Board of Directors

Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa, PhD
Executive Director

Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa, PhD is founder and director of the Guru Ram Das Center for Medicine & Humanology.  A yoga instructor since 1971, she began to specialize in teaching Kundalini Yoga and Meditation to people with chronic or life threatening illness and their family members in 1986, under the direction of Yogi Bhajan. The Center provides direct client services and yogically based programs for people with diabetes, cancer, heart disease, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, HIV, anxiety, depression and life transitions. We offer professional training and conduct outcome studies on the medical effects of yoga practice.

Dr. Khalsa is a RYT 500, a KRI Certified yoga teacher trainer and a charter member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. She provides training to health professionals and yoga instructors on the application of yoga and meditation to the spiritual, psychological and behavioral aspects of getting and staying well.

Daya Singh Khalsa
Vice President

Daya Singh Khalsa serves as Vice President of the Guru Ram Das Center for Medicine & Humanology. He is also the President and co-founder of Akal Security, Inc. Akal Security is one of New Mexico’s largest privately held company, and one of  America’s ten largest security personnel firms.  Founded in 1980, Akal is a major security personnel contractor to the Federal Government, state and local Government, and corporations nationwide. He is also Director of Public Affairs of Sikh Dharma of New Mexico and a Minister of Sikh Dharma.

Some of his other professional and service affiliations include: NM Governor’s Business Council, 1987 - 2002; Board of Directors, Santa Fe Economic Development Corp., 1991 - 1994;
Chairman, 1991 New Mexico INC 500 Conference, Albuquerque; President, Board of Directors, Southwest Care Center; Board of Directors, Espanola Chamber of Commerce; Board of Directors, Espanola Community Development Corp; Board of Directors, Chair, Sikh Dharma of Phoenix;
Board of Directors, Amar Infinity Foundation; Advisory Board, New Mexico Foundation for Human Rights Projects.

Julie Staples, PhD (Guru Prakash Kaur)
Board President

Julie K. Staples, Ph.D., (Guru Parkash Kaur), Board President, is responsible for grant writing, educational evaluations, and scientific research on the effectiveness of the Diabetes Health Promotion Program at the Guru Ram Das Center for Medicine and Humanlogy. She is also the Research Director at the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C. where her research focuses on the effectiveness of mind-body modalities with an emphasis on war-related posttraumatic stress. Dr. Staples is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Georgetown University School of Medicine where she teaches the science of yoga and meditation in a graduate elective course in the Complementary and Alternative Medicine program. She is also a certified Kundalini yoga teacher. She received her doctorate in Cell and Molecular Biology at St. Louis University.

Amrit Singh Khalsa, PhD
Treasurer

Amrit Khalsa is Chief Executive Officer of Essential Living Foods and Chairman of the Board of the Kundalini Research Institute. Mr. Khalsa earned his PhD in Aeronautical Engineering from MIT, and has spent the last 12 years working in socially responsible businesses and non-profits. He has had several C-level and board-level positions, including chairman of the board of several non-profits, CEO of both a computer consulting company and a non-profit, and COO of a diverse $600 million conglomerate. Currently he is the CEO of Essential Living Foods, an organic food supplier and manufacturer located in Santa Monica, CA.  He is committed to the idea and the practice of conscious commerce, doing good in the world, providing excellent jobs for employees, and growing a healthy bottom line all at the same time.

Along with the socially responsible business he practices, Mr. Khalsa is also a Kundalini yoga teacher and trainer, teaching two nights a week in Los Angeles.  Mr. Khalsa has a wife and two young children and lives in Santa Monica, CA.

Sat Mitar Kaur Khalsa
Secretary

Satmitar Kaur Khalsa is the Board Secretary and Assistant to the Executive Director of the Guru Ram Das Center for Medicine and Humanology.  She is the President of the Board of Interfaith-LEAP (Leadership for the Empowerment of All People), a non-profit organization focused on serving the poor of northern New Mexico.  She managed various international events for 5 years, oversaw the grant applications and selection process for Peace Cereals, handled diplomatic affairs for Sikh Dharma International and represented 3HO Foundation at the United Nations.  Satmitar Kaur received her Master’s Degree in Education and Human Studies at Marlyhurst University in Oregon.