Planning Committee
Past Members
Satya Das is the founder and principal of Cambridge Strategies Inc. With more than 25 years of journalistic experience, he is actively engaged in various peace and human rights causes.
Paula E. Kirman is a freelance writer/editor/photographer and a human rights activist, community organizer, and musician. She is the editor of the inner city community newspaper Boyle McCauley News.
Trina Joshi, originally a journalist from India, is a full-time volunteer in Edmonton. Owing to her post-graduate education in Journalism and Political Science, she has a good grip on social issues and wishes to contribute to the cause of gender equality through excellent initiatives like Daughters Day.
Sonia Bitar is a retired Citizenship Judge for Northern Alberta and a former Executive Director of Changing Together, a Centre for Immigrant Women in Edmonton.
Poushali Mitra works in the human services sector in Edmonton and is passionate about promoting and advocating for women’s rights in Canadian society, especially amongst immigrant communities.
Gurcharan Singh Bhatia is a veteran advocate for civil rights and multiculturalism in Canada. He is a retired judge of the Citizenship Court of Canada, a former Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and the founder of the International Association of Citizens for a Civil Society.
Didar Pannu is a former teacher and school superintendent, and counsellor with the federal government.
Dr. Raj Pannu is a professor emeritus and former leader of the Alberta NDP.
Allan Shepherd is a freelance writer and journalist and a founder of the International Association of Citizens for a Civil Society.
Sabrina Atwal is the Project Director at Indo Canadian Women’s Association and works extensively with immigrant women and youth in the area of advocacy and research.
(Back row, from left): Trina Joshi, Sabrina Atwal, Satya Das, Mita Das, Charan Khehra, Jim Gurnett, Shaykh Sheikh, Didar Pannu, and Poushali Mitra.
(Front row, from left): Dr. Raj Pannu, Gurcharan Bhatia, CM, Paula Kirman, Dr. Gita Das, and Christina Nsaliwa.