The Akshaya Patra Foundation USA announced the selection of Emily Rosenbaum as its new CEO.

“We are confident that Emily will be a great asset to Akshaya Patra Foundation USA,” said Desh Deshpande, Board Chairman. “Madhu Sridhar, our former CEO, built an excellent base of compassionate donors during her five year tenure.  Now, Emily brings a compelling mix of experience, skills and passion to help Akshaya Patra’s move to its next milestone to serve 5 million children daily by 2020.”

Akshaya Patra is currently serving freshly prepared nutritious meals to 1.3 million children daily in over 9000 schools across India from 19 technologically advanced regional kitchens.  A public-private partnership, Akshaya Patra combines good management, innovative technology and smart engineering to deliver school lunches at a fraction of the cost of similar programs in other parts of the world. It costs only $30 to provide one child with school meals for an entire year.   The Global Journal recently ranked Askhaya Patra 1st among NGOs working to improve the lives of children and youth, and #23rd overall out of the Top 100 NGOs in the world.

Akshaya Patra Foundation USA is the fundraising arm of Akshaya Patra, which due to the generosity of its US donors, is able to support approximately 10% of the overall operating costs of the mid-day meals program in India. 90% of the requirements are met by Indian funds in a public-private partnership in which the government meets 50% of the overall needs.

Rosenbaum is currently serving as Executive Director of the Coalition for a Better Acre (CBA), a community development corporation serving Lowell, Massachusetts and the neighboring Merrimack Valley. While at CBA, Rosenbaum dramatically increased grant and earned income revenues for the organization.  By eliminating blighted building and neighborhood eyesores while preserving precious historic and key catalyst properties, she engaged in renovation and new construction projects that have had dramatic effects on neighborhoods and the local economy in Lowell. During Rosenbaum’s tenure, she, also, launched and inspired a variety of new programs and initiatives and helped the CBA enlarge its geographic reach from a single neighborhood to the larger city of Lowell and now beyond those boarders to other communities in the Merrimack Valley.  Previously, Rosenbaum served as Program Director of the Jewish Organizing Initiative (JOI), and as Executive Director of the Twin Cities Community Development Corporation in Fitchburg and Leominster, MA, training young leaders and building the energy and voice of the local community residents for positive social change.  She holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University and a BA from Vassar College.

“After visiting an Akshaya Patra kitchen in Hubli, India, in January 2012, I was moved by this amazing program that models for us the way the world should be.  Akshaya Patra begins with the premise that every child must be valued and be given the resources and dignity which that child needs to thrive and live a productive life,” said Rosenbaum. “I am thrilled to have this opportunity to work with such a tremendous organization doing essential work to bring about a better world and a healthy future for millions of children.”

Rosenbaum begins serving as CEO of Akshaya Patra Foundation USA on September 15th.

For more information, visit www.foodforeducation.org.

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