Pratham Houston Gala raises a record $1.2 million

L to R: Swatantra Jain, President, Pratham Houston, Dr. Rukmini Banerji, Director, Pratham Programs - India, Ajay Banga, President & CEO, MasterCard Worldwide.

Photo: Bijay Dixit.

The Pratham 2012 Houston gala on Saturday, April 21 at the Hilton Americas Houston was a sold out event and a resounding success with over 800 attendees.

A record breaking and unprecedented amount of $1.2  million dollars was raised. This means that over 60,000 children in India can get educated for an entire year, be rescued from a vulnerable lifestyle or attend a vocational training institute and have a shot at a brighter future.

Nestled between riveting dance performances were inspiring speeches from Ajay Banga, President & CEO, MasterCard Worldwide & Dr. Rukmini Banerji, Director of Pratham Programs, India.

Swatantra Jain, President, Pratham Houston lauded Pratham’s methods:  “Pratham is recognized for three important aspects of its work. First is the scale on which we work and second is the low costs with which we achieve this. The third aspect is our ability to innovate and grow.”

Mr Jain went on to thank the Co-Chairs, Marie Goradia and Medha Karve for their hard work in making this gala a huge success.  He also thanked Brij Kathuria, Secretary & Treasurer, Pratham Houston for his dedication to Pratham and for his immense help in executing the gala.