The Boston Junior Chamber of Commerce (Boston Jaycees) hosted its prestigious 54th Ten Outstanding Young Leader Awards Ceremony on Thursday May 5th at the Seaport Hotel - World Trade Center. This award recognizes ten young individuals between the ages of 21 and 40 for their community service, professional accomplishments and personal development.  The Ten Outstanding Young Leader (TOYL) award honorees are selected from nominations submitted by the general public. Past recipients include President John F. Kennedy (1952), Bob Cousy (1957), F. Lee Bailey, Esq. (1965), Janet Langhart (1977), Leonard Zakim (1984), Roger Berkowitz (1987), Deborah Jackson (1991), John Valentin (1998), Heather Kahn (1999), Virginia Buckingham (2001), and Anthony Galluccio (2001).
Vikram Sheel Kumar - President and CEO of Dimagi Inc. was among the "Ten Outstanding Young Leaders" (TOYL) awarded by the Boston Junior Chamber of Commerce (Boston Jaycees).  He also had the distinction of being the only Indo-American among this year's winners. Vikram is a pioneer in the field of community based chronic disease management. Vikram holds a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering and operations research from Columbia University and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. He is a Paul and Daisy Soros New American, a founding Fellow of Media Lab Asia and a member of the advisory board of the Global Emerging Technology Institute (GETI). In 2004, MIT's Technology Review named Vikram "one of the world's 100 top innovators under 35" and recognized him as the "Humanitarian of the Year."

Vikram at the age of 29 is very humble about his achievements. Speaking to the audience after accepting his award, he said that his father was an early source of inspiration for him that enabled him to move beyond convention, rather than be confined by it. He also attributed a sense of balance to his mother and direction from his academic advisors. He also thanked Brian Santhumayor for informing him about the TOYL award.

Brian Santhumayor who is also an Indo-American was the chairperson of this years award and responsible for hosting this event along with the TOYL committee on behalf of the Boston Junior Chamber of Commerce. The Mayor of Boston - Thomas Menino in a message commended the accomplishment of the Boston Jaycees and congratulated the recipients of this year's awards. The Governor of Massachusetts - Mitt Romney also congratulated the winners and all the officers of the Jaycees and the planning committee who made this event possible.

The Gala Dinner was attended by over 150 of the City of Boston's leading business people, politicians and the press. Speaking at the event, Brian Santhumayor said he was honored to be among such an impressive group of people receiving the TOYL Award. " As Mahatma Gandhi said that "we must be the change we wish to see", I salute today's winners for being that change and proving that you have the power to impact and change people's lives in the community. I thank Mayor Thomas Menino and Governor Mitt Romney for their support to our organization and their congratulatory wishes to the winners tonight."

The other winners included Stuart R. Benton (MAC Systems Inc), Glen A. Comiso (Boston Redevelopment Authority), Damon P. Hart (Holland & Knight LLP), Mirsada A. Pasalic (Seniorlink), David J. Pergola (Meredith & Grew), Rich Polt (Louder Than Words Inc.), Jeff Popkin (Boston Event Guide), Jeffrey Sanchez (House of Representatives -Commonwealth of MA), Darin Paul Smith Esq- (Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.).

The Boston Jaycees is a volunteer organization of young professionals, between the ages of 21 and 40, dedicated to developing leadership skills and individual growth through the management of and participation in community service and educational programs.  The Jaycees is the local chapter of the United States Jaycees consisting of 64,000 members nationwide, and affiliated with Junior Chamber International in over 110 countries.

For more information on the TOYL awards or the Boston Jaycees, please contact Brian Santhumayor at bsanthum@comcast.net or visit http://www.bostonjaycees.org.

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