the Komagata Maru and President Nehru’s speech. Moninder has been instrumental in the development of the South Asian collection at the SFU Library, including oral histories, photographs, books, manuscripts, diaries and magazines. As Chair of the Library Programme Advisory Committee of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, she oversees the program which obtains scholarly material published in India for Canadian academic libraries. Moninder has assisted faculty, community members and institutions such as the Vancouver Maritime Museum with their research. In 2014, she was recognized for her work on the Komagata Maru website and the preservation of the history of the Sikh community. Moninder is also an artist with several solo exhibits to her credit.
Harinder Mahil
Harinder Mahil was part of the British Columbia’s human rights system for 10 years – Chair, BC Council of Human Rights from 1992-1996; Deputy Chief Commissioner, BC Human Rights Commission from 1997-2001; and Acting Chief Commissioner, BC Human Rights Commission during 2001-02. Mr Harinder Mahil has been an anti-racist and human-rights activist since the 1970s. Over the last 48 years he has worked for the New Westminster local of the International Woodworkers of America (IWA), the Province of British Columbia and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada. He was one of the founders of the BC Organization to Fight Racism and of the Canadian Farmworkers’ Union. He served as chair of the British Columbia Council of Human Rights from 1992 to 1997 and as deputy chief commissioner of the British Columbia Human Rights Commission from 1997 to 2002. He was acting chief commissioner of the British Columbia Human Rights Commission when the former Liberal government of British Columbia decided to enact legislation to do away with the commission. Mr. Mahil was a member of the Canadian delegation to the 1993 United Nations World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna. Since 2011 he has been a board member of the Dr. Hari Sharma Foundation for South Asian Advancement.
Amrita Sanford
Amrita comes from a family of strong labour leaders and activists. Growing up in the lower mainland, she spent much of her childhood attending rallies and marching on picket lines to support workers. Her family would often attend or host events to promote social justice and racial equality and these early experiences shaped her values and determination to continue to fight for equity and justice for all. Amrita is a graduate of Simon Fraser University and since 2004, she has been working as a staff representative for the BC Government and Service Employees Union. Currently working in the BCGEU’s negotiations department, Amrita has bargained collective agreements on behalf of workers in the healthcare, community social services and Indigenous services sectors. She has a keen interest in history and in particular the recognition and preservation of the struggles and achievements faced by the South Asian community within the labour movement in BC.
Par Sihota
Par was born in Duncan, BC on Vancouver Island in 1957 and spent his early childhood in Lake Cowichan, 16 miles west of Duncan. His great grandfather, grandfather and father all worked in sawmills so he was raised in an IWA (International Woodworkers of America) household. At the age of ten the family moved to Burnaby, BC as the mill where his father worked had closed and he got a job at Fraser Mills in Coquitlam. Par’s first job was working at Fraser Mills while going to high school and later to college. He was a member of the IWA. He graduated from Cariboo Hill Secondary in Burnaby and then attended Langara College where he took the Finance & Investment course. In 1979 Par moved to Terrace, BC to work for the Toronto Dominion Bank for a year followed by a year selling office furniture and equipment. In 1981 he moved back to Vancouver and did several sales jobs until 1986 when he joined the Hongkong Bank of Canada until 1992. In 1992 Par moved to Victoria, BC to work for the government caucus and then from 1996 until 2001 as a ministerial assistant to several different cabinet ministers. He has been with CSCU (Community Savings Credit Union) since 2004. CSCU was formed by a small group of IWA members in 1944 and is BC’s largest fully unionized credit union. He is a Union Liaison Officer, co-managing the union portfolio of the credit union and a member of UFCW Local 1518. The history of Par’s family has made him who he is today; he is committed to racial and social justice as well as equity and fairness in the workplace.
Co-Lead: Dr. Tzu-I Chung
Dr. Tzu-I Chung is a cultural and social historian, specializing in the study of transnational migration within the context of historical, cultural and economic interactions between North America and Asia-Pacific. As a curator of history at the Royal BC Museum & Archives, she has developed, facilitated, and led cross-sectoral community heritage and legacy projects. Her research has informed numerous exhibitions, curriculum development, and public and academic publications on the topics of anti-racism, cross-cultural community histories, and critical heritage studies. She is currently a member of the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board, and a peer reviewer for academic journals and a juror for public history prizes and grants.
