SF-Bay Area Gala 2011

Pratham San Francisco Bay Area’s sold-out annual gala was held at the Silver Creek Valley Country Club on Oct. 8.  Legendary entrepreneur and venture capitalist Kanwal Rekhi was honored for his contribution to community service. Expressing doubts about India’s new Right to Education act passed last year, Rekhi said, “I’m beginning to see the value of private initiative in this sector, which is filling a void that the government has left.” 

Rukmini Banerji, director of Pratham’s ASER Center gave the keynote address and spoke of the pratham programs and challenges of implementing the programs. During her presentation, Banerji used Cisco Telepresence to connect to children at a Pratham school in Delhi. 

Pratham ambassador Yogi Patel gave an emotional speech, noting his own pathway from a poverty-ridden childhood in an Indian village to coming to the U.S. for his education in chemical engineering.

Dan Nainan entertained the audience with his stand up comedy. 

Click here for more pictures of the event.