Ravi Singh

Ravi Singh is an Asian-American Sikh tech-entrepreneur, the first USA military cadet with a turban, social media and political campaign guru, author, international lecturer/speaker, community activist, first Sikh to Captain NCAA Division I Golf team, and first Sikh to run for state representative in Illinois General Assembly. He was the CEO and founder of a non-partisan political technology solutions firm, ElectionMall™ Technologies, Inc. The company partnered with Microsoft to develop Campaign Cloud and closed operations in 2016.

Dr. Ravi Singh

He is the author of “Leadership by Turban: An American Story” and “Democracy 2.0,” along with multiple articles. He served as an aide to the Lieutenant Governor and State Treasurer of Illinois.

He is one of the first individuals in the world with a doctoral degree with a specialization in social media and technology. He holds two master's degrees, master's in Political Science from Northwestern University, and master's in Social Media Management from Liberty University.

Early life and education

Ravi Singh was born and raise d in Aurora, Illinois, to U.S. immigrant parents, Pavitar Singh (Burma) and Jasbir Kaur Singh (India). He was raised in Sikh faith, where a turban and full beard are basic religious constituents. He was the oldest among three siblings, and all of them faced severe bullying for their religious differences being one of the first Sikh families in the city. To fight discrimination, Singh started wearing a full-fledge turban at the age of 10.

Singh was 14 years old when he stepped into politics. He was forbidden from wearing a turban by the U.S. Armed Forces when he was enrolled in the USA Military Academy. In 1987, legislation was introduced by Senator Paul Simon (Former 1996 Presidential Candidate) and Congressman Dennis Hastert (former Republican Speaker of the House) on his behalf, which was signed by President Ronald Reagan. As per this legislation, in 1990, Singh graduated from the military academy with full honors as a 2nd Lieutenant. He became the first U.S. cadet ever to graduate from a military academy with a turban.

His father was a medical doctor working as Chief of Radiology at Rush-Copley Hospital in Aurora, Illinois. Ravi’s father wanted his son to become a medical doctor. Ravi Singh faced several challenges while building his career but did honor his father's wish by volunteering at Rush-Copley hospital at the age of 16 and finishing a Bachelor of Science, a double major in Pre-med, and Political Science at Valparaiso University.

Ravi Singh fell in love with politics at Valparaiso University when an auspicious campaign to save the Golf Team members scholarships led to his run for student body president, and he became the first Sikh-American in the United States to be student body president. He acquired a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Northwestern University and completed his second Master’s Degree at Liberty University.

He completed his master’s in just nine months and wrote his dissertation on Asian American political participation and talked about the challenges that Sikh-Americans had to deal with by being mislabeled and by not being considered Asian-Americans. Singh in 2019 acquired his Ph.D. in social media and technology from Ashford University and finished his studies at MIT, Duke, and Harvard in digital marketing and leadership programs.

Political consultant

At the age of 25, Singh ran for public office, becoming the first Asian-American Sikh with a turban to run for office in the District Illinois General Assembly. He used his campaigning period to launch the first “online chat town hall meeting.” He also created the first Internet candidate campaign website in the district. Singh received an endorsement of three of the mayors and the Aurora 2nd Ward Alderman Bill Cross and gained the support of the owner of the local Domino’s Pizza restaurant. He did not win the elections, but he landed on the position of administrative assistant for the Illinois Lt. Governor and State Treasurer.

Singh was one of the first Sikh American Political Consultants to be a member of EAPC (European), the AAPC (American) Associations of Political Consultants, and the IAPC (International), where he is part of the board members. He has published articles for George Washington University, and these revolve around Campaign Relationship Management and Voter Space, establishing himself as an earlier pioneer in online politics.

He has served as a technology adviser for Juan Manuel Santos, the former Colombian President. He has served as an advisor to Enda Kenny, from Prime Minister of Ireland. He has helped over 9 heads of states get elected using his software and technology know-how. He was invited to the 10th annual Art and Science of Public Affairs conference to discuss U.S politics.

Social media expert

Singh, a social media expert, was featured at the Illinois State Fair, where he talked about how to use the Internet and surf Yahoo in 1995. The next year, he was invited to the National Asian American Planning Committee for the Presidential Election. Singh used to teach farmers how to use Yahoo! at the Illinois State Fair while working for the Lt. Governor, Bob Kustra during Republican Illinois Governor Edgar’s administration.

