The American India Foundation  marked its 10^th anniversary with a visit to the Boston area by CEO Sanjay Sinho and Vice Chair Pradeep Kashyap on October 24-25.  The event was held at the beautiful  home  of Brian and Sunita Pereira, Trustees of AIF.

Pradeep Kashyap who is AIF Vice chair and a founding member of the organization gave a historical view of how AIF was launched in 2001 with the encouragement of President Bill Clinton in the wake of the Gujarat earthquake. In the decade since it has grown into one of the largest development organizations in the US dedicated to helping poor and marginalized people in India. With a focus on education, public health and livelihood, AIF has worked as a catalyst for social and economic change.

Dr Sanjay Sinho made a stirring presentation of how its programs have affected the 1.5 million lives in India. He gave many instances and examples of migrant workers, rickshaw pullers, slum children and unemployed youth who have benefited from AIF signature programs. Dr Sinho also discussed some current challenges to social and economic change, and future partnerships for expansion and growth.

Those present included area trustees Raj and Nalini Sharma, Venkat and Pratima Srinivasan, Deepti Nijhawan, Susan Whitehead, Reema Kashyap, Saluni P Fadia and other senior donors and supporters.

The America India Foundation works with 150 Indian NGOs and over the past decade has invested more than $70 million in programs that have reached over 1.5 million marginalized Indians. Signature programs include the Learning and Migration Program, and the William J. Clinton Fellowships for Service in India. President Clinton serves as Honorary Chair and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen chairs the Advisory Council.

A ten-year anniversary gala on the theme ‘Celebrating Philanthropy’ is planned for December 3 at the Renaissance Waterfront Hotel in Boston.

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