Singh will assume leadership of the Aspen Institute’s Inclusive America Project
Contact: Sheridan Ruiz
Inclusive America Project
Sheridan.Ruiz@aspeninstitute.org
Washington, DC, October 4, 2021—Dr. Simran Jeet Singh will be the new Executive Director of the Inclusive America Project, effective October 11, announced the Aspen Institute. As Executive Director, he will lead fundraising, strategic planning, and program and financial oversight of the Project.
“Simran has an extraordinary track record of values-driven leadership and a clear vision for an America with a thriving religious pluralism,” said Dan Porterfield, President and CEO of the Aspen Institute. “We are delighted to welcome him to the Inclusive America Project where he will advance its mission to strengthen religion’s role in shifting ideas, policies, and practices to promote equity and the common good.”
Dr. Singh is a well-known scholar and champion of religious pluralism who is committed to driving civic change through disrupting bias and building empathy. As a thought leader, Singh’s writings appear regularly in major outlets, including The Washington Post, CNN, TIME Magazine, and The New York Times. He also reaches a broad range of audiences through a diversity of media engagement, including television, podcasts, a monthly column with Religion News Service, and books.
Simran’s latest book, The Light We Give: The Power of Sikh Wisdom to Transform Your Life, will be published by Penguin Random House in 2022. Currently, Simran serves as an Equality Fellow for the Open Society Foundations, Visiting Professor at Union Theological Seminary, and Senior Adviser for Equity and Inclusion at YSC Consulting.
Dr. Singh has frequently been involved in the Inclusive America Project’s programming, including its Conscience, Community, and Citizenship Symposium (2018), NYC Briefing on Religious Pluralism, Social Capital and Philanthropy (2019), Powering Pluralism Network Religious Literacy cohort (2020), Faith(ful) Resistance Webinar (2021), and Racial Justice and Religion Task Force (2021). At the Aspen Institute’s invitation, he also attended the 2019 Ideas Festival as an Aspen Ideas Scholar.
“It’s clear that religious pluralism is a critical pillar of our democracy, and it’s also clear today that religious pluralism is under threat. What’s not clear is how we cultivate religious pluralism and instill it as part of our culture,” said Singh. “The Inclusive America Project has been doing incredible, trail-blazing work in this regard, and I’m eager to help usher that forward, for the betterment of our communities and for communities all over the world.”
###
The Inclusive America Project is dedicated to building shared understanding of and joint action in support of religious pluralism, so that communities across our nation can actively engage with the diversity within and around them, while maintaining distinct identities and defending each other’s right to thrive.
The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the most important challenges facing the United States and the world. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Institute has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.