Washington: The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has appointed Kiran Kaur Gill, a Sikh woman, to its Faith-Based Security Advisory Council, making her part of this prestigious body.
Kiran has been the executive director of the Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund since 2019. She was previously the president and CEO of PARS Environmental Inc, an environmental consulting firm in New Jersey.
She was also selected as the “Small Businessperson of the Year” by the US Small Business Administration in 2014 and was named among the top 50 most influential people of colour in New Jersey by ROI-NJ.
Also involved in a variety of community and civic organisations, Gill is the president and a founding member of Inspiring South Asian American Women, a board member of the ONE Project, and has volunteered for the Habitat for Humanity International, Global Village Programme in Buenos Aires Argentina.
The Faith-Based Security Advisory Council (FBSAC) recently named Chandru Acharya, who resides in Michigan, as a council member.
The FBSAC, as mentioned on its official website, “provides organisationally independent, strategic, timely, specific and actionable advice to the Secretary through the Assistant Secretary for Partnership and Engagement who also serves as the DHS Faith-Based Organisation Security Coordinator.”The FBSAC provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary and other senior leadership on matters related to protecting houses of worship, preparedness and enhanced coordination with the faith community.