Our Honorees

Vinayak Lohani

Vinayak Lohani, inspired by the humanistic ideals of Swami Vivekananda started his first school with three children now has over 2000 resident children in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.

Satyajit Bhatkal

Satyajit Bhatkal of Satyamev Jayate fame fought against drought in rural Maharashtra. He says water scarcity is a man-made condition, and only people’s efforts can solve the crisis. He uses the power of communication to mobilize, motivate and train people in this mission to eradicate drought.

Naginchandra Jagada

Naginchandra Jagada his humble beginnings in Rajkot, Gujarat. He retired after working in Kuwait for 35 years, and now lives in Plano, TX. On retirement in the early 2000.

Dr. Girish Kulkarni

Girish is a trained journalist and professor with S.P Pune University. He is a pioneer for social change, a visionary and an inspirational leader.

Dr. Bharat Vatwani

Dr. Vatwani is a psychiatrist who also won 2018 Ramon Magsaysay Award for his tremendous courage and healing compassion in embracing India's mentally-afflicted destitute.

Ajay Shah

Lata Krishnan

Mr. Sonam Wangchuk

Mr. Sonam Wangchuk, the founder of Student’s Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) and Founder of HIAL(Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh) which inspired the climatic ending in the movie 3 Idiots.

Talat and Kamil Hasan

Talat and kamil hasan have been the riving force for the India Community Center (Talat is Co-founder and Chair Emiritus).

Mr. Anshu Gupta

Mr. Anshu Gupta is an Indian social entrepreneur who founded Goonj, a Delhi¬-based NGO that focuses on rural development. He won the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2015, for his creative vision in transforming the culture of giving in India

Mr. Adhik Kadam

Mr. Adhik Kadam is co¬founder and director of Borderless World Foundation (BWF), and has spent the last 20 years saving hundreds of girls in the conflict zone in Jammu and Kashmir.

Radha Ramaswamy Basu and Dipak Basu

Radha Ramaswamy Basu and Dipak Basu launched Anudip Foundation in 2007 to serve poor and marginalized youth through skills development in IT and entrepreneurship.

Padmashree Dr. Prakash Amte and Dr. Mandakini Amte

Padmashree Dr. Prakash Amte and Dr. Mandakini Amte have spent 40 years to bridge the gap between the two worlds, that of the beneficiaries of modern science and technology and of the Madia Gond tribals who live on the fringes without basic necessities.

Dr. Thomas Kailath

Dr. Thomas Kailath, Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, has been widely acclaimed for his contributions to science and technology.

Dr. Vivek Murthy

Dr. Vivek Murthy, Faculty at Harvard Medical School, and president and co-founder of Doctors for America, was nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama to serve as the 19th Surgeon General of the United States, and confirmed by US Senate in 2014.

Padmashri Reema Nanavaty

Padmashri Reema Nanavaty, Director, Economic and Rural Organizing, SEWA Joined the Indian Administrative Services (IAS), and then stepped out for a year to work with SEWA (Self Employed Women's Association).

Nileema Mishra

Nileema Mishra is an activist engaged in rural development in Maharashtra, India. She is one of the youngest recipients of the Magsaysay Award (dubbed as the Nobel Prize of Asia).

Melinda Kramer

Melinda Kramer co-directs WEA's world-wide work around issues of clean water, food security, climate change, and land protection through strategic investments in grassroots women's leadership.

Srikanth Nadhamuni

Srikanth Nadhamuni, Technology Head, Aadhaar (UID) is a former Bay area entrepreneur and a former president of ICA (Indians for Collective Action). He moved back to India in 2002, and together with Nandan Nilekani co-founded the eGovernments Foundation.

Anna Hazare

Anna Hazare is an Indian social activist and prominent leader in the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement, using non-violent methods following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.

Prashant Bhushan

Prashant Bhushan, an eminent supreme court lawyer and social activist in India, has fought over 500 Public Interest Litigation cases without charging any money, including the recent 2G Scam.

Paul Polak

Dr. Paul Polak is the founder of International Development Enterprises (IDE), a non-profit organization that has helped 20 million of the world's poorest people move out of poverty.

Dr. Kiran Bedi

The first woman officer to join the Indian Police Service in 1972, Kiran Bedi pioneered innovative and humanitarian policing, transforming Indian prisons and boldly reducing corruption.

Dr. Rajiv Shah

Dr. Shah is the highest-ranking Indian American in any presidential administration. As the administrator of USAID, Dr. Shah heads up the US government's worldwide economic and humanitarian assistance efforts.

Mr. S. R. Hiremath

Mr. S.R.Hiremath is the founder of Samaj Parivartan Samuday (SPS), Dharwad (Karnataka, India) and of IDS. He is a leading advocate for the empowerment of rural poor, self rule, and community control over natural resources.

Dr. Nilima Sabarwal

Dr. Nilima Sabharwal founded Home of Hope, a US based charitable organization, that serves over 2000 orphaned and disadvantaged children, helping them become productive citizens.

InSPIRE

InSPIRE, India Summer Program Inspiring Reflective Exploration aims at educating and engaging young generation of USA, mainly with South Asian roots, in community development and exposing them to Indian culture.

Madhu Purnima Kishwar

Madhu Purnima Kishwar is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi. She is also the Founder President of Manushi Sangathan, an organisation committed to strengthening democratic rights and women's rights in India.

Nipun Mehta

Nipun Mehta founded Charityfocus in 1999, an incubator of charitable giving and service projects, based on strong values and principles that emerged from Nipun's experiments in the joy of giving.

Mr. D. R. Mehta

Mr. D. R. Mehta is the founder of the Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) or Jaipur Foot Factory that invented and provides the Jaipur Foot, a low cost prosthetic, cosmetically and functionally close to the human limb, to millions of poor disabled people.

Mrs. Inderjeet Khurana

Mrs. Inderjit Khurana, the Founder and Director Ruchika Social Service Organization (RSSO), Orissa was also featured on "Meet the New Heroes" program of PBS for her work on "Train Platform Schools".

Ms. Kavita Ramdas

The Global Fund for Women situated in San Francisco is the world's largest foundation solely dedicated to women's human rights. It advocates for and defends women's human rights by making grants to support women's groups around the world including India.