Asha’s History
Asha for Education is a non-profit organization dedicated to the support of basic education in India. Asha, which means hope in many Indian dialects, was founded at the University of California, Berkeley in 1991 and has since grown to over 40 chapters scattered throughout the United States, Europe and India. Each of these chapters raises funds to support various education-related projects in India.
Since its inception, Asha has partnered with more than 800+ NGOs from across 24 states in India and has disbursed in excess of $40 million. In 2022 alone, Asha has disbursed more than $3 million and has supported the education of 250,000+ kids in India directly and many hundreds of thousands more indirectly.
Asha Beyond Borders’ Story
Asha Beyond Borders was founded in 2023 by volunteers who understood the importance of education and the need to provide such opportunities to the underprivileged. The chapter is organized on a virtual basis and draws members from across the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, New York, North Carolina and Texas. The members of this Chapter are a dedicated group of individuals working towards a common goal.The aim of the group is to generate awareness across the U.S., in particular in places that do not currently have a physical Asha chapter, in order to collectively support and provide financial assistance to grassroots educational movements in India. Members of Asha Beyond Borders not only help provide financial assistance to the projects, but also attempt to maintain a close contact and personal involvement with the organizations and projects in India year-round.
To maximize the chapter’s outreach, the group aims to select diverse education related projects from various parts of India including rural education, education of girl children, vocational training and non-formal education, education and support for physically/mentally challenged children as well as teacher training programs. Asha Beyond Borders works closely with other Asha chapters to ensure quality support is provided to educational efforts in India.