Indian-Americans: Promoting Philanthropy in the U.S. and Giving Back to India
As one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups in the United States, there are over 2.4 million Indian-Americans residing here today. With an average family income of $64,000, more than twice the national average, they are leveraging their economic status into a philanthropic powerhouse. As a result, there are several organizations that are creating a unified voice for the Indian-American community in social, humanitarian and political affairs, such as the Indian-American Forum for Political Education, the Indian-American Security Leadership Council, the Association of Indians in America, the Indo-American Council and the America India Foundation.Founded in 1981, the Indian American Forum for Political Education (IAFPE) empowers Indian-Americans by increasing participation in community affairs and the political process through the promotion of voter registration and encouraging Indian-Americans to run for public office. Several Indian-Americans have beckoned this call, most notably Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. Other Indian-American politicians include Satveer Chaudhary, the youngest State Senator in Minnesota’s history, Iowa State Representative Swati Dandekar, Nikki Haley of the South Carolina House of Representatives and San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris. Through its efforts, IAFPE has accomplished bipartisan liaisons with Democratic and Republican National Committees, enhanced India-U.S. relations through Congressional luncheons and Indian Embassy briefings and helped establish the Asian American Voters Coalition, a national umbrella organization representing seven million Americans of Asian descent.
The Association of Indians in America (AIA) is the oldest national association of Indian-Americans. Founded in 1967, it is founded on the democratic principle of “one member, one vote,” with chapters spread across the United States. As part of their mission to promote involvement in public policy and leadership, they achieved minority status for Indian-Americans in the 1970s, successfully lobbied for an independent category of Asian Indians for the first time in the 1980 U.S. census, and continue to promote the Indian-American community through voter registration drives, relief work both in the U.S. and abroad, and through “Project India,” an ongoing project that has channeled more than $15 million in humanitarian aid to India.
America India Foundation, founded in 2001, has been immensely successful in channeling the philanthropic generosity of the Indian-American community into humanitarian assistance in India. By mobilizing the community in the U.S., it has been able to invest in over 100 Indian non-governmental organizations and to accelerate social and economic change in India. Since its inception, it has raised over $43 million, helping fund programs such as Digital Equalizer, which provides greatly-needed technology to under-resourced Indian schools, and Service Corps, which builds the capacity of Indian NGOs by placing American professionals for ten-month volunteer assignments.
While many Indian-American organizations focus on social and humanitarian change, some, like the Indian-American Security Leadership Council, encourage closer ties between India and the U.S. for security purposes. Founded in 2006, it has recruited organizations representing three million American veterans to urge Congress to support the United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-Proliferation Enhancement Act. As a result of their efforts, the law was passed by the US House of Representatives and Senate and signed by President Bush in October 2008. The act overturns a three-decade ban from supplying nuclear fuel and energy to India and grants it the same civilian nuclear technology afforded many other industrialized nations. "We believe that India, the world's largest democracy…is a growing military and economic force in the region, and can help safeguard American security in a way that no other country in the region can," said Ramesh V. Kapur, Founder and President of the organization. The organization is funded entirely by the contributions of its individual supporters.
The range of organizations representing Indian-Americans is far and wide, but behind them all is the generous philanthropic force of the Indian-American community. Their commitment to charity has helped enable Indian-Americans to become a significant force for good not only in the U.S., but in India.