Two Indian Americans are among this years Vote is Sacred Fellows. Ria Chakrabarty of Hindus for Human Rights, and Aasees Kaur of the Sikh Coalition are among several selected as Fellows.
Each will receive grant funding to implement the Faith in Elections Playbook (FIEP), a nonpartisan resource to inspire everyday people to do their part to ensure free and fair elections, the press release explains. And they will form a supportive network, reaching across divides to work together, and uplifting each other in their sacred work on elections.
According to the organization, the Vote is Sacred Fellowship brings together civic and faith leaders to devise strategies and projects that will promote constructive engagement with elections in the 2026 midterms, and to discuss difficult questions around the elections.
“The 2026 Vote is Sacred Fellows represent a wide diversity of identities, views, and beliefs, enabling them to practice pluralism and model cooperation, ‘ the organization says in its Feb. 25, 2026 press release. The lessons learned in the fellowship will be used to inform elections work and public conversations around the country, it adds.
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“We believe that democracy is a deeply held Hindu value – it allows each individual to pursue their choices and celebrates the diversity in our shared humanity,” Chakrabarty is quoted saying in the press release.
Over the course of the program, fellows will learn pluralism practices and strategies for leveraging faith in elections, organizers say. Fellows will coordinate their elections work at the state and national levels.
Chakrabarty is the Senior Policy Director at Hindus for Human Rights, where she advocates in collaboration with government actors. She has focused on understanding the effects of US foreign policy on communities worldwide. She has also worked in various positions in the United States Senate and the World Health Organization, according to her bio on Hindus for Human Rights. She graduated from the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas with a Masters of Global Policy Studies.
Kaur currently serves as Community Development Director at the Sikh Coalition since May 2025. She originally began collaborating with the Sikh Coalition in 2012, and was previously a full-time employee of the organization from May 2017 to July 2022—most recently as Senior Legal Client Manager. She has a Bachelor of Science in Public Policy & Management from Georgia State University.