Indiaspora, a nonprofit community of global Indian leaders from diverse backgrounds and professions, released their list recognizing 100 Indian and diaspora leaders who are making a difference through their giving.
“It is incredibly inspiring to see so many philanthropists from our community who have translated their success into social impact,” said Indiaspora Founder Mr. Rangaswami. “These leaders serve as an example of the importance of generosity and remind us of the many issues that need our attention.”
With guidance from nine jurors and drawing from multiple sources, including reputed studies, earlier verified lists, and publicly shared documents, Indiaspora’s 2021 Philanthropy Leaders List recognizes Indian and diaspora leaders across the globe for their philanthropic contributions and engagement.
“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,” said Sara Kalim, Director of Development at Somerville College and one of the jurors. “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.”
With more than 32 million people of Indian origin globally, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Indians are the largest diaspora population in the world. Indiaspora’s 2021 Philanthropy Leaders List includes philanthropists from India and from geographies with significant diaspora migration, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Australia. Several of these philanthropists stepped forward to give during the COVID-19 crisis.
“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,” said Prem Watsa, Founder and CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings and one of the honorees on the List. “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 includes names from various industries including technology, entertainment, finance, and the law, among others, who are using their philanthropy to address issues such as access to healthcare, quality education, water and sanitation, arts and culture, food insecurity, and employability.
“I hope the diaspora will continue to give forward, and even more boldly,” said Rohini Nilekani, Founder-Chairperson of sustainable water and sanitation nonprofit Arghyam, who is also an honoree on the List. “It is both inspiring and critical to resolve many old and emerging societal challenges in India.”
Indiaspora’s 2021 Philanthropy Leaders List is one of several of the organization’s philanthropy-focused initiatives. Other initiatives include ChaloGive, an online giving campaign that raised more than $3.5M in 2021 to provide COVID relief in India, and the Philanthropy Summit, an annual event that brings together nonprofits, foundations, philanthropists, and others in the social impact space to share learnings regarding Indian and diaspora philanthropy.
“This is a transformative moment for philanthropy,” said Ashish Shah, Senior Director of Philanthropy and Community Engagement at Indiaspora. “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.”
Here is the Indiaspora list of leading philanthropists in alphabetical order by last name:
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
Sarosh Zaiwalla, UK
More on the Indiaspora Lists:
The Indiaspora Lists (lists.indiaspora.org) highlight the advances of the Indian diaspora in areas such as government, business, and philanthropy. Indiaspora’s inaugural Business Leaders List (July 2020), highlights the Indian diaspora who are leading the largest global companies and the Government Leaders List (February 2021) highlights over 200 government leaders of Indian heritage from 15 countries around the globe.
Indiaspora is a nonprofit community of powerful global Indian leaders from diverse backgrounds and professions who are committed to inspiring the diaspora to be a force for positive impact by providing a platform to collaborate, engage, and catalyze social change. For the list of honorees and additional resources, including additional quotes, information and news about the honorees, please visit the 2021 Indiaspora Philanthropy Leaders List website.
