California, USA (CU)_ Indiaspora, a nonprofit organization that brings together influential and inspiring global Indian leaders from various backgrounds and professions, has released a list honoring 100 Indian and diaspora leaders who are creating positive differences in the society through their generosity.
Mr. Rangaswami, Indiaspora Founder, appreciated the Indian-American philanthropists. He said, “It is incredibly inspiring to see so many philanthropists from our community who have translated their success into social impact. These leaders serve as an example of the importance of generosity and remind us of the many issues that need our attention.”
The following is the list of major philanthropists in India and diaspora released by Indiaspora. Indiaspora’s 2021 Philanthropy Leaders List includes 100 leading business tycoons and other renowned professionals of India. They are, Gautam Adani, India; Anu Aga, India; Anil Agarwal, India; Monte Ahuja, USA; Lata Krishnan & Ajay Shah, USA; Soham Ajmera, Canada; Nita Ambani, India; Mohamed Amersi, UK; Simon Arora & Shalni Arora, UK; Anna & Raj Asava, USA; Manoj Badale, UK; Kuljinder Bahia, UK; Rahul Bajaj, India; Ajay Banga, USA; Harindarpal Banga, Singapore; Manoj Bhargava, USA; Raksha & Madan Bhayana, Canada; Aneel & Allison Bhusri, USA; Kumar Mangalam Birla, India; Sumir Chadha, USA; Amit & Archana Chandra, India; Natteri V. Chandra, Australia; Deepak Chopra, USA; Frank Islam & Debbie Driesman, USA; Anand Deshpande, India; Desh & Jaishree Deshpande, USA; Dinesh Dhamija, UK; Ashish Dhawan, India; Bob Dhillon, Canada; Vijay Eswaran, Singapore; Anil & Gautam Godhwani, USA; Prabhu & Poonam Goel, USA; Sanjiv Goenka, India; Kris Gopalkrishnan, India; Vijay & Marie Goradia, USA; Piyush Gupta, Singapore; Raj Gupta, USA; Yusuf Hamied, UK; David Harilela, Singapore; Venky Harinarayan, USA; Gopichand Parmanand Hinduja, UK; Mukesh Wadhumal “Micky” Jagtiani, UAE; Anshu Jain, UK; Aditya Jha, Canada; Surender Singh Kandhari, UAE; Anand Rajaraman & Kaushie Adiseshan, USA; Sat Pal Khattar, Singapore; Uday & Nitya Khemka, UK; Vinod & Neeru Khosla, USA; Nik & Moni Kotecha, UK; Faizal Kottikollon, UAE; Sri Prakash & Aloke Lohia, Singapore; Dinkar Singh & Loren Eng, USA; Anand Mahindra, India; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, India; Darshak Mehta, Australia; Sudhir & Samir Mehta, India; PNC & Shobha Menon, UAE; Dan Mishra, Canada; Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, India; Lakshmi Mittal, UK; Ninian Mogan Lourdenadin; Vinn Murria, UK; Shiv Nadar, India; AM Naik, India; Gulshan and Pyarali Nanji, Canada; Bharat Desai and Neerja Sethi, USA; Nandan & Rohini Nilekani, India; Mohandas Pai, India; Ajay Piramal, India; Adar & Natasha Poonawala, India; Pulak Prasad, Singapore; Azim Premji, India; Deepak & Neera Raj, USA; Ganesh Ramani, UK; Raju Reddy, USA; Rao & Satya Remala, USA; Ramesh & Pratibha Sachdev, UK; Nalini Saligram, USA; Harish Salve, UK; Ronnie & Zarina Screwvala, India; Nirmal Sethia, UK; Paras Shahdadpuri, UAE; Manu & Rika Shah, USA; Sanjay Shah, USA; Vidya Shah, India; Kumari & S.D. Shibulal, India; Ram Shriram, USA; Karan Singh Thakral, Singapore; Chandrika & Ranjan Tandon, USA; Ratan Tata, India; Mohan Valrani, UAE; Sunny & Sherly Varkey, UAE; Shamsheer & Shabeena Vayalil, UAE; Anju & Aijay Virmani, Canada; Romesh Wadhwani, USA; Sunil Wadhwani, USA; Prem Watsa, Canada; and Sarosh Zaiwalla, UK.
Indiaspora’s 2021 Philanthropy Leaders List, compiled with the help of nine jury members and based on a variety of sources, including reliable studies, previously verified lists, and publicly shared reports, honors Indian and diaspora leaders around the world for their philanthropic generosity and engagement.
Sara Kalim, one of the jury members and Director of Development at Somerville College, expressed delight over the great effort. She said, “It was very gratifying to be a part of this effort, and I appreciated the careful consideration given to each honoree by those who were involved. As someone who works in the development space, I see firsthand how philanthropy can transform lives for the better. This list shines a light on the tremendous power of giving.”
According to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Indians are the world’s largest diaspora group, comprising over 32 million people of Indian descent worldwide. Renowned philanthropists from India and countries with considerable diaspora movement, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Australia, are included in Indiaspora’s 2021 Philanthropy Leaders List. During the COVID-19 crisis, many of these philanthropists volunteered to contribute to several reform programs.
Prem Watsa, one among the honorees on the list and founder and CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings, spoke about the role of Indiaspora during the pandemic crisis. He said, “COVID-19 taught us that businesses, nonprofits, government, and philanthropy all play a critical role in lifting the communities they serve and operate in during times of crisis. Indiaspora’s Philanthropy Leaders List serves as a reminder to the diaspora to continue the important work of giving even once the crisis abates so our communities can meet future challenges.”
The list covers individuals from a variety of fields, including technology, entertainment, finance, and law, who are utilizing their philanthropy to solve challenges such as healthcare access, quality education, water and sanitation, arts and culture, food insecurity, and employment.
Rohini Nilekani, Founder-Chairperson of sustainable water and sanitation nonprofit Arghyam, and one of the candidates on the list, expressed hopes in contributing more in the future. She said, “I hope the diaspora will continue to give forward, and even more boldly. It is both inspiring and critical to resolve many old and emerging societal challenges in India.”
The Indiaspora 2021 Philanthropy Leaders List is one of the attempts of the organization to focus on its numerous philanthropic projects. Some of the initiatives of the organization include ChaloGive, which is an online charity campaign that collected more than $3.5 million to contribute to COVID relief in India in 2021; and the Philanthropy Summit, which is an annual ceremony to integrate charitable organizations, nonprofits, foundations, philanthropists, and others in the social impact place around the globe to share learnings about Indian and diaspora philanthropy.
Ashish Shah, Senior Director of Philanthropy and Community Engagement at Indiaspora, spoke about the goal of the mission. He said, “This is a transformative moment for philanthropy. The purpose of our philanthropy work is to galvanize the Indian diaspora to elevate its level of giving in the next decade, and Indiaspora’s 2021 Philanthropy Leaders List is an important step towards building a culture of philanthropy.”
The Indiaspora Lists celebrates the achievements of the Indian diaspora in areas like government, business, and philanthropy. The Government Leaders List released in February 2021 includes nearly 200 government leaders of Indian descent from 15 nations throughout the world, while the inaugural Business Leaders List released in July 2020 includes the Indian diaspora who are heading the largest global enterprises.
Please visit the 2021 Indiaspora Philanthropy Leaders List website for the complete list of awardees as well as additional resources such as additional quotes, facts, and news about the honorees.
