Asha for Education is a volunteer based, non-profit organization that promotes education of the underprivileged to catalyze socio-economic change in India. Asha and and its sister organization AID (Association for India’s development) work with grassroots organizations and community groups to initiate and sustain efforts in education, rural development, preservation and use of natural resources, health and basic welfare, women’s empowerment and social awareness. Many of Asha’s initiatives are focused on the advancement of the girl child as well as on AIDs orphans, physically and mentally disabled children, children of agricultural laborers and sex-workers and kids hailing from militant and natural calamity areas.
Asha was born from an informal gathering of socially conscious students at the University of California in Berkeley in 1991. These students had come together to deliberate on ways to contribute to the development of their native country, India. They identified equitable education to be key to creating a responsible society, upliftment of the economically disadvantaged and to the overall development of the nation. This gathering was soon formalized into a non-profit organization and christened ‘Asha’, meaning hope, to reflect the optimism and promise it aimed to bring into the lives of children in India.
Asha has grown expeditiously since its humble beginnings and today it boasts of 73 chapters worldwide - 45 in the US, 14 in India and 7 in Europe, Singapore and Australia. It has more than a 1000 active volunteers, many of whom are students; more than 400 project partners and several thousand supporters around the world. Volunteers in each of Asha’s chapters take a strong personal interest in identifying education and development related projects in India and supporting them through funds and other means. Membership to Asha’s chapters as well as their meetings and project discussions are free and open to everyone. One only needs to attend a single meeting to be convinced of the pragmatism of its projects and the dedication of its volunteers and to be galvanized by their energy and commitment to bring about a positive change!
ASHA’s non-hierarchical structure and zero-overhead policy ensures that there are no salaried employees and that every dollar of donor money is responsibly applied to its various projects in India. You can check its excellent charity rating at www.charitynavigator.org
To learn more about ASHA, its values and its projects please visit: www.ashanet.org/
To learn more about Association for India’s Development (AID), please visit: www.aidindia.org/
Asha was born from an informal gathering of socially conscious students at the University of California in Berkeley in 1991. These students had come together to deliberate on ways to contribute to the development of their native country, India. They identified equitable education to be key to creating a responsible society, upliftment of the economically disadvantaged and to the overall development of the nation. This gathering was soon formalized into a non-profit organization and christened ‘Asha’, meaning hope, to reflect the optimism and promise it aimed to bring into the lives of children in India.
Asha has grown expeditiously since its humble beginnings and today it boasts of 73 chapters worldwide - 45 in the US, 14 in India and 7 in Europe, Singapore and Australia. It has more than a 1000 active volunteers, many of whom are students; more than 400 project partners and several thousand supporters around the world. Volunteers in each of Asha’s chapters take a strong personal interest in identifying education and development related projects in India and supporting them through funds and other means. Membership to Asha’s chapters as well as their meetings and project discussions are free and open to everyone. One only needs to attend a single meeting to be convinced of the pragmatism of its projects and the dedication of its volunteers and to be galvanized by their energy and commitment to bring about a positive change!
ASHA’s non-hierarchical structure and zero-overhead policy ensures that there are no salaried employees and that every dollar of donor money is responsibly applied to its various projects in India. You can check its excellent charity rating at www.charitynavigator.org
To learn more about ASHA, its values and its projects please visit: www.ashanet.org/
To learn more about Association for India’s Development (AID), please visit: www.aidindia.org/
