My Cause

The Mission: The American India Foundation (AIF) is committed to improving the lives of India’s underprivileged—with a special focus on women, children, and youth—through high impact interventions in education, livelihoods, and public health. As a binational organization strengthening the bridge between the civil societies of the world’s largest and two most powerful democracies, AIF also cultivates a robust platform for leadership development through its fellowship program, nurturing the next generation of globally minded changemakers.

About the Organization: Following the devastating earthquake in Bhuj, Gujarat in 2001, a small group of individuals in the United States were galvanized not only by the deep desire to contribute their time, energy, and resources for disaster relief, but also were motivated to sustain the impact they generated, scale it, and expand it to more underserved communities across India. Bolstered by then President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, they also saw the unique opportunity to create a trusted bridge of civic involvement between these two largest democracies. So were born the three pillars of AIF’s values: philanthropy, community, and purpose. Now, AIF has evolved into a juggernaut of social impact, positively affecting over 21 million people since inception.

As the largest Indian diaspora-led, U.S.-based nonprofit committed to improving the lives of India’s underserved, especially women, youth, and children, AIF’s multi-pronged interventions across education, livelihoods, and public health have reached people across 35 states and union territories in India. In addition, AIF has cultivated a vibrant platform for bilateral leadership development in the US-India corridor through its Banyan Impact Fellowship program, nurturing the next generation of changemakers from both countries.