Our Board of Advisors has been proving the adage.
Board of Advisors – Sri Anandpur Sahib Foundation
Dr. Guneeta Singh Bhalla is an eminent physicist, historian, and globally respected oral archivist who has transformed how the world remembers and understands the Partition of 1947. As the Founder and Executive Director of The 1947 Partition Archive, she has spearheaded one of the largest people-powered oral history projects globally — documenting over 10,000 firsthand stories of Partition survivors across 16 countries.
Holding a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Bhalla began her career in the sciences at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Her journey into archival preservation began as a personal mission, driven by a sense of urgency to document the vanishing voices of a generation that witnessed the traumatic division of India.
Her work has been recognized internationally for bridging memory, history, and identity. Through technology, empathy, and community involvement, she has brought untold stories to life — from villages in Punjab to diaspora communities around the world.
As a Board Advisor at the Sri Anandpur Sahib Foundation, Dr. Bhalla brings a rare confluence of academic excellence, cultural insight, and global vision. Her commitment to preserving Sikh heritage and uplifting collective memory aligns deeply with the Foundation’s mission to honor Sri Anandpur Sahib's historical, spiritual, and humanitarian legacy.
Bhalla was born in India and spent part of her childhood in Punjab before moving to the United States, where accounts of her paternal grandmother's flight from Lahore to Amritsar during Partition first impressed upon her the human scale of the upheaval. At nineteen, she began informally recording family recollections, an impulse that would later shape her archival work.
Bhalla earned a Ph.D. in condensed matter physics at the University of Florida in 2009; her dissertation explored size effects in phase-separated manganite nanostructures.
Before dedicating herself to oral history, Bhalla was an experimental condensed matter physicist. She completed her postdoctoral work at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley, where she focused on quantum confinement at interfaces, including oxide heterostructures and domain walls in multiferroics.
She and her collaborators were the first to measure a definitive built-in polarization voltage at the Lanthanum aluminate–Strontium titanate interface, by using unique quantum tunnelling and capacitance measurements to characterize the interface. Previously, she showed that electronic currents in phase-separated manganites travel by quantum tunnelling between metallic islands separated by insulating islands.
A 2008 visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial convinced Bhalla of the power of survivor testimony in shaping public memory. Returning to India the following year, she began filming interviews with Partition witnesses; by 2011 she left physics to establish The 1947 Partition Archive as a volunteer-run non-profit organization. The organization has since collected over 12,000 oral histories from across the world, preserving the memories of those affected by the 1947 Partition.
Bhalla has written essays and articles for various publications, including The Diplomat, Business Standard, and Rediff.com. Her research papers have been published in Nature Physics and Physical Review Letters, among other academic journals. In 2024, she and her team published a book titled 10,000 Memories: A Lived History of Partition, Independence, and World War II in South Asia.
Her work has been widely recognized for its contribution to preserving South Asian history. In 2023, she was featured in an episode of PBS's Global Perspectives, where she shared her transition from physicist to historian and the global significance of the Partition archive. In 2017, she was nominated for CNN News 18's Indian of the Year award in the Public Service category. That same year, she spoke at TEDx Ashoka about the importance of oral history documentation to understand Partition.
“We must remember, because memory is resistance. It is dignity. And it is legacy.”
Board of Advisors – Sri Anandpur Sahib Foundation
Ms. Ananta Sodhi is an accomplished interior architect and spatial storyteller, currently serving as Senior Associate at Perkins&Will, one of the world’s most respected design and architecture firms. With over 20 years of experience, she brings a rich blend of design sensitivity, cultural depth, and strategic thinking to every project she leads.
Her work focuses on creating immersive environments that balance aesthetic excellence with human-centered design. Passionate about the intersection of heritage and modernity, Ms. Sodhi believes in using space as a medium to tell stories, evoke memory, and inspire connection.
As a member of the Board of Advisors at the Sri Anandpur Sahib Foundation, she contributes her design perspective to the preservation and celebration of spiritual and cultural heritage. Her deep appreciation for sacred architecture and Sikh legacy makes her an invaluable voice in the Foundation’s vision.
"Spaces shape our spirit. Designing for Sri Anandpur Sahib is not just architecture — it is service to a timeless legacy."
Board of Advisors – Sri Anandpur Sahib Foundation
Ms. Shabad Gyani brings over a decade of experience at Apple Inc., where she has led critical operations within the Worldwide Supply Demand Management team. Currently serving as Manager in the division, she is responsible for orchestrating global planning and supply strategies that ensure product availability for millions of customers worldwide.
Ms. Shabad Gyani is a seasoned business leader with over 14 years of experience across global retail and technology giants, currently serving as Manager, Worldwide Supply Demand Management at Apple Inc. Based in Cupertino, California, she leads strategic planning and execution for Apple’s global product availability — aligning demand, supply, and customer experience at scale.
Before joining Apple in 2015, Ms. Gyani spent nearly 5 years at Gap Inc., where she held progressive roles including Senior Merchandise Planner, Merchandise Planner, and Analyst, contributing to merchandising strategy, financial planning, and inventory optimization across the brand’s global retail operations. Her tenure at Gap Inc. in the San Francisco Bay Area refined her expertise in forecasting, consumer trends, and commercial operations.
As a member of the Board of Advisors for the Sri Anandpur Sahib Foundation, Ms. Gyani brings with her a rare blend of retail intelligence, supply chain mastery, and cultural sensitivity. Her insights support the Foundation’s mission to preserve Sikh heritage through innovative, globally resonant strategies.