Ep 22: Monica Manpreet Singh - America's First Female Sikh Judge: Breaking Barriers for Women of Color and the Sikh Community

Atalanta Diaries Breakthrough Women in Conversation with Enma Popli

Judge Manpreet “Monica” Singh was born, raised, and educated in Houston, and earned her bachelor's degree from University of Texas at Austin and her Juris Doctor (JD) from South Texas College of Law.

Before her election to Harris County Civil Court at Law #4 in 2022 where she made history as Texas’ first Sikh Judge, Monica was a practicing attorney for 21 years. In 2010 she was runner-up for the Houston Young Lawyers Association Most Outstanding Attorney and the South Asian Bar Association honored her with the Distinguished Member Award in 2017.

Monica has served on the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the Texas Lyceum, and the Sikh Coalition. She is a Chapter Representative for the exclusive American Board of Trial Advocates and has taught numerous Continuing legal Education topics for University of Texas and the State Bar of Texas, an organization that also awarded her the Texas Diversity Champion Award in 2018.

Judge Singh is also a recipient of the national Passion of Excellence Award and a graduate of the Harvard Leadership Program, the FBI Citizens Academy and Leadership Houston.

Key themes emerging out of our conversation:

• Being a Sikh immigrant in America
• Acknowledgement of the Sikh Faith
• Finding mentors in the most unexpected places
• Imposter Syndrome, something taboo about admitting
• 9/11 a pivotal time, being othered in your own country
• Women don't have it all. You can say it's hard and give yourself grace
• People help out people that look and feel like them. Opening doors for your tribe
• African Americans have to work doubly hard to prove whatever normal was for everybody else.

Connect with Enma Popli on Linkedin:

>> https://www.linkedin.com/in/enmapopli/

Visit Enma Popli’s website:
>> http://www.enmapopli.com/