The world is under a continuous evolution, which has exposed people’s lifestyles to considerable changes. From traveling to running a business, and from communication to acquiring education, everything in this world is subject to change. It is causing a shift in the mindsets of the people. The only way to survive in the present era is to keep up with the pace at which the world moves towards advancement. The most dominant cause of this evolution is technology, which has caused people to transition to the digital world.

While social media has been an important part of people’s lives, extensive digitalization has allowed the world to see its true potential. The era of social media began in 1997 with the release of Six Degrees, a platform created to help people keep in touch with far-away friends and relatives. Today, the world of social media is ruled by social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Snapchat, to mention a few.

The scope of social media is not confined to a ‘form of communication’ anymore; rather, it has turned into a super-effective tool that connects people across the world into a virtual network. As of 2020, more than 3.6 billion people are using social websites, which make up a major portion of the world’s population. Be it initiating a global movement, attracting a wide audience, increasing the network of clients, or boosting the reach of a political campaign; social media is the center of it all. Overlooking the significance of social media is a pure example of naivety.

Ravi Singh, an Asian-American Sikh, is one of those people who realize the importance of social media in the world. Not only this, but the 48-year-old tech entrepreneur acquired a Post-doctoral degree in social media, becoming one of the first few individuals to have looked upon social media as more than just communication or advertising platform. His clientele includes some high-profile personalities such as Juan Manuel Santos, the former Colombian President, and Enda Kenny, Prime Minister of Ireland. Currently, Ravi Singh serves as a social media strategist, majorly for high profile personalities.

He is an expert on social media and has appeared on several notable platforms such as the U.N. and the European Parliament to talk about social media political campaigns. Ravi Singh also appeared in the Illinois State Fair in 1995, where he spoke on using the Internet. In 1996, he was invited to the National Asian American Planning Committee for the Presidential Election.

Born to Stand Against Injustice, Meant to Succeed

Born on May 24, 1972, in Aurora, Illinois, in the house of immigrant parents, Pavitar Singh from Burma and Jasbir Kaur Singh from India, Ravi Singh was meant to make a name in the world. His father was a medical doctor and Chief of Radiology at Rush-Copley Hospital.

A man of faith with the highest degree of resilience, as a kid, Ravi faced bullying at school for wearing a turban. It did not break him. Instead, it made him stronger than ever. He took a bold step and started wearing a turban when he was just ten years old.

Ravi Singh, who the world knows for his literary pieces, “Leadership by Turban: An American Story” and “Democracy 2.0,” is much more than an author. He is the owner of a powerful personality, with strict values and beliefs. He always stood up against the wrong, even when he was a kid. Ravi was asked to take off his turban while he was enrolled in Marmion Military Academy. The act of discrimination did not weaken his faith; instead, it instilled confidence in him. He refused the order, as a result of which he was expelled from the academy. It was after his parents went to the U.S. Rep. J. Dennis Hastert to request draft legislation where discrimination based on turbans would be declared illegal that Ravi Singh graduated from the academy in 1990.

Standing against extreme bullying made Ravi a strong individual and convinced him to make things better for the fellow Asian-American Sikhs. Today, Ravi is not only a social media and political pioneer for high-profile personalities and tech entrepreneur, but he is also a community activist.

The ‘Campaign Guru’ in the United States

Ravi stepped into politics after he, along with his community members, faced extreme discrimination. He knew that to make things better, there has to be a Sikh representative in the country. Ravi took the responsibility upon himself and acquired a master’s degree in Political Science in just nine months. His dissertation was on Asian-American political participation in which he shed light on the challenges that Sikh-Americans had to deal with by being mislabeled and by not being considered Asian-Americans.

He also ran for public office in 1997, becoming the first Asian-American Sikh with a turban to run for office in the 42nd District Illinois General Assembly. It was a milestone in the history of Asian-American Sikhs as it caught the attention of many around the country. It led Ravi to the Kane County Republican nomination, the first Republican ever to win the nomination with a turban in the country.

Ravi’s contributions are not just limited to his community. He has also contributed to the movement of bridging the gap between politics and technology with his non-partisan technology company, ElectionMall™ Technologies, Inc. The launch of this company made him a recipient of the Kentucky Colonel Award, making him the first Sikh recipient of this award in America. In addition to this, he was awarded the title “campaign guru” by USA Today in 2007. He was also a former member of EAPC (European) and the AAPC (American) Associations of Political Consultants. He was one of the board members for IAPC (International). The politics expert has also served as an aide to the Lieutenant Governor Bob Kustra and State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka of Illinois.

In addition to authoring two books, Ravi Singh has published articles for George Washington University and filed US patents on the following  “Method and system of providing political campaign material,” “System using electronic campaign yard sign for gathering supports from email recipients,” “Donation Pages for an Online Campaign Management,” and several others. Dr. Singh presented his dissertation on the analysis of 35,674 tweets by Donald Trump at the International System Dynamics Symposium.

Currently residing in Miami, Florida, with his wife Elena K. Singh, Ravi Singh is actively working as a community activist. He is the committee chairman for the Next Generation of the Parliament of the World’s Religion. He is a golfer and is the first Sikh to Captain NCAA Division I Golf team.

An Outstanding Asian-American Sikh

Ravi Singh started as a volunteer at Rush-Copley hospital at the age of 16 and with a Bachelor of Science, a double major in Pre-med, but he had other plans for himself. He wanted to make the lives of his fellow community members free of discrimination. Due to this, he stepped into politics and fought hard to establish Asian-American Sikhs as a recognized community in the United States.

He has played a significant role in introducing e-Democracy on an international forum, including at the European Union Parliament, a United Nations Conference in Guadalajara, the Public Affairs Association of Canada, and the Personal Democracy Forum in New York and Madrid. The fact that after completing his master’s degree in social media from the University of Rockies, now known as Ashford University, he completed his studies at MIT, Duke, and Harvard in digital marketing and leadership programs, makes him one of the dominant personalities in the movement of bridging the gap between social media, technology, and the political world.

This man in a turban, being one of the first few to acquire a Ph.D. in social media, is an example for people across the globe who believe success does not depend upon adapting to the changing environment of the world.

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