Our Team

A first-generation American and the son of blue-collar parents, Arvinderpal brings to Taleem Initiative his personal experiences as an educator, and his passion for promoting higher education among K-12 youth. Arvinderpal holds the B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Engineering from San Jose State University, University of Michigan, and University of California, Santa Cruz, respectively. Currently a Research Scientist at Oracle Corporation, Arvinderpal has several highly-cited research papers in the field of Computer Networks. He is also the author of the Student Handbook for the Taleem Initiative.

An immigrant to the United States, Harpreet K. Sangha is a 2nd year graduate student in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her passion is deeply rooted in educationally empowering minority communities. She completed her B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. Her motivation to pursue a college education came from an understanding that a lack of education made America challenging for her parents. Coming from a culture where education is not always prioritized for females, Harpreet approaches her education with a sense of gratitude. She immensely enjoys coaching new and disadvantaged Americans how to navigate the waters of educational opportunity. She is a 2013 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Ultimately, she envisions herself as a research scientist, probing areas of biomechanics and medical technology.

Ranvir Dhillon was raised in Fremont, California, the first-born of immigrants parents from Punjab, India. Throughout his childhood and teenage years, his parents stressed education as the key to unlocking opportunities in America that they weren't afforded in their farming communities in Punjab. Ranvir lettered all four years in Cross Country and Track at Washington High School in Fremont and earned all-league honors for Cross Country for three consecutive years. A three-time team captain, Ranvir graduated from Washington as its valedictorian for the Class of 2009. He is currently a senior at Harvard University pursuing a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology and is on track to graduate in May 2013. As an undergraduate, he performed research on cardiact t-tubules at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Following graduation, he plans to continue pursuing his interests in medicine and health care policy and management.

A native of the Delhi National Capital Region, Kanwal Talwar nurtured dreams of pursuing higher education in the USA from a young age. She earned her MBA, dually majoring in International Development and Finance, in 2006 on a Strategic Initiative Scholarship from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, which is ranked #1 for international business by the US News & World Report. She holds a BS and MS in Physics with Electronics from the University of Bombay, India, and Diplomas in eCommerce and Human Resource Management. With fluency in Hindi, Punjabi, French, English, and German, Kanwal is easily a "language enthusiast." She currently works in a consulting capacity for a cloud computing firm.

Deep Kaur Jodhka is a first-generation American who grew up in California's diverse Central Valley. She believes that the growth and development of our communities is intricately linked to access to higher education. Deep graduated from UC Davis in 2010 with B.A. degrees in Chemistry and Communication and earned her J.D. degree at the UC Berkeley School of Law in 2013. While in law school, Deep was an editor for the Asian American Law Journal and worked for a number of legal organizations dedicated to social justice. Some of her most memorable experiences during law school come from volunteering with Juvenile Hall Outreach, a street law program that empowers incarcerated youth by providing them with information about their legal rights and criminal procedure. Deep plans to continue to use the law to advocate for the rights of the most marginalized and indigent members of our communities.

We are grateful for the unparalleled support of the following individuals whose contributions made the Taleem Initiative possible.

Harmeet Singh (Co-Founder and Program Director 09-10; UCLA Class of 2010)

Jas Ranu (Program Director 09-10; UC Berkeley Class of 2010, currently first-year medical school student at Albany Medical College)

Nav Ranu (Tutoring Program Director 09-10; UC Berkeley Class of 2011, currently first-year PhD student at MIT)

Dr. MP Singh, MD (Advisory Board 09-present; Stanford University BS, MBA, and MD)

Preet Singh (Advisory Board 09-10; UC Berkeley Engineering)