He has promoted the concept of eDemocracy at the European Union Parliament in Belgium, a United Nations Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico, the Public Affairs Association of Canada in Toronto, and the Personal Democracy Forum in New York and Madrid. Singh encourages world leaders to use social media networking sites. Singh also wrote a journal, “E-democracy as the Future Face of Democracy: A Case Study of the 2011 Irish Elections,” in 2011 with Tom Curran.

He has been invited as a keynote speaker at the Political Communication Summit, where he spoke on the topic, “Branding democracy.” He helps leaders, brands, and celebrities with digital communications and also serves as an international lecturer on social media networks.

Tech entrepreneur

In 2000, Singh founded ElectionMall™ Technologies, Inc., with its headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was the first company in the industry to send a unique electronic card over the Internet known as eYardSigns, for which he currently holds an international patent. It was used by George W. Bush and the Democratic National Committee in Presidential Campaign in 2000.

Singh created the business plan for his company, ElectionMall, after learning about starting an internet company at the university library of Northwestern University. ElectionMall is the only online “registering authority” that provides digital authentication certificates for candidates, campaigns, and political organizations’ websites. The ElectionSecurity is an online program that ensures election and campaign trust, security, and protection for online political consumers. The technology was the first of its kind to help secure that election identity.

The company works on providing campaign Internet tools such as software and computer programs that assist candidates with their promotions and even allows them to receive donations online. Singh has expanded his company in Latin America, Asia, and Europe, and has established a product partnership with Microsoft. With this partnership, Campaign Cloud was created, a campaign dashboard for all types of campaigns regardless of size or budget to use advanced cloud computing technologies to build, manage, raise, and promote their campaign voice.

In 2007, nearly 640 campaigners signed up with ElectionMall. The company was set up with one computer, and due to Singh’s efforts, it is now one of the industry pioneers. ElectionMall has filed over 63 patent claims and is the only registering authority for digital certificates in elections.

Community activist

Dr. Ravi Singh in meditation

Singh serves as the committee chairman for the Next Generation of the Parliament of the World's Religion. Singh at the age of 21 was the youngest member to sign the document for Global Ethics Declaration along with Yogi Bhajan Singh. Yogi Bhajan nominated Ravi to represent the next generation at the 1993 World Parliament of Religion which was supported by other World Religious Leaders including the Dali Lama. Singh’s campaign in 1998, encouraged the South Asian American community to become a part of American politics. Singh was able to go ahead and secure the Illinois Kane county Republican nomination. He became the first Republican ever to win the nomination with a turban in the United States.

Author

Ravi Singh has authored two books, “Leadership by Turban: An American Story,” published in January 2003 and was dedicated to the victims of 9-11 aftermath in the United States, and “Democracy 2.0,” which was published in 2010. Ravi Singh has also published his dissertation on “Donald J. Trump’s Social Media Voice Affects Follower Engagement: An In-Depth Tone Analysis of Leadership Personas,” which analyzes 35,647 Tweets of Donald Trump’s social media voice using artificial intelligence.

Honors and awards

USA Today awarded Singh with the title, “campaign guru” in April 2007. The USA Weekend Magazine® named Singh as one of the “five new powerbrokers whose sites and bytes may well influence how you cast your ballot come November,” in 2004.

In 2006, Ravi Singh was honored to receive the Kentucky Colonel Award for his pioneer efforts to establish election security software in the Commonwealth of Kentucky by the Governor. He was the first Sikh to receive the Kentucky Colonel Status in America which made headline news in India.

In 2010, he was featured in the list of “50 Outstanding Asian Americans” by the Asian American Business Development Center, Inc.

On October 9, 2011, Singh was awarded the prestigious 'Sikhs in Media Award' at the 2011 Sikh Awards in London.

Publications

Court case and accusations

In 2011, a false claim was made by online publication Politico about Singh being the ‘internet guru,’ for the former U.S President, Barrack Obama. Ravi Singh, a long-standing Republican, emphatically declined and apologized for any misunderstandings. In 2014, he was arrested by FBI agents due to an accusation of conspiracy for violating election laws, which was later appealed by the Appellate Court but still could face 15 months in USA federal prison for a mayoral race his technology and services where used.

Personal life

Singh currently resides in Miami, Florida, with his wife Elena K. Singh. His Father Dr. Pavitar Singh is retired and remains active as President of the Illinois Sikh Community Center or commonly referred to as the Wheaton Gurdwara of Illinois in the United States. His mother Jasbir Kaur Singh or better known as “Rani Aunty” teaches Sunday school to young Sikh Children and is a favorite at many Sikh Youth Camps. Ravi Singh enjoys meditation and attends Summer and Winter Solstice Celebrations in the 3HO Sikh community.