India Philanthropy Alliance (IPA) launches nationwide youth essay competition

FOR RELEASE FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2020

Contact: Alex Counts

Senior Adviser, India Philanthropy Alliance

mobile: 202-257-8739

email: alex@indiaspora.org

Press Release

The India Philanthropy Alliance (IPA) launches a nationwide youth essay competition for middle and high school students

Member organizations of IPA also announce their COVID-19 response

 Washington, DC, USA —The India Philanthropy Alliance (IPA), a U.S.-based coalition of organizations that aid India, has launched a nationwide youth essay competition for middle and high school students to submit their ideas on how to effectively engage in philanthropy, including philanthropy benefiting India."Our hope through this essay competition is that the India Philanthropy Alliance can both push and amplify the best thinking of Indian-American youth about philanthropy and about what smart giving can do for India," said Deepak Raj, Chairman of IPA.Up to ten finalist essays by middle and high school students will be selected by a panel of philanthropy experts, and will be published on the Internet.For middle school students, the essay length is 600 words or fewer, and for high school students, the limit is 1,200 words. The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2020.The authors of the best essay in each cohort will be invited to the Indiaspora Philanthropy Summit, tentatively scheduled for the fall, to present their award-winning ideas. They also will be able to direct at least $1,000 to a nonprofit of their choice.“With the current public health and humanitarian crisis, the stakes have never been higher,” said Sanjeev Joshipura, Executive Director of Indiaspora, a member organization of IPA. “With so many students learning at home, this is an opportunity for parents to perhaps encourage their children to think about how best to help the less fortunate.”The pilot is made possible with generous support from the Sarva Mangal Family Trust, supported by the Shah Family of Orange County and their company MS International, Inc. They are also advising and assisting in the process."The Sarva Mangal Family Trust is pleased to support India Philanthropy Alliance's essay competition,” said Rup and Mona Shah of Sarva Mangal Family Trust. “We look forward to hearing what young people throughout the country are thinking about philanthropy and how it can be done right and in ways that benefit India. We are keen to learn about their innovative solutions."The essay competition is one of multiple initiatives of the IPA to grow the culture of philanthropy among the diaspora in the United States.The IPA also announced Tuesday what each of its organizations is doing to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and meet critical need. Responses include providing essential knowledge, protecting communities and frontline workers, ensuring education for school-age children, fighting hunger, supporting and collaborating with government to meet critical health needs, aiding affected populations, training health care professionals, and continuing to operate programs or preparing to re-launch those on hold.The twelve member organizations of the IPA include Akanksha Education Fund, American India Foundation, Arogya World, CRY America, Ekal USA, Foundation for Excellence (FFE), Indiaspora, Magic Bus USA, Pratham USA, Project ECHO, VisionSpring and WISH Foundation.The IPA (https://www.indiaphilanthropyalliance.org/) is a coalition of nonprofit, philanthropic and charitable organizations that mobilize people and funding in the United States (and elsewhere) for development and poverty-reduction programs in India.For additional information on the background and essay guidelines of the youth essay competition, please visit here.For any questions, please reach out to Alex Counts, Senior Adviser at India Philanthropy Alliance at alex@indiaspora.org.

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New India Philanthropy Alliance to Advance Humanitarian and Development Goals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Alex Counts, Senior Adviser, India Philanthropy Alliance

Phone: (202) 257-8739

Email: alex@indiaspora.org

NEW INDIA PHILANTHROPY ALLIANCE ANNOUNCED TODAY

TO ADVANCE INDIA’S HUMANITARIAN AND DEVELOPMENT GOALS

            Eleven leading organizations to stress cooperation and collaboration

 WASHINGTON, DC, October 2— On the 150^th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, eleven organizations announced the formation of a new India Philanthropy Alliance (IPA) to further advance humanitarian and development goals in India through increased collaboration.  They did so at the Indiaspora Philanthropy Summit held on the first day of ChaloGive, a week celebrating Indian diaspora philanthropy.The organizations that comprise the new Alliance are the Akanksha Fund, American India Foundation (AIF), Arogya World, CRY America, Dasra, Ekal USA,  Foundation for Excellence (FFE), Indiaspora, Magic Bus USA, Pratham USA, and VisionSpring.  These organizations collectively raise $125 million annually in philanthropic donations, including more than $50 million in the United States. Their most generous donors are Indian-American entrepreneurs and professionals as well as companies doing business in both the United States and India.  Together, these 11 organizations have cumulatively impacted more than 67 million people with their evidence-based programs spanning education, health care, livelihood support, and other essential services.  The pre-launch activities of the Alliance began two years ago and were generously supported by Indiaspora.To help India meeting its United Nations Sustainable Development Goal commitments, the organizations that are part of the Alliance will work more closely together in their constituency-building efforts in the United States and in their work in India.  An article detailing their activities and objectives was published on October 1 in the prestigious Stanford Social Innovation Review.“We’re excited about this effort to join forces today as a new alliance committed to the ideal of making a collective impact.  Working together, using our combined philanthropic reach and innovative ideas, we can help India in far greater ways than each of us could accomplish working on our own,” said Deepak Raj, a New Jersey-based entrepreneur and investor.  Raj is the chairman of the Alliance, and also the chairman of Pratham USA, one of the leading education-focused nonprofits in the world. “The time is right for building a more robust culture of philanthropy among Indian-Americans and I am positive that our efforts will help accelerate social progress in India.”“Organizations working towards the goal of educating all Indians regardless of their family’s wealth cannot work in isolation from others with similar goals, or from efforts of the government,” said Minoo Gupta, vice-chair of the Alliance and the president of Foundation for Excellence (FFE), which has supported 20,000 low-income Indian scholars to pursue higher education.  “The opportunities for transformation are vast and a collective impact approach is now needed.”“Our generous donors have been telling us for years that greater collaboration among professionally run nonprofits focused on India made sense, and that a narrative of complementarity has been missing from our sector,” said Nishant Pandey, vice-chair of the Alliance and CEO of American India Foundation (AIF), which is a nearly two-decade old collective platform for philanthropy benefitting India that has raised $129 million benefitting more than 5.6 million underprivileged people in India through its work in education, health, and livelihoods.  “AIF is pleased to respond in a pragmatic and visionary way to our friends and supporters by being a founding member of the Alliance.” The India Philanthropy Alliance’s mission is: “To enhance collaboration among organizations working to advance the development agenda in India. We work together to foster a more robust and better recognized culture of giving among Indian-Americans and over time, increase the scale and impact of philanthropy benefiting India.”   

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