Meet an innoFaither: Rucha Kaur
Meet Dr. Rucha Kaur, Managing Director of Education and Community Development for the Sikh Coalition and social justice champion. Rooted in her Sikh values, Rucha really puts the community in community organizing, connecting with people across the country who are tapping into their own faith values to create change. Rucha lives in New Jersey but feels at home in many places thanks to all the relationships she has nurtured through her work.
What faith(s), if any, do you practice? How does your tradition and/or spiritual practice inspire or influence you as an innovator?
I identify as a Sikh and practice Sikhi, a monotheistic faith founded in the Punjab area in South Asia in 1469. With over 27 million followers, it’s the fifth largest organized faith tradition in the world. Sikhs believe in One God that loves and sustains all of humanity, and from this stems the understanding that we are all equal in the eyes of that one God—all equally important and worthy. While I was not raised Sikh (I came into the faith through work and then through marriage), my faith is the cornerstone of my personal and professional life. Like many Sikhs, my understanding of social justice and service stem from the core Sikh values of equality of all human beings, regardless of gender, class, social standing, or background.
It has been my personal and professional privilege to connect with sangat (community) members across the country on a daily basis who exemplify the Sikh values of equality, social justice, and service in their daily lives. I draw my inspiration from amazing folks who, in times of great divides between haves and have nots, political divisiveness, systemic injustices, and unprecedented disasters, break down barriers by sharing meals or having conversations. My faith and my sangat keep me grounded, hopeful, and excited!
What are you currently working on?
I am a social justice advocate with nearly 15 years of experience in community focused grassroots organizing and leadership building, primarily within the Sikh community. I currently serve as the Managing Director of Education and Community Development for the Sikh Coalition, the nation’s largest Sikh civil rights organization, where I am responsible for the management and strategic direction of our education and community engagement portfolios. My professional interest and expertise focuses on ensuring that marginalized communities have access to linguistically and culturally competent evidence-based information that helps them focus on sustainable and lasting change on issues that matter most to them. Information is power, and often information that really matters to folks (such as Know Your Rights information on recognizing and reporting hate crimes or preventive health information) is either inaccessible to folks because of language/technology or unrelatable because it doesn't seem culturally competent. So I work on ways to make information more accessible (by translating it), disseminating it in ways that folks can access easily (at gurdwaras or via ethnic media), and making it culturally competent (talking about a balanced plate with South Asian food).
What can we find you doing when you’re not working?
I spend my free time with my family and in my community. I am also an avid reader, recipe experimenter, music enthusiast, and coffee lover.
What is piquing your curiosity these days?
I am really interested in the intersection of faith and social justice, specifically how faith communities are organizing and mobilizing to move the needle on issues that are important to them. Be it civil rights, public health, or youth involvement/engagement, how are we harnessing the power of communities for the good of everyone? I strongly believe that communities, when purposefully brought together, are a powerful force. In a world of misinformation and disinformation, faith communities have the potential to become one of our most trusted and reliable sources. The question is, how are we collectively moving forward together?
What is something you’d like help on?
How does social justice manifest in other faith communities, and how can we learn from one another to become stronger allies to each other?
What is something you can offer others in the innoFaith network?
I can offer support in any of the following: non-profit management, strategic planning, grassroots organizing and community mobilizing, project management, community-academic research partnerships, and stakeholder management.
You can find Rucha via LinkedIn.
Photo credit: Sikh Coalition
Meet an innoFaither is our series to introduce the inspiring optimists in the innoFaith world and what they’re working on and thinking about. We hope it helps you find and engage with each other across the network to advance faith-rooted social innovation and interfaith collaboration for social impact. Or just meet some cool people. Find the full series at www.innofaith.org/meet-an-innofaither.