Nexus of Good: International footprint

I was surprised when Nexus of Good created excitement at the India Conclave organised by Harvard Kennedy School in Boston on February 17. I had outlined this response to the movement in one of my previous columns. Little did I realise that that there would be as much excitement about the concept wherever I went in the US subsequently. I was invited to address a set of students at University of California, Berkeley. The word had gone around in the social media that I was visiting Berkeley. Hence, I was also invited by the Indians for Collective Action (ICA) based out of San Francisco region. I was in San Francisco just for a day and the session at Berkeley was late in the afternoon. Hence, I agreed to interact with a group of Indians settled around the Bay Area. I must confess that I was equally keen to interact with them. I had heard and read so much about the perceptions of Indians settled across the Atlantic about what was happening in India, and I wanted to get first-hand understanding of their understanding of events in India. My kind host, Munir, volunteered to drop me at the venue that housed the ICA. Prakash Agrawal, the president of ICA received me and took me around the campus. The campus was indeed pretty impressive. I subsequently got to know about wonderful activities being undertaken by this organisation that had grown over the years.

Indians for Collective Action (ICA), all volunteers based, is a USA based 501c3 non-profit organization in San Francisco Bay Area. It was founded 55 years back by two Indian professors teaching at the University of California – thus making it one of the oldest Indian Organizations in the USA. Since its foundation, ICA has worked with over 100 NGOs impacting millions of lives in all parts of India. ICA has incubated several 501c3s in USA – most notably, ASHA for Education and Foundation for Excellence (FFE).

ICA’s Supported Organizations are in all parts of India, involved with climate change, education, health, women empowerment and income generation. ICA has supported both large and small NGOs. Notable among these are: Borderless World Foundation, Akhil Bhartiya Samaj Sewa Sansthan (ABSSS) , Mukti Foundation , Goonj, HELICA in Ladakh, Samaritan Help Mission, Lok Biradari Prakalp, Hemalkasa, BNGVN, Tarun Bharat Sangh, Snehalya, and many more. It has been instrumental in supporting their cause by raising millions of dollars in the USA, providing expert advice, and being a bridge between them.

Additionally, ICA has its own initiatives in the domain of youth leadership, women leadership, sanitary pads, and ponds for farming. Under Youth Leadership Initiative, ICA organizes a trip every year to India for a group of 15-20 high school and college-going students. These students spend 10 days with one of the chosen ICA-supported NGOs and get the exposure to the ground reality of existing problems, work being done to address these problems and what more could be done. This is considered as important exposure for these young boys and girls, and stays with them throughout their life time, helping them to be a better human being.

ICA launched a reusable cloth-based sanitary pad programme in 2019. These pads can be washed at least 50 times, making them extremely affordable. Since these pads are made of cotton, they are comfortable and do not cause any infection and rashes. They are also bio-degradable, hence environment-friendly.

In 2023, ICA initiated Ponds for Farming programme and worked with Mukti Foundation to revitalise Ponds in the Sundarbans area of West Bengal. This year, ICA is extending this programme into the Bundelkhand area of Uttar Pradesh by working with ABSSS.

When I reached the venue at around noon on February 27, it was buzzing with activities. Even though there weren’t very many youngsters around, the energy was palpable. After being introduced, I spoke about political, social and economic developments back in India, and proudly touched upon economic, electronic and infrastructure upturn in the country as also about some concerns on the social front. I then outlined the initiatives under the Nexus of Good movement, highlighting how an attempt was being made by the foundation to provide a platform to road-show good work so that others feel inspired to understand, appreciate and replicate good work. It came as a surprise to me that one of the NGOs, Muktangan that won the Annual Nexus of Good National Award, was being partly assisted by ICA. The ICA itself was doing and promoting a lot of good work. A number of interjections centred around greater understanding of what was being done by the Nexus of Good Foundation. The audience, comprising first-generation expatriates to the US, got increasingly interested in the activities surrounding Nexus of Good. Many of them went instantly to the portal and became members. Given the synergies between Nexus of Good Foundation and ICA, it was decided that the two entities should enter into a Memorandum of Understanding in pursuance of common objectives of these organizations.

On returning to Boston for sessions at the conference organized by North Eastern University on March 8 and 9, I got a short notice invite from the Indian students at Fletcher School, Tufts University. Apart from other discussions held at the campus, the topic of Nexus of Good also came up for discussion. Yet again, there was a keen interest shown by the youngsters in the movement. This was also true of the informal chat I had with the participants of the conference at North Eastern University.

Nexus of Good now begins an international journey. This would hopefully connect and highlight good work beyond the shores of India.

Views expressed are personal