MILWAUKEE, (WI)—Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Michael E. Hensle of the Milwaukee Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is pleased to announce that Pardeep Singh Kaleka, Executive Director of the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, has received the nationally recognized FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award for 2021.

As the Executive Director of Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, Kaleka leads a 50-year-old nonprofit organization dedicated to open dialogue to build personal relationships, providing public programming to counter hate and fear while fostering interfaith, intercultural, and interracial understanding, tolerance, and friendship.

Kaleka is also the co-founder of Serve 2 Unite, a proven means of establishing a healthy sense of identity, purpose, and belonging that diverts young people from violent extremist ideologies, gun violence, school shootings, bullying, and substance abuse, along with other forms of self-harm.

Kaleka is a published Author of “The Gifts of Our Wounds,” and Intervention Specialist with families and individuals involved in extremism. Kaleka is also an award-winning columnist with Milwaukee Independent and Licensed Clinician who has worked with victims, perpetrators, and communities impacted by violence.

Pardeep Singh Kaleka is the eldest son of Sikh Temple of Wisconsin founder Satwant Singh Kaleka, who died in the 2012 attack by a white supremacist on the Oak Creek house of worship. In the years following the attack on the Sikh Temple, Kaleka has given presentations to groups and is an active member of the FBI Milwaukee Field Office’s Community Engagement Council.

The Director’s Community Leadership Award was established in 1990 by the FBI to publicly recognize the achievements of individuals and organizations that have gone above and beyond the call to service by making extraordinary contributions to their communities in the areas of civil rights, terrorism, cyber, drug, gang, or violence prevention and education. SAC Hensle is proud to present the DCLA award on behalf of FBI Director Christopher Wray, to Pardeep Singh Kaleka and his dedication to combating hate through community healing and transformation.