Investing through Service - Change India

The American India Foundation’s newly formed New England Youth Professionals Chapter is having its first launch event to discuss how to get involved with one of the largest secular, non-partisan American organizations supporting development work in India.

The event will feature three recipients of the William J. Clinton Fellowship Service in India who will discuss their personal experience working within the country.

 Speakers:

• Arun Gupta
• Maria Kasparian
• Meenakshi Agarwal

Date: 02/27/2010
Location: Sloan Building Room 35-225
Time: 1.00 pm - 3.30 pm
Organized By: AIF New England Youth Professionals
Cost: Free

Arun Gupta explains about his background and interest in working with AIF:

My interest in development work sprung from a semester I spent in India while in college.  I was exposed to extreme poverty for the first time and have stayed close to the international development space ever since.  While at McKinsey, I worked on improving access to essential medications and health care infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa through an enterprise-led, public-private partnership model.  Out of that experience, I catalyzed the creation of Ringo Expeditions, Kilimanjaro’s first truly socially equitable trekking company.  I most recently worked with a community development NGO in Udaipur (India) to build a community-owned dal (lentil) procurement and processing venture.

I have also worked entrepreneurial in the private sector including starting Devil Laundry, a student laundry service built out of my dorm room that funded my Duke education, and Accolade, a built-for-purpose company tackling the mounting health care crisis facing large employers in the US.  These experiences, coupled with my work in the development sector, have shown me that entrepreneurship can be a powerful force in addressing social issues.  Long-term, I plan to work on improving the delivery of core social services in developing countries through a combination of private sector entrepreneurship and social sector activism.

Maria Kasparian – AIF Fellow '07-08

Maria Kasparian holds a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations from Brown University and a Master's Degree in Public Administration (International Public Service and Development) from Rutgers University. Her international development experience includes: 6 months study in Madagascar with the School for International Training, 1 year Peace Corps service in Bangladesh (service shortened due to evacuation), and 1 year work at a rural development NGO (Street Survivors India) in West Bengal, India, as a William J. Clinton fellow with the American India Foundation.

Her experience as a fellow with Street Survivors India included: evaluation of a grass-roots court mediation project, scaling up of a kantha embroidery livelihoods project and participation in youth initiatives at a rural English-medium school.

Maria is currently project manager at Edesia LLC, a start-up non-profit organization based in Providence, RI which is dedicated to the production of Plumpy'nut® and other ready-to-use foods for the treatment of malnutrition in the developing world. Her roles include: project/organizational development, communications, grant-writing and administration, and education/awareness outreach.

About AIF

The American India Foundation (AIF, founded 2001) is a nonprofit American development organization that is devoted to accelerating social and economic change in India. AIF has invested in over 100 Indian non-governmental organizations while raising about $50 million since its inception.

AIF works with partners to implement programs in education, livelihood, and public health sectors in India - with emphases on elementary education, women's empowerment, and maternal and child health, respectively.

About AIF NEYP

The New England Young Professionals Chapter was recently started with the aim of increasing awareness of AIF in New England. We aim not only to raise funds in support of AIF's programs, but to also provide a venue for young people in the Greater Boston area to get involved in a number of AIF's initiatives.

The Clinton Service Fellowship

The Clinton Fellowship is one of AIF's flagship programs. As an organization committed to accelerating social and economic change in India, AIF provides both financial resources as well as professional staff to over a hundred non-governmental organizations in India, with special emphasis on the fields of elementary education, womens' empowerment, and maternal and child health.

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