Stoneham, MA–Akshaya Patra USA announced that Vandana Tilak has replaced Emily Rosenbaum as CEO of the non-profit organization, which currently serves mid-day meals to over 1.6 million children in 13,800 schools across 12 States in India, every day.
Ms. Tilak assumed her new position on January 1st, when Rosenbaum, Akshaya Patra USA CEO since September 2013, left to become the Executive Director of the Worcester Jewish Community Center in Worcester, MA.
“Emily Rosenbaum, the departing CEO has deep appreciation and compassion for the children in India that we serve,” Desh Deshpande, chairman of Akshaya Patra USA, said in a statement. “Her efforts over the last four years have enabled a million children to pursue their education in India who otherwise would have been deprived because of hunger. We thank Emily for her contribution and wish her all the best in her new leadership role.”
Ms. Tilak has been actively involved with Akshaya Patra since 2012, starting the Los Angeles chapter in 2014 and serving as a board member since 2015.
Under Ms. Tilak’s leadership, the Los Angeles Akshaya Patra chapter has consistently surpassed its annual fund raising goals, and successfully raised over $1 Million in 2017 with a team of dedicated volunteers and a hands on advisory board. Ms. Tilak also serves on the boards of Almex USA and Almex Advanced Materials Corporation.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation USA has been steadily growing 20% every year with new donors and corporate CSR inflows.
As CEO, Ms. Tilak plans on galvanizing the organization by leveraging creative fundraising ideas, integrating TAPF India’s marketing strategy, improving technology and Akshaya Patra USA’s presence on social media. She is excited about working with chapters and youth ambassadors across the US while building a good support structure for increasing large and small donations.
“It is an opportunity that comes just once in a lifetime, which is to find an organization like Akshaya Patra,” said Ms. Tilak. “I stand on the shoulders of giants as I continue to work with amazing teams in India and here in the US. I am so grateful to Desh, our Chairman for his vision, and the team in India who keep pushing the envelope to lower costs and include more and more children into the program every year.”
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a public private partnership that currently serves mid-day meals to over 1.6 million children in 13,800 schools across 12 States in India, every day. Since inception, the foundation has scaled from serving 1,500 meals to operating 34 kitchens, cooking and transporting 1.6 million meals to government school children every day as a part of the government mid-day meal program. It takes only $15.00 to feed a child for an entire school year.
The US Foundation is a registered 501 (c) 3 with the highest 4-star charity navigator rating. The Akshaya Patra Foundation India is a registered not for profit secular organization.
