About Us

Founding    Board Members    Strategy    Beneficiary List    Sponsor List


What we do
Asha Kiran's goal is to provide children from low to no-income families, with financial aid and support necessary to sustain their basic right to an education. Our fundamental belief is that the path to economic independence is through education. We aim to support suitable projects in India that will help reach our objectives. Moreover, we are confident that there are many who share that vision and are willing to pitch in to help. In turn, we have a duty to provide regular and detailed feedback to our sponsors about the impact and outcomes of their sponsorship, in the form of progress reports. We have extended these to include detailed profiles of the sponsee children, annual report cards and other relevant updates.

Who we are
Asha Kiran is essentially a volunteer-run organization, comprising of members who have come aboard with the singular mission of raising awareness about the plight of the poorest in India. We share a common sense of passion, commitment, core principles and obtain a deep sense of satisfaction from our work.
Our name, which means "A Ray of Hope" and is shared by our primary supported project in India, was chosen to convey the importance of an education for every single child.

Zero administrative costs
Asha Kiran being a volunteer-run organization, has 3 Board members, 2 part time paid volunteers, and 3 additional volunteers, we keep administrative costs to a bare minimum. And hence as a matter of principle, 98% of donations made by sponsors is channeled back directly into our work, our beneficiaries and priority projects.


Founding of Asha Kiran

In 2006, Prithvi Shetty, a sponsor of charities in India, visualized setting up a charitable organization that would work with programs in India to educate the society’s poorest children. She was joined by four other similarly motivated and committed sponsors, Aarti Kumar, Praveen Herur, Arjun Seshadri and Varun Chandola to form Asha Kiran in that same year. They united in their understanding of the economic disparity in India, with the shared purpose to raise awareness among like-minded people to contribute towards alleviating it.

Their efforts have been guided and assisted by Mr. GLY (Loknath) Mendon, who has been running charity organizations in India for several years.

The Smile Trust was formed in Maryland, USA in the year 2005, by a team of Indians led by Mr. Ramana Regulapati, to aid the education and rehabilitation of children who were left orphaned by the 2004 Tsunami and to especially to serve under-privileged children in India. In Dec 2010, board members of Smile Trust elected to relinquish the operation of Smile Trust USA and instead to join hands with Asha Kiran to further their cause. Mr. Ramana Regulapati was thus inducted to the Board of Asha Kiran.

The board members of Asha Kiran Inc. are firmly grounded in the belief that education empowers the poor and gives them an opportunity to break free from the cycle of poverty. Our board of directors drew up the bylaws and have since registered the organization in the state of Maryland and at federal level. Asha Kiran Inc. has successfully obtained 501c3 exempt status in November 2008.

Achievements
As of December 2021, we have 79 active NRI sponsors, plus 36 Indian Sponsors. Our current project, Asha Kiran India has sponsored the education of 1139+ disadvantaged students so far.

Currently Asha Kiran India supports the education of 254 students, who are studying in various stages of their education journey. Our footprint has now expanded immensely to cover families from Mangalore, Udupi, Puttur, Karkalala, Bantwal, Bangalore in Karnataka, Karimnagar and Warangal Districts in Telangana, and Nagapattinam District in Tamilnadu.


Board Members


Board Members and Officers

Beverly Furtado, makes her home in Chicago, USA, is the current President. She has enthusiasm in charitable work and shares the vision of Ashakiran. She is also an avid animal lover. She wants to contribute to the success of Ashakiran’s mission. She and her husband are continuous supporter of Ashakiran financially for many years now.

G L Y Mendon, makes his home in Baltimore, MD, USA. His dedication to our cause and experience in its execution keep us always striving forward. He is a Board Member and Asha Kiran US - Ashakiran India Coordinator.

Ramana Regulapati, is a board member and Treasurer/Secretary of Asha Kiran USA. He lives and works in Maryland USA. In addition, he uses his IT skills to administer the Asha Kiran website and database. He is a firm believer of "Education is the path to the Economic Independence". He coordinates with children in India.


Ex Board Members

The following are our past board members who have substantially contributed to the foundation and growth of Ashakiran into a robust social organization. Their contributions have been priceless and we are indebted to their enthusiasm and efforts during the nascent stages of Ashakiran. Although they are no longer active board members, some of them still contribute financially toward Asha Kiran’s efforts.

Prithvi Shetty, A society without bias is her dream and she works with the Asha Kiran team in their efforts to make this a reality. She lives and works in Texas, USA. She is a firm believer in education, and is a big contributor to the expansion of Asha Kiran. She served as Asha Kiran Board member from 2006 to 2017

Aarti Sampath Kumar, She served as Asha Kiran Board member from 2006 to 2013. A resident of California, USA, She is a firm believer in education, and still contributes financially to Asha Kiran’s efforts.

Praveen Herur, He used his excellent organizational and communication skills to work with our sponsors. He lives in California, USA. He held various positions in Ashakiran from 2006 to 2016. Arjun Sheshadri, He was a board member from 2006 to 2013. He managed Asha Kiran website until 2010.

Varun Chandola, was board member between 2006 and 2008. He was instrumental in setting up Asha- Kiran website and database.

Strategy

Asha Kiran’s single endeavor is towards attracting sponsors to fund the education of the most disadvantaged children in India. We raise awareness and solicit funds by word-of-mouth, limited social media marketing and through our website.
Asha Kiran directs all its project funds to deserving organizations that meet the goals and guidelines set forth in our bylaws. For more details on projects and selection criteria, please visit the Projects page.
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