Stars from the world of entrepreneurship, Rajat Gupta, Lata Krishnan, Pradeep Kashyap and others gathered at the beautiful home of Susan and Ramesh Kapur in Wincester, MA to present an update on the activities of the America India Foundation.

The American India Foundation (AIF) founded in January 2001 under the leadership of President Bill Clinton in response to the devastating earthquake in Gujarat is dedicated to accelerating social and economic change in India. Their mission is to provide a secure channel for philanthropic funding in the US and its effective utilization in India in partnership with best-of-breed NGO's, foundations and non-profit organizations.

"There are many wonderful charities that are doing great work in India. It is not our goal to compete with them but rather partner with them, to enhance the impact of their work" says Rajat Gupta, Managing Director for McKinsey & Company who is a AIF trustee. "We strongly believe in partnerships. We recently partnered with AAPI, (American Association of the Physicians of Indian Origin), a charitable organization to build four hospitals in Gujarat. We believe that with such partnerships we can make a greater impact."

Lata Krishnan, who was the co-founder of SMART Modular Technologies, Inc., is the President of AIF. She gave an overview of the organizational structure. "Our executive team consists of people who have a great deal of experience running companies. While our headquarters is in New York, we have an office in India headed by Shankar Venkateswaran, who brings over 20 years of experience in the corporate and NGO sector," said Krishnan.

Pradeep Kashyap, the Executive Director of AIF, gave an overview of the two important projects that are currently underway. "Our primary focus is education and empowerment of women," said Kashyap. "The "Peace Corp" has not had a program in India for over 30 years. We have established a "Service Corp" that allows people from America to be involved in projects in India. The Digitial Equalizer project is another important AIF undertaking. We hope to bring the Internet to underprivileged schools in order to conquer the digital divide."

"The idea of partnerships with AIF has proved be very beneficial. We were able to build four hospitals for just $300,000 in Gujarat. Without the partnerships it would be at least four times the cost" said Dr. Kiran Patel, President of AAPI(American Association for the Physicians of Indian Origin) which is an AIF partner.

In response to questions on how they make a decision on projects that need to be funded, Krishnan said, "We look at projects that are credible and are making a significant impact. "Pratham" is a great example of a wonderful NGO. We do not just fund the NGO but rather work with them continuously to assure that they are attaining their goals"

When asked about why they do not fund projects in the US, Pradeep Kashyap said that it is important for each organization to establish a focus. "The focus of AIF is to fund projects in India but the members of the Board of Trustees have been using other organizations to fund many of the local initiatives."

Members of the Indian American community in New England including Dr. Radha Jalan and Kamal Mishra (AASRA), Dr. Vanita Shastri (President of IAFPE), Shekhar Shastri, Puran Dang (President UIA), Dr. Chandar Kapasi (AAPI NE), Dr. Dwarakanath (Chinamaya Mission), Dr. Dwarika Aggarwal, Dr. Dinesh Patel, Drs. Sadhana and Triveni Upadhayay(CEO Mayflower Communications), Gautam Prakash(President TiE-Boston), Nishikanth Acharya(Founder NETSAP), Samir Desai (Former Chairman Tie-Boston), Mukesh Chatter (CEO Nexabit), were among those who attended the event.

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