Co-Lead: Dr. Balbir Gurm
Dr. Balbir Gurm is a ½ generation community leader, activist and nursing professor with strong values of social justice and seva (volunteerisms), and is a role model for leadership in education, on boards and advisory panels, and engages communities to advocate for policy and system change. She facilitates workshops on diversity and inclusion to address systemic racism. Her multisectoral project, NEVR, breaks down silos by bringing together critical understandings of relationship violence. One product is a free ebook Making Sense of a Global Pandemic: Relationship Violence & Working Together Towards a Violence Free Society. Dr. Gurm’s excellence in education, leadership and dedication are acknowledged with multiple awards including Excellence in Nursing Education (RNABC), NISODS Teaching Excellence, YWCA Women of Distinction and Connecting the Community (2021) BC Achievement (2021), Soroptimist’s Ruby, Times of Canada, Shakti and Leadership Canadian Cancer Society. She is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Nursing and best known for using her privilege to improve health by addressing social justice issues in communities.
David Alexander
David Alexander is the Acting Vice President of Collections and Research at the Royal BC Museum where he oversees a broad portfolio including museum collections, repatriation, research, registration, conservation, preservation and the BC Archives. For over 20 years, he has been an active member of the GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, museums) sector, which includes 10 years’ experience at the RBCM in various capacities including leading on partnerships, digital and IT and communications. Nationally, David is chair of the Council of Provincial and Territorial Archivists, co-chair of the National, Provincial and Territorial Archivists Conference. He is an executive member of the National Heritage Digitization Strategy and, past member of the Digital Museums Canada Advisory Committee. Provincially, David is past-president of the BC Museums Association where he led the signing of the first provincial GLAM MOU and the adoption of the Rod Naknakim Declaration. He is also past Development Chair and Member at Large for the Greater Victoria Public Library System.
Mary-Anne MacDougall
Mary-Anne MacDougall has been the information services & special collections librarian at UFV since 2001 where she is involved in the coordination of digital project management and information services. She is also the liaison librarian to the History, Political Science and Philosophy departments as well as to the SASI at UFV. Mary-Anne was previously the head of Special Collections at the Vancouver Public Library, and has an undergraduate degree in History and Women’s Studies from SFU, and a Masters of Library Science degree from the University of British Columbia.
Dave Stewart
Dave Stewart is the Digital Manager at the Royal BC Museum. He manages a small but mighty team who oversee all the institution’s web assets and their collection management systems for the many collections: museum, archives, library and genealogy. He is also active in digital heritage governance through participation in several committees at the provincial and national level. He strives to improve the state of digital heritage preservation and online public access within his own institution and across the public sector.
Ryan Gallagher
Ryan Gallagher has worked in the heritage/culture sector for over 15 years, with experience in artifact collections, archives, heritage sites, public art, and heritage/culture planning. He has worked for the City of Surrey in varying positions since 2005, including Collections Assistant, Archives Reference Specialist, Archivist, and a stint as acting Public Art Manager. Since 2015, Ryan has been the Manager of Heritage Administration for the City of Surrey. In this role he oversees much of the heritage portfolio in Surrey, including management of Surrey Archives, Civic Artifact Collection, Historic Stewart Farm, public heritage assets, heritage and culture planning and supporting the City’s Heritage Advisory Commission. Ryan is passionate about sharing heritage and culture in innovative and creative ways in the public and digital realms.
Co-Lead: Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains
Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains is the Director of the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley and is an Associate Professor in Social Cultural Media Studies. Her current research interests include migration, settlement, and integration; cross-cultural education and curriculum implementation; race, racism, and ethnicity; identity politics; South Asian Canadian Diaspora studies and Punjabi Canadian cultural historiographies. Satwinder has extensive years of professional experience in community development and has worked extensively with organizations in the area of cross-cultural mental health, immigrant women, youth and families and on diversity, equity, inclusion, cross cultural development, women’s rights and socio-religious interfaith dialogue. She serves the community as a diversity educator, community developer and community activist in the field of anti-racism and immigrant settlement integration.
Co-Lead: Dr. Balbir Gurm
Dr. Balbir Gurm is a ½ generation community leader, activist and nursing professor with strong values of social justice and seva (volunteerisms), and is a role model for leadership in education, on boards and advisory panels, and engages communities to advocate for policy and system change. She facilitates workshops on diversity and inclusion to address systemic racism. Her multisectoral project, NEVR, breaks down silos by bringing together critical understandings of relationship violence. One product is a free ebook Making Sense of a Global Pandemic: Relationship Violence & Working Together Towards a Violence Free Society. Dr. Gurm’s excellence in education, leadership and dedication are acknowledged with multiple awards including Excellence in Nursing Education (RNABC), NISODS Teaching Excellence, YWCA Women of Distinction and Connecting the Community (2021) BC Achievement (2021), Soroptimist’s Ruby, Times of Canada, Shakti and Leadership Canadian Cancer Society. She is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Nursing and best known for using her privilege to improve health by addressing social justice issues in communities.
