LEXINGTON, MA– Vision-Aid announced that Raj Sharma and Nalini Sharma will be the chief guests and keynote speakers for the Vision-Aid’s annual event this year.
The 2019 event, which will be held on July 21 in Littleton, MA will feature a unique Broadway-style dance production “Invincible Spear – The Legend of Skanda”, with around 50 dancers and several dance teachers working under the guidance of renowned dance choreographer and producer from India, Madurai R. Muralidaran.
Vision-Aid brings spectacular productions to Boston, year upon year for over a decade, to thrill audiences, while raising funds to support its many programs. For tickets and sponsorship details visit www.VisionAid.org
Nalini and Raj Sharma are well known community leaders who have acquired a reputation for their philanthropic interests and community leadership. They have a strong passion for giving back and helping the less fortunate around the world. Their philanthropic interests encompass social development in India, environmental causes, youth leadership and the arts locally and globally.
They were instrumental in founding the Boston chapter of the American India foundation in 2004. Today AIF has a budget of over $10 million and has impacted over 5 million lives in India. Both serve as trustees of AIF Boston, and Raj also serves on the national board.
Nalini and Raj live in Sharon, MA and have four children.
Raj Sharma
Raj is Managing Director and head of the Sharma Group, a high-end advisory boutique within Merrill Lynch’s private wealth division. He has been recognized as one of America’s top 100 advisors by Barron’s magazine for 15 consecutive years. Additionally, Raj was recognized by Financial Times and Forbes magazine in their top advisor ranking.
Locally, Raj serves as a trustee of Emerson College and is chair of YouthLEAD, an innovative youth leadership organization promoting respectful dialogue tolerance and understanding among young people.
Nalini Sharma
Nalini is on the Board of Advisors of the Museum of Fine arts, Boston and is a spearheading leader on the Curators Circle for South Asian and Middle Eastern Art. She is an ardent supporter and patron of the Learnquest music festival and World Music/CrashARTS. She serves on the board of MITHAS. Through her support of various earth and environment agencies, she is a champion of the outdoors and the natural world.
Vision-Aid
Vision-Aid (www.visionaid.org) is a Lexington, MA based non-profit, serving the visually impaired. It has gained a reputation for its innovative and high-impact programs. Funds raised this year will help to sustain programs in its existing 10 locations in India, while aiming to add several new programs in 2019-2020.
In recent years, Vision-Aid launched several innovative programs including computer programming classes and hackathons for the visually impaired, new low-cost devices for low vision persons and structured spoken English classes. These programs continue to scale in 2019, with strong demand from visually impaired individuals, eye hospitals and blind schools from all over India. In addition to its work in India, Vision-Aid is also involved in programs right here in Boston – including a coding workshop for blind students in Boston Public Schools in partnership with a local Boston based NGO, and a conference on Accessibility in the fall every year. For more information about Vision-Aid, and the July 21 event, please visit www.visionaid.org
The Vision-Aid leadership team includes Mr. Syed Ali Rizvi (President), Mr. Puran Dang (Chairman of the Advisory Board), Mr. Ramakrishna (Ram) Raju (Founder), Revathy Ramakrishna (Co-Founder, VP), Sudhir Varma (Treasurer) supported by the Vision-Aid Board members Dr.Bharti Gangwani, Paramesh Garimella, Ujwala Phene, Dr.Aparna Raghuram, Ravi Rastogi, Alihusain Sirohiwala, Rita Vachani, Santosh Vempala and a capable Advisory Board with several leaders including Veena Handa, Ram Gupta, Dr. Deeba Husain and others.
