New England Choice Award Winners Announced, Will be Honored at Oct. 28 Awards Gala

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.