As American India Foundation Celebrates its 20th Anniversary, Lata Krishnan and Ajay Shah Announce $5M Gift to the Fellowship Program

PALO ALTO, Calif., March 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The American India Foundation (AIF) hosted its 20^th Annual Bay Area Spring Celebration virtually this year. California Board co-chairs, Sumir Chadha of WestBridge Capital Partners and Riaz Taplin of Riaz Capital kicked off the celebrations with Raj Mathai of NBC Bay Area, who emceed the event. This year the event raised $1.4M and will continue its fundraising efforts through the end of March.

As AIF marks its 20th anniversary, co-founder and AIF Board co-chair, Lata Krishnan and her husband, Ajay Shah, announced the largest gift to AIF in its history, a $5 million gift to the Fellowship program in a fireside chat with Mastercard Executive Chairman, Ajay Banga. Building on the legacy created over 20 years, the gift carries a bold vision for the future. The next phase of the program focuses on accelerating impact and supercharging ideas to solutions.

Lata Krishnan said, "Through service we have made investments in American Indian diplomacy by shaping the next generations of leaders to be more inclusive and socially minded advocates who will collaborate to solve the most pressing issues in India. We are impacting individual lives and building bridges, this is what motivates me year after year with AIF." 

Ajay Shah said, "We are building young leaders who will be able to sustain development throughout their entire careers. The relationships and bridge-building go well beyond the one-year fellows stay on the ground."

Announcing the new name, the AIF Banyan Impact Fellowship, Lata added, "will invest in a cross-generational force of change makers building an equitable and sustainable world. She added, the "banyan tree" is a symbol of strength, resilience, and interconnectedness - a powerful metaphor for mobilizing a collective force towards sustainable impact,"

Nishant Pandey, AIF CEO said, "The Fellowship is the longest running program of AIF and is celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year too. From our 20 years of running this strategic programme in the US-India corridor, we believe the program is at a crucial stage where it can expand, grow and flourish as a separate entity within the AIF umbrella. This seed grant of $5 million from Lata and Ajay helps us pursue this exciting vision. This is the biggest gift in the history of AIF and we are immensely grateful and thrilled."

Ajay Banga said, ""Our hope is for the US and India to form a much tighter partnership so that their people understand each other better and can contribute to solving real problems in each other's countries. Through this fellowship, we are creating a force multiplier."

For this year's entertainment, world renowned and Padma Shri recipient, Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan brought a magical performance live from Pune, India.  He is a 6th generation musician, with a distinct style emphasizing the unique capabilities of the sitar itself, combining power and energy with subtle nuance and expression.

The evening showcased the organization's Learning and Migration Program (LAMP), which offers children of migrant workers a chance to quality education to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. According to a UNICEF study, 139 million migrant workers leave their villages in search of seasonal work uprooting their families to earn daily wages in the brick kilns of Andhra Pradesh or the salt mines of Gujarat. Of these, one in five are children out of school. Of these children, more than half account for girls. Of this group of girls, half were reported to be married between the ages of 10-19.

Since launching the LAMP in 2009, nearly 600,000 children have received wrap around services in seasonal hostels to stay in school and continue their education. Attendees heard from two inspiring beneficiaries, Khusbu Mahanand and Lachhaman Dundi, who were both child migrants from Nuapada Odisha prior to joining the seasonal hostels offered by AIF. Khusbu has now become the first woman in her village to get a college degree, in Chemistry, no less. Dr. Romesh Wadhwani, an IIT alumnus himself who was inspired by Lachhaman Dundi, introduced him. When Lachhaman first learned about inventors and scientists in school, he decided to follow in the same tracks. He is now on track to get a degree in Physics from a local college with several inventions and patents already under his belt. He is also a prolific entrepreneur and has recently joined IIT Bhubhanshwar's Startup Incubation Program.

About the American India Foundation 
The American India Foundation is committed to catalyzing social and economic change in India and building a lasting bridge between the United States and India through high-impact interventions in education, livelihoods, public health, and leadership development, with a particular emphasis on empowering girls and women to achieve gender equity. Working closely with local communities, AIF partners with NGOs and government to develop and test innovative solutions and with governments to create and scale sustainable impact. Founded in 2001 at the initiative of President Bill Clinton following a request from Prime Minister Vajpayee, AIF has impacted the lives of 6.7 million of India's poor in 26 states.

For more information:
Braden Lay-Michaels
Chief Development Officer
917-337-0121
[email protected]

SOURCE American India Foundation

Related Links

http://www.aif.org