Amarjit Sahota
Born in India and raised in England from an early age, Amarjit has a Bachelors Degree in Social Work. He emigrated to Canada in 1991 and worked for the Government of British Columbia in various positions from front line to senior leadership. In his most recent role, he was the Director of Practice for the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) until January of this year when he was appointed as the Vice President of Sophie’s Place Child and Youth Advocacy Centre. Throughout his career with the Provincial Government, he has played a key role in service transformation initiatives; the development and delivery of related training and leading a team of Consultants to support Ministry staff in responding to the most complex child protection cases. In recent years, he was instrumental in shaping the Ministry’s approach to intimate partner violence (IPV) both at a local and provincial level. This included the establishment of the Surrey Domestic Violence Unit and the creation of the only child protection program in BC focused on engaging male perpetrators of IPV. He was also the Ministry lead in the creation of Sophie’s Place which was one of the first Child and Youth Advocacy Centres established in BC and was short listed as a finalist for the Premier’s Award in 2017. Amarjit is a strong proponent of culturally responsive services and collaborative practice across sectors.
Ranbir Johal
Ranbir Johal received her PhD from UBC’s Asian Studies Department in April 2020. Ranbir’s research focusses on the intersectionality of caste and gender in South Asian performance traditions. Her doctoral research sought to understand how shame and stigma shaped women’s participation in Punjabi theatre. Ranbir teaches Punjabi language and literature, as well as South Asian courses at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. In addition, she is a Board Member of the Punjabi Language Education Association and has created an open educational resource for the teaching of the Punjabi language. She is also a creative writer and co-director of Rangmanch Punjabi Theatre.
Dr. Molly Ungar
Molly Ungar received her B.A. and M.A. from McMaster University in Hamilton and her Doctorate from York University in Toronto. Her field of study is Canadian History, with a specialization in cultural history. Until her retirement in 2017 she held the position of Associate Professor in the Department of History at University of the Fraser Valley. Her publications include a number of biographies in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, and chapters in books ranging from the October Crisis in Quebec to the significance of food on the Royal Tour of 1939. Her most recent publication is The Last Ulysseans: Culture and Modernism in Montreal (2020). She has presented a wide range of conference papers and community talks. Drawing on her extensive experience in the field of publishing, graphic arts and oral history, she has contributed to academic and community initiatives, such as the publication of Alphabetically Abbotsford, and the establishment of an Oral History Centre at Lifetime Learning in Mission.
Mani Fallon
Mani Deol-Fallon was born in Duncan, B.C. Her grandfather immigrated to Canada from India in 1906 and brought with him a strong work ethic and a desire to build a life in a country that would give his future family an opportunity to thrive. A small town upbringing, along with the example set by her parents, instilled the importance of family and the value of hard work in Mani at a young age. Mani has lived in Surrey Centre since 1981, when the family moved to Surrey, B.C. seeking greater economic opportunities. Watching her father work double shifts to put food on the table, Mani became all too familiar with the challenges faced by families across the riding as many struggled to not only provide the basics for their families but to ensure the safety of their children and elders. As a result, Mani developed a lifelong commitment to volunteer in her community to improve the lives of her neighbours, a commitment that can be seen in her passion for politics and her desire to increase the opportunities in Surrey Centre. Mani has a degree in International Relations from U.B.C. and has continued with part-time studies at BCIT in an ongoing effort to continue to broaden and improve her skillset. With an extensive background in business administration, franchise operations, sales and marketing, Mani has experience dealing with multi-million dollar budgets as well as human resource challenges. Mani also believes in the importance of giving back to her community, demonstrated in her volunteer efforts. Mani has sat on numerous boards including the South Asian Family Association and the Motion Picture Theatre Association of B.C. Newly appointed to the Diversity Advisory Committee to the City of Surrey, Mani continues to not only contribute to her community but stay engaged in the issues of the day. Mani’s belief in a small government, low taxes, a strong national defence and tough criminal justice laws that put families first, are all driving forces to be actively engaged in the political process. Mani has been married for over 20 years to her husband Matthew and is raising 2 young daughters, Jaymie and Ruby in the same neighbourhood she grew up in.
