With careers spanning finance, economics, healthcare, education, and technology, our team combines world-class expertise with lifetimes of experience. Together we are dedicated to advancing our mission of transforming lives through higher education.
Dr. Manmohan Singh Kumar is Senior Strategic Advisor at CDPQ—a Global Investment Fund; his prior appointments at CDPQ include Senior Vice President, Managing Director, and member of its US Board. He was earlier a senior official at the International Monetary Fund for over twenty years, responsible for G7/G0 work, and Chief of its Fiscal Policy, and Financing Divisions.
He has been a Visiting Professor at Georgetown University, taught at Harvard University, and was a strategist at Credit Suisse. He holds a Ph.D. from Trinity College, Cambridge University where he also taught for five years. He has authored several books and papers on economics and finance, and a number of articles on Sikh philosophy. He was the Founder President of Sikh Society of Cambridge, and has been a member of Guru Nanak Foundation of America Board. He has been an SHDF Board member since 2014, and Chairman since July 2020.
Gajinder Singh Ahuja is an Emeritus Chairman of SHDF. He is a founding member of SHDF and has served the organization since its inception in 1999.
He was Secretary-General of SHDF from 1999 to June 2013 and Chairman from July 2013 to June 2020. He is presently serving on the Board as Senior Adviser.
He retired from the World Bank where he had held a range of senior positions on budgeting and co-financing of several World Bank projects in Africa with other international institutions and agencies.
Also a founding member of SHDF, Dr. Harbaksh S. Sethi has served the organization since its inception in 1999, making significant contributions across a broad range of activities.
He received his Ph.D. in 1963 in Germany, one of the first Sikhs to do so, and where he later worked in industry.
His professional journey began in Germany, where he joined a global enterprise specializing in manufacturing earthmoving machinery.
After rising to the position of Director of Planning, he joined the World Bank in 1978.
In 2000 he retired and for the next 10 years worked as a Consulting Advisor to the World Bank.
Dr. Gurpal S. Bhuller is a retired orthopedic surgeon, now living in the Washington Metropolitan area, with his spouse, Dr. Neena kaur Bhuller.
He practiced in the Richmond area of Virginia for over three decades and moved to his present home after retiring from clinical practice in 2015.
In the education field he has been involved with the Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, VA and the John Randolph Foundation in Hopewell VA.
He has also participated in programs with the Perak Sikh Education Aid Fund in Malaysia, and with the Akal Academy in Punjab.
Kanwal Singh is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants.
Mrs. Singh is also a distinguished member of the Washington area Sikh community.
She is senior partner in a reputable CPA firm in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The firm caters to high net-worth clients with an emphasis on professional and personal service corporations.
She brings invaluable finance and accounting expertise to the SHDF Board which she joined in 2013.
Devender Singh is a veteran Cisco senior manager with extensive agile technology leadership experience.
He has more than three decades of expertise in producing stellar results achieved through total accountability product/offer management.
These have been combined with excellence in technology marketing consistent with Pragmatic Marketing.
He has been an active SHDF Board member since 2016 and has brought his technology expertise to its work.
Annumeet Rao holds a Master’s Degree in English from GNDU and a Bachelor of Laws from Meerut University.
With over three decades of experience, Annumeet has served as an English lecturer, an associate at a law firm, and a volunteer with organizations like ASIRT and the Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund.
From 2014 to 2020, she managed the Sikh Human Development Foundation’s scholarship program and currently serves as a dedicated board member.
She has been contributing significantly to SHDF’s mission of empowering underprivileged students through education.
Seema Kakar was born and raised in New Zealand and attended medical school at the University of Auckland. Dr. Kakar completed her residency in Internal Medicine at George Washington University Hospital and subsequently joined the faculty.
She taught medical students and residents and built an innovative curriculum in clinical reasoning, culinary medicine and community service learning during her 20 years there. She is a board-certified Internist and a certified culinary medicine specialist.
