2009 Civil Rights Awards on May 2nd, in Los Angeles- Biggest Gala Event!!
Dr. I.J. Singh to Provide Keynote Address;
James Standish and Richard Foltin to Receive 2009 Dorothy Height Award

Los Angeles, April 22, 2009
Gary Singh

Washington DC; April 21, 2009: SALDEF is proud to announce that James Standish, Executive Director of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and Richard Foltin, Legislative Director and Counsel to the American Jewish Committee will both be recognized with the Dorothy Height Coalition Building Award during SALDEF’s 2009 Civil Rights Awards Gala on May 2, 2009 in the Los Angeles Area.

The Gala will commence with a thoughtful and inspiring speech from a pillar of the Sikh American community - Dr. I.J. Singh. Dr. Singh came to the United States in 1960 on a Murry & Leonie Guggenheim Foundation fellowship. He is a professor of anatomical sciences at New York University. Dr. Singh serves on the Advisory Boards of the Sikh Research Institute, and United Sikhs, a trustee of the MBSK Foundation and a consultant to the Sikh Coalition.

He currently serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Sikh Review. He has authored four collections of essays on his journey as a Sikh in North America: Sikhs and Sikhism: A View with a Bias (1994, 1998); The Sikh Way: A Pilgrim’s Progress (2001); Being & Becoming a Sikh (2003); The World According to Sikhi (2006). Dr. Singh is a regular columnist for the online magazine sikhchic.com, and has lectured extensively on interfaith issues.

James D Standish has been named the co-recipient of the 2009 Dorothy Height Coalition Building Award for his dedicated leadership to religious freedom in the United States and around the World and for his leadership as a past co-chair of the Workplace Religious Freedom Coalition. Mr. Standish joined the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom as Executive Director in August 2008. Mr. Standish has extensive experience working on human rights issues, and particularly religious freedom. He has lived ten years in Asia, four years in Europe, and eight years in Australia, and has traveled widely throughout the world.

Mr. Standish is widely published, has discussed religious freedom issues on nationally broadcast television and radio, and has testified on religious freedom matters before the United States House of Representatives.

Richard T.Foltin has been named the co-recipient of the 2009 Dorothy Height Coalition Building Award for his dedicated leadership to religious freedom in the United States and around the World and for his leadership as a current co-chair of the Workplace Religious Freedom Coalition. Mr. Foltin, Legislative Director and Counsel in the American Jewish Committee's Office of Government and International Affairs in Washington, D.C, is responsible for the development, promotion and execution of AJC's legislative agenda (which includes religious liberty, civil rights, immigration, hate crimes, the intersection of national security and human rights, and foreign affairs issues).

Before moving to Washington, D.C., Mr. Foltin served in AJC's New York headquarters as director of governmental affairs and associate legal director and, prior to that, was an associate with the litigation department of a major New York law firm. He has testified before Congressional committees and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, most recently on religious discrimination in the workplace before the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Other 2009 awardees include:

• Dr. Judy Chu - Dalip Singh Saund Legislative Leadership Award
• Gurumustuk Singh - SALDEF Youth Leadership Award
• Joseph Persichini Jr. - SALDEF Public Service Award

Tickets for the Gala are selling fast, make sure you confirm your attendance today! Tickets are only $75 for adults and $50 for students and will increase at the door. Saturday May 2, 2009, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Sheraton Hotel Cerritos, 12725 Center Court Drive, Cerritos, CA 90703
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