CEO Ravi Kumar says goal is transform 5 million lives by 2018.
By Deepak Chitnis
POTOMAC, MD: The American India Foundation (AIF) raised $280,000 for its efforts to provide education to low-income students in India at a fundraising gala held here at the Congressional Country Club here on Wednesday night.
The money will go towards AIF’s Livelihoods Program, which seeks to give Market Aligned Skills Training (MAST) to the youth of India.
“We are happy to have transformed 1.9 million lives so far,” M.A. Ravi Kumar, CEO of AIF, said, speaking on the occasion. “Our target is to reach 5 million by 2018. This would be possible only with lot more supporters joining the AIF movement to disrupt poverty through leverage, scale and building partnerships.” He thanked the gathering for providing a powerful voice to the voiceless through AIF programs.
At the event, AIF honored former Michigan Governor and current president of Business Roundtable John Engler (R-MI) at the event. Engler said he was humbled by the “special recognition” bestowed upon him by the organization. “At the Roundtable, we work with over 211 companies, [and] certainly many of these companies have a very important presence in India.”
Engler lauded Indian companies for “look[ing] to the future with anticipation” and singled out MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga for his work as an executive with the Business Roundtable. He also called the US-India relationship one that is “a significant advantage to the United States
Also at the event was Congressman Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA), the Representative of Virginia’s 11th District, located in the northern part of the state right next to Washington, DC.
“I’m honored to be here tonight, and I want to talk about [the] importance of the relationship between the US and India,” said Connolly in his remarks. “My community, Fairfax County, was the first local jurisdiction in America to open an economic development office in India, [specifically] in Bangalore because of its high-tech culture. So our ties go way back.”
Rep. Connolly also talked about how Indian Americans are the fastest growing demographic in the northern Virginia area, calling the Indian community a “vibrant” one.
The event – which was hosted by half-Indian, half-Japanese American comic Dan Nainan – also included a presentation by one of AIF’s partner organizations, the Noida Deaf Society, which aims to provide educational resources and tools for deaf youths in India.
Other Indian American luminaries present at the gala included Kumar Barve, the Democratic Party chairman of the Maryland state House of Delegates; Anish Chopra, who donated $1,000 during the fundraising portion of the night; and Vinay Thummalapally, the US Ambassador to Belize.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com