Sharanjit Sandhra
Sharanjit Kaur Sandhra is the Coordinator at the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley, co-curator of exhibits at the Sikh Heritage Museum, located in the National Historic Site Gur Sikh Temple in Abbotsford, BC and a sessional faculty in the Department of History at UFV. She is currently a PhD Candidate in the Department of History at UBC and is interested in looking at the affective experiences of museum visitors through a critical race theory lens. Sharn is passionate about activist work and engagement in the community through academia and museum exhibits.
Dr. Tzu-I Chung
Dr. Tzu-I Chung is a cultural and social historian, specializing in the study of transnational migration within the context of historical, cultural and economic interactions between North America and Asia-Pacific. As a curator of history at the Royal BC Museum & Archives, she has developed, facilitated, and led cross-sectoral community heritage and legacy projects. Her research has informed numerous exhibitions, curriculum development, and public and academic publications on the topics of anti-racism, cross-cultural community histories, and critical heritage studies. She is currently a member of the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board, and a peer reviewer for academic journals and a juror for public history prizes and grants.
Lead: Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains
Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains is the Director of the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley and is an Associate Professor in Social Cultural Media Studies. Her current research interests include migration, settlement, and integration; cross-cultural education and curriculum implementation; race, racism, and ethnicity; identity politics; South Asian Canadian Diaspora studies and Punjabi Canadian cultural historiographies. Satwinder has extensive years of professional experience in community development and has worked extensively with organizations in the area of cross-cultural mental health, immigrant women, youth and families and on diversity, equity, inclusion, cross cultural development, women’s rights and socio-religious interfaith dialogue. She serves the community as a diversity educator, community developer and community activist in the field of anti-racism and immigrant settlement integration.
Dr. Kanwal Singh Neel
Dr. Kanwal Singh Neel is a career educator who has served as a teacher with the Richmond School District, and the Associate Director of Professional Programs in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada. He is currently a coordinator with SFU’s Friends of Simon, an outreach program where university students tutor and mentor immigrant and refugee children after school. Kanwal is an internationally acclaimed mathematics educator, speaker at many international conferences, host of the award-winning television series Math Shop and one of the authors of Mathematics Makes Sense textbook series published by Pearson Canada. Highly engaged in his community, Kanwal has been a tireless volunteer for over 50 years in the South Asian community. He was coordinator for the 75th Anniversary of the Komagata Maru Incident, and during the centennial of the Incident he served as an advisor to the Komagata Maru: Continuing the Journey Project with the SFU Library. He is well known in the sports world as an international track and field official.
Kathryn Gagnon
Kathryn Gagnon has been the Curator/Manager of the Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives since 2004. She collaborates with diverse communities, and local governments and organizations on museum exhibitions as well as offsite interpretive signage installations. Kathryn has partnered with Simon Fraser University’s Dr. Donna Gerdts (Linguistics) on Hul’q’umi’num’ language preservation exhibits and programming, the South Asian Studies Institute’s Punjabi Canadian Legacy Project, and the University of Victoria’s Asian Canadians on Vancouver Island and Landscapes of Injustice research projects. Kathryn works to position the museum as an advocate for the tangible and intangible history and heritage of the Cowichan Valley.
Kris Foulds
Kris Foulds started her career at the MSA Museum Society. She spent 25 years there, rising from a Young Canada Works summer programs assistant, to Project Manager for collections management, site restoration and community engagement programs, and finally to Curator responsible for care for the collections and the interpretation of community narratives. In 2008 she joined the staff of The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford as Curator of Historical Collections. She continues to engage with the community to move The Reach collections, exhibitions and programs toward being truly representative of the history of Abbotsford. She coordinated the extensive digitization project undertaken by The Reach to make the photographic collection and contextual content widely available. Kris participated on the City of Abbotsford committee to develop The Reach and its opening exhibitions to celebrate the community through the memories of its citizens and creative expression of its artists. She has served the community on the ad-hoc Friends of Abbotsford Public Art committee that successfully engaged the City in establishing a public art policy. She chaired the City’s Arts and Heritage Advisory Committee and served on its Heritage Working Group to advance awareness of community heritage assets and advocate for a framework for local heritage preservation. She participated in the Gur Sikh Temple’s centenary celebrations and on Sikh Heritage Museum advisory council. She brings her shared passions for heritage, community and gardening to her role as Vice Chair of the City’s Communities in Bloom committee and has recently returned to serve the BC Heritage Fairs Society as board Chair.