The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a public-private partnership that currently serves mid-day meals to over 1.6 million children in 13,800 schools across 12 States in India, every day.
Akshaya Patra USA announced that the non-profit organization, which implements the world’s largest NGO managed mid-day meal program, has appointed Vandana Tilak as its new CEO.
According to an official press release, Tilak will take charge as the CEO of Akshaya Patra USA on January 1.
Tilak will be replacing Emily Rosenbaum, who has been the CEO since September 2013. Rosenbaum is vacating the post to become the executive director of the Worcester Jewish Community Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Tilak is a familiar face to Akshaya Patra as she has been actively involved with the non-profit’s Los Angeles chapter till 2014 and has been a board member since 2015.
It was under the stewardship of Vandana Tilak that Akshaya Patra Los Angeles chapter surpassed its annual fundraising goals, and successfully raised over $1 million in 2017. Tilak achieved this goal with a team of dedicated volunteers and a hands-on Advisory Board.
Tilak also serves on the boards of Almex USA and Almex Advanced Materials Corporation.
According to the press release, the Akshaya Patra Foundation USA has been steadily growing 20 percent every year with new donors and corporate CSR inflows. It said the new CEO plans on galvanizing the organization by leveraging creative fundraising ideas, integrating TAPF India’s marketing strategy, improving technology and Akshaya Patra USA’s presence on social media.Tilak is excited about working with chapters and youth ambassadors across the US while building a good support structure for increasing large and small donations, the statement added.
Tilak said, “It is an opportunity that comes just once in a lifetime, which is to find an organization like Akshaya Patra. I stand on the shoulders of giants as I continue to work with amazing teams in India and here in the U.S. I am so grateful to Desh, our Chairman for his vision, and the team in India who keep pushing the envelope to lower costs and include more and more children into the program every year.”
Desh Deshpande, chairman of Akshaya Patra USA, said “Emily Rosenbaum, the departing CEO has deep appreciation and compassion for the children in India that we serve. Her efforts over the last four years have enabled a million children to pursue their education in India who otherwise would have been deprived because of hunger. We thank Emily for her contribution and wish her all the best in her new leadership role.”
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a public-private partnership that currently serves mid-day meals to over 1.6 million children in 13,800 schools across 12 States in India, every day.