WALTHAM, MA— Seven Indian-American luminaries and two organizations will receive New England Choice Awards at a black-tie gala on Oct. 28 at Westin Hotel in Waltham, MA, INE MultiMedia announced. In addition, philanthropists Jaishree and Desh Deshpande, founders of the Deshpande Foundation, will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Massachusetts State Treasurer Deb Goldberg will be the chief guest. Eric H. Schultz, Chief Executive Officer of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care will make the keynote at the black-tie gala, which will be attended by about 400 entrepreneurs, corporate executives, philanthropists, educators and community leaders.
The New England Choice Awards are presented by INE MultiMedia in collaboration with INDIA New England News, the region’s oldest and largest online, print and video magazine serving the South Asian community. INE received more than 250 nominations for these awards. A jury of 11 individual selected the final winners.
“The jury has chosen the legends of our community for the first New England Choice Awards,” said Dr. Manju Sheth, CEO of INE MultiMedia, a Waltham, MA-based non-profit organization devoted to promoting and supporting charitable organizations, art, culture, education and empowerment through workshops, seminars and multimedia. “We are looking forward to honoring individuals and organizations that have served and enriched the community for decades.”
Upendra Mishra, publisher of INDIA New England News and the IndUS Business Journal, said the list of 2016 New England Choice Award winners is simply splendid.
“The winners of the first Choice Awards are being honored for their pioneering, inspirational and impactful work in New England area and around the world,” said Mishra. “We are very grateful to our community and their overwhelming response and continuous support. We are looking forward to a fantastic event Oct. 28.”
Here is the list of the winners in each category:
Academics
Vijay Kumar
Associate Dean of Digital Learning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Art and Culture: Individual
Jothi Raghavan
Founder
Nrityanjali School of Dance
Art and Culture: Organization
LearnQuest Academy of Music
Waltham, MA
Business and Entrepreneurship
Amar Sawhney
Chaiman and CEO
Ocular Therapeutix Inc.
Community Catalyst
Puran Dang
Mithas, IAL, IIT-SINE, TiE-Boston, Ekal and others
Healthcare
Dr. Dinesh Patel, MD
Orthopedic Surgery– Arthroscopy
Sports Medicine Orthopaedic Surgeon
Associate Clinical Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Non-Profit Organization
Saheli
Crusading against domestic violence with a mission to empower South Asian women and their families to live safe and healthy lives.
Philanthropy
Venkat Srinivasan
Vice Chair, American India Foundation (AIF)
Founder and CEO, Rage Frameworks
Youth Leadership
Gautam Narula
Award Winning Author: Remain Free: A story of Troy Anthony Davis, a black man executed by lethal injection for murdering a white police officer in cold blood.
congratulations to all the recipients of the prestigious awards
the organizers and judges deserves commendations /thanks from all of us for this wonderful activity
dinesh
congratulations to all and tank you organizers and judges
dinesh
Such event will bring our community unsung Heros to light in New England.
Rajendra Trivedi
india New England News and INE Media are doing tremendous service to our community.
Puran Dang