Couple were among 7 individuals, 2 organizations honored at meet.
Philanthropists Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande and Jaishree Deshpande were honored with Lifetime Achievement Award at the recently concluded New England Choice Awards gala.
The couple were recognized for their support for education, innovation and entrepreneurship in the New England region and worldwide. They were among seven individuals and two organizations honored at the event. The award was instituted by INE MultiMedia in collaboration with India New England News.
“We are honoring Jaishree, Desh and the Deshpande Foundation in recognition of their invaluable support of education, innovation, entrepreneurship and helping create a new generation of technology leaders and entrepreneurs in the United States, India, and Canada,” said Upendra Mishra, publisher of India New England News and the IndUS Business Journal. “In addition, they have wholeheartedly championed the cause of Akshaya Patra Foundation, the world’s largest school meal program that serves 1.5 million children daily in India.”
The Deshpande Foundation founded by the couple fosters social entrepreneurship by supporting a variety of non-profit organizations in India working in the areas of health, education, microcredit and agriculture.
Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande is the President and Chairman of Sparta Group LLC, a family investment office and is also the Chairman of Tejas Networks. He holds a B. Tech. in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology – Madras, an M.E. from the University of New Brunswick in Canada, and Ph.D. from Queens University in Canada.
Deshpande co-chairs a National Council to support President Obama’s innovation and entrepreneurship strategy.
Jaishree Deshpande is the Treasurer of Sparta Group LLC and a founder of the Deshpande Foundation. She currently serves as a Trustee for the Museum of Science and is involved with HESTIA Fund – a fund established to support quality after-school programming for low-income children.
Jaishree Deshpande worked for the Indian Space Research Organization in Bangalore, India until 1980 before moving to Canada. She worked for several Massachusetts companies and taught courses in computer science. She received a Master of Science in Physics in 1975 from the Indian Institute of Technologies (IIT), Madras, India. She also received a Master in Computer Science in 1989 from Boston University.