The American India Foundation held its 15th anniversary gala June 14, at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan. AIF Chairman Emeritus Victor Menezes receiving an award. From left, Pradeep Kashyap, Menezes and John Reed.
The American India Foundation, one of the leading non-profits working on anti-poverty projects in India, held its 15th anniversary gala in New York. More than 600 guests including top business leaders and community members attended the event held at Cipriani Wall Street June 14, and generously contributed to AIF’s India projects. Organizers said $2.25 million was raised during the event.
“This evening’s event was a great opportunity to celebrate the impact that AIF has created in India in the last fifteen years with some of our most dedicated supporters and volunteers,” the President and CEO of AIF Alex Counts, is quoted saying in the release. “Looking to the next 15 years and beyond, AIF is committed to continuing to develop and massively scale pro-poor innovations in India,” Counts added.
During the gala, AIF honored Victor Menezes, the retired senior vice chairman of Citigroup and the chairman emeritus of AIF. “Of all the things I’ve done, the AIF cause and organization is closest to my heart,” Menezes said at the event. “We continue to experiment and innovate. None of our programs was designed in the U.S., but rather the innovations took place on the ground in India. Through our partnerships with foundations, governments, and like-minded people, AIF has touched and transformed over three million lives.”
The evening also featured remarks from other prominent leaders including Ajay Banga, president and CEO, MasterCard, and co-chair of AIF’s Board; actor, director, screenwriter, former rugby player, and social activist Rahul Bose who is AIF’s ambassador; Lata Krishnan, co-chair of the Board, AIF; and John Reed – retired chairman, Citigroup, and chairman emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Other attendees included Dr. Sudhir Parikh, publisher of News India Times and recipient of Padma Shri award, and Dr. Sudha Parikh.
“The AIF has grown exponentially in terms of its outreach and fundraising abilities,” Dr. Parikh told News India Times. “Under the leadership of Victor Menezes, the AIF has grown to become one of the premier non-governmental organizations,” he added.
The gala highlighted AIF’s Digital Equalizer Program, which it said is transforming government schools across India through technology to enhance the quality of teaching, and inspire a love of lifelong learning among children.
One of the most poignant moments of the evening was during 9th grade student Keerthana Vivekananthan’s account of her personal transformation through education and her dream of becoming a doctor. “Before the Digital Equalizer program came to my school, learning subjects was very boring,” Vivekananthan, who hails from Tamil Nadu, was quoted saying in the press release. “Now, me and my classmates are able to see subjects through visual images and it has made learning more fun and easy.”
According to AIF, 70% of India’s one million public schools lack basic computing technology. Add to that poor school infrastructure, high teacher absenteeism, a large volume of teacher vacancies, and persistently low levels of learning and achievement, all contribute to a staggering dropout rate that sees nearly 50% of young people in secondary school. Since 2002, AIF’s Digital Equalizer program has connected more than 1 million children to technology, said AIF.
Founded in 2001 at the initiative of President Bill Clinton following a suggestion from Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, AIF says it has impacted the lives of 3.1 million of India’s poor and aims to reach 5 million by 2018-2019.
The post Leading Non-Profit’s Gala Raises $2.25 Million For India Projects appeared first on News India Times.