Officer
An Engineering graduate from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, India, Satbir Singh Cheema came to Canada to gain his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg. He joined PICS in 1998 as a frontline staff member and was promoted to Director of Employment Programs and Planning in 2004. In 2017, Satbir was hired as the CEO when the society’s Founder and Founding CEO retired. Satbir reinforces PICS Society’s commitment to build a healthy and just society which values and respects all cultures. He is strongly motivated to make our communities better, safer and inclusive.
Satbir has served as a member of BC RCMP CO’s Cultural Diversity Advisory Committee and the City of Surrey’s Task Force on Gang Violence Prevention set up by the Mayor of Surrey that led to the development of the Surrey Anti-Gang Family Empowerment (SAFE) Program. He has represented PICS Society at various levels – both locally and nationally, having served as a Board Member with ASPECT (Association of Service Providers for Employability and Career Training) for seven years and making a presentation to the Defense Diversity Council in Ottawa to provide a community perspective to the recruiting efforts of the Canadian Forces.
In 2006, Satbir participated and assisted with “Operation Remembrance”, an initiative by the RCMP and Canadian Forces to arrange markers for 36 unmarked graves of veterans in Surrey. In 2012, Satbir was awarded with the Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition for his significant contributions to community service. In 2021, the Community and Crime Prevention Branch of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General gave him the “Safe Communities Award” for exemplary leadership in developing and supporting initiatives that promote safe communities in British Columbia.
Satbir is actively engaged in overseeing the development and planning of the $82.5 million ‘Guru Nanak Diversity Village’ project, a 125-bed, 3 story long-term care facility that will provide culturally sensitive 24/7 care and safe environment for South-Asian seniors.