The Network of South Asian professionals held their 17th annual Net IP conference at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel. “The mission of this conference is to each participant leave with a sense of empowerment that they can move beyond their perceived boundaries” states the brochure. True to this theme each speaker worked to inspire the audience with their personal stories and the career paths.

To address the needs of the very diverse audience whose careers and passions spanned a wide range, keynote speeches and panel s with varied themes were used to address a wide range of topics. Keynote addresses by star speakers including Sycamore CEO Desh Deshpande, Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray, Harvard Professor Tarun Khanna, Clutch Group CEO Abhi Shah and SKS Microfinance CEO Vikram Akula convinced the audience that if they had passion and vision, they could accomplish anything they set their mind to. Panels focused on specific interest areas, on Healthcare, Social Entrepreneurship and Politics addressed specific topics.

A special Alliance partner lunch was hosted on Saturday afternoon and attendees had the opportunity to listen to a host of non profits like Samar, CRY, AIF and Akshaya Patra while also listening to organizations like TiE Boston, SABA and IMANE.

Media and Arts took center stage as documentary producers Gita Pullapilly , Ali Khan, Sarav Chithambaram and Rajnesh Domalpalli presented their works India: a New Life, 7.6. Its My Life and Vanaja. Anita Jain had a book reading of her book Marrying Anita. Acting workshop and a tour of the institute of contemporary arts was also part of the event.  Other events including speed dating and special networking events allowed participants to establish connections personal or business.

Gala dinners with entertainment was a great opportunity for young men and women to come dressed in the latest Indian fashions giving a bollywoody look to the evening.   Host Rajiv Satyal had the audience in stitches with his impersonation of Kashf the Pakistani National who made waves by performing Ek Pal Ka Jeena on America’s Got Talent.

The event was completely sold out. The excellent organization of the event was a testament to the excellent effort put in by NetSAP under the leadership of the co-chairs Tushneem Dharmagadda and Sandip Arora.
In recognition of its innovative programs and leadership, the NETSAP-Boston Chapter received the 1st 'Boscar' Award for Community Service.

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