She currently serves on the Advisory Council for the GW SEVA Teaching Kitchen. She is a co-founder and board member of SevaTruck Foundation, which provides free hot meals for food-insecure children at Title I schools and afterschool homework support.
Seema is a physician volunteer at her local gurdwara clinic and with Operation Walk which provides free hip and knee replacement surgeries in third world countries for patients who would not have the opportunity to receive this care.
Additionally, she holds leadership positions on various nonprofit boards focused on health and education.
Hospitality industry advisor with expertise in construction management, technology implementation, asset management, and investor relations. Currently collaborating with Retreat Hotels & Resorts in these areas while serving on a $20-$30M hospitality fund advisory board.
Previously led successful physical security, homeland security, and critical infrastructure protection initiatives 20+ years. Founded and grew eVigilant Security into an effective converged security platform through strategic acquisitions, ultimately leading to the company’s successful sale.
Core capabilities include leadership, engineering, operations, strategy, and relationship building. Passionate about driving organizational growth and excellence. Equipped with the technical knowledge and business acumen to make valuable contributions in the dynamic hospitality sector.
Mehak Bhatia is an experienced Fixed Income Portfolio Manager at Wellington Management focusing on Emerging markets debt.
Mehak has extensive Emerging markets trading experience across both buy-side and sell-side firms. Prior to joining Wellington in 2021, he was a Portfolio Manager at Brevan Howard (2015-2021) focused on Emerging market credit and macro strategies.
Before that, he spent 11 years on the sell-side in various EM roles. He was Global Co-head of EM Trading at UBS (2011-2015), Head of EM-EMEA Credit Trading at Morgan Stanley (2007-2011) and an EM Credit Trader at Deutsche Bank (2004-2007).
Mehak was born in India and holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management – IIM Calcutta (2004) and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology – IIT Delhi (2002). He currently lives in London UK with his wife and son.
Davinder Kohli is the Chief Digital Officer at Creospan, a technology and strategy consulting company, where heads business strategy and advises executives both in the private and public sectors on use of digital technology and AI in the financial industry.
He has spent two decades leading digital transformation initiatives at various organizations, such as State Farm, Northern Trust, and DeVry, and built two tech startups.
In 2018, he was invited to the World Economic Forum to discuss the impact of virtual reality in the retail industry.
He holds an MS in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from the University of Illinois, Chicago, an executive management from Booth School of Business, and AI & Advanced Analytics management program at Wharton (WMP’22).
Preet Kanwal Singh Khalsa is an accomplished Strategic and Performance-Focused Customer Experience Leader at Cisco Systems.
He is known for his innovative leadership in both US and Asia. With over a decade of sales and consulting experience.
He excels at defining goals, aligning resources, and exceeding expectations.
Currently also pursuing an MBA at the prestigious Wharton School, UPenn, Preet brings a forward-thinking mindset, visionary leadership and commitment to excellence to community-driven initiatives.
He has been an active SHDF Board member for several years, providing leadership in strategy, technology,finance and expansion initiatives.
With over seven years of experience in project management, fundraising, and leadership, Harmeet Kaur brings a strategic vision and a passion for community impact to SHDF.
Harmeet’s dedication to non-profit work, particularly in education and social outreach, has led to successful partnerships and impactful fundraising initiatives.
Her background in strategic planning, donor development, and relationship building enables SHDF to expand its mission and deepen its support for communities in need. Holding a Master’s in Commerce from Panjab University, Harmeet combines academic excellence with hands-on expertise to lead SHDF forward.
We are dedicated to our mission to the futures of our scholars. Come work with us as we transform lives through higher education.
The Sikh Human Development Foundation is dedicated to catalyzing transformative change by offering scholarships to underserved yet ambitious students across Punjab and nearby regions. Through donor support, the Foundation has helped empower students to pursue advanced education and professional opportunities in diverse fields, awarding over 13,000 scholarships over the past two decades.