The American India Foundation's 11th annual New England gala held on Saturday, March 18th at the Boston Marriott Copley Place and was a huge success as it raised a total of 800k for its programs in India.  It attracted the top entrepreneurs, philanthropists, thought leaders and the youth force from the area to showcase the convening power of AIF. 

More than four hundred of the area's committed enthusiasts joined the evening of inspiration that was the recurring theme throughout the evening.  Jaaved Jaaferi, popular Indian actor and the gala's special guest echoed the 'Inspire' theme in his speech. He said, “We must correct the imbalances in society which are totally man made and change can happen only when individuals and organizations like AIF take responsibility. “  He added, “It is entities like AIF that are empowering those who are at the fringes of society and need to be uplifted from poverty in India.”   Jaaferi also had a chat with the visually impaired Madhubala Sharma who was accompanied by AIF NGO partner National Association for the Blind Director Shalini Khanna on stage.  Madhu shared her personal story of the challenges she faced while growing up in India and how she overcame them through support from organizations like NAB and AIF which has helped her in leading a full life.

Andy and Deepa Acharya-Gupta, the Gala chairs for the evening who conceptualized the ' Inspire ‘theme this year said in their opening remarks, “The people in need in India have the same aspirations as each one of us, but do not have the resources to bridge dreams and reality,”, Andy Gupta also urged people to reflect on their own personal journeys and the difference people made to their own path to success.  He said people have the power today to completely transform the lives of people and he urged everyone in the room to give joyfully that night.

Alex Counts, President and CEO of AIF shared his vision of AIF after taking office last year and that his agenda included a more focused monitoring and evaluation of all programs in AIF in India. He urged everyone to leave the night inspired and be better agents for positive change in the own communities here and in India.

The evening was special with many prominent names - Channel 5's Chief Meteorologist Mike Wankum who lead an exciting Live auction for the evening, comedian Anish Shah who had the audience in splits as the Emcee and the special surprise hit feature- a Robot that teleported AIF Co-Chair Lata Krishnan so that she could mix and mingle with the guests and another Butler robot that moved around serving hors d'oeuvres!  Rage Frameworks, founded by Venkat Srinivasan, on the AIF Board of Directors gave 100k as a challenge grant boosting the final fundraising tally for the evening.

The organizing team included Nalini & Raj Sharma, Namita & Santhana Krishnan, Pratima & Dr. Venkat Srinivasan, Drs. Sunita & Brian Pereira, Vandana & Vivek Sharma, Andy Gupta & Dr. Deepa Acharya-Gupta, Venky Raghavendra, Farida Kathawalla, Nimit Nathwani, Sangita Thakore, Srini Ambati, Vikram Mahidhar, Anu Chitrapu, Asha Shah, Jayati Vaidya, Sahil Aggarwal, Nirmala Garimella and Suchitra Krishna. Other volunteers included Alankrita Narang, Andraea Dewaele, Archana Jauhar, Arya Anand, Diya Anand, Hongyu Lin, Josh Patel, Nikhila Ambati, Nikita Patel, Sabrina Choi, Sangita Murali and Shrunothra Ambati.

Thanks to this year sponsors for the gala:

Bain Capital Ventures , BlackRock, Blue Cloud Ventures, EnglishHelper, Qatar Airways and RAGE Frameworks

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