American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of US Industry in India

CSR Committee Roundtable with USAID and WaterHealth – 31st October 2017

The CSR Committee organized a roundtable with USAID and WaterHealth on 31st October 2017 at the Cicso Systems (India) office in Gurgaon. Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM, welcomed members and introduced the speakers. She commended USAID for their fantastic work in India, specifically in health, education, sanitation and innovation.

Mr. Mark White, Mission Director, USAID/India, in his opening remarks mentioned that USAID was created by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to be the U.S. government’s branch for international developmental and humanitarian assistance. In India, they work to promote health, education, agriculture and environment, among others, through bilateral agreements between the U.S. and Indian governments. Mr. Nehal Sanghavi, Senior Advisor for Innovation and Partnership, USAID/India, gave an overview of USAID’s work in India emphasizing that they work in true partnership mode due to the vibrant private sector. He discussed various projects in the realm of health, food security, WASH, education, clean energy and environment.

Mr. Harish Krishnan, Chairman – CSR Committee, AMCHAM and Managing Director, Public Affairs & Strategic Engagements, Cisco India & SAARC, Cisco Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd., provided an overview of AMCHAM’s CSR Committee and all participants introduced themselves and highlighted their company’s CSR focus areas.

Ms. Jacqueline Lundquist, Chief Serendipity Officer, WaterHealth International, talked about her endearing history with India, successful partnership with USAID/India and how WaterHealth is transforming the way people get water in underserved areas of India. Ms. Nandini Dasgupta, Head – Funding India, WaterHealth India, gave a presentation outlining the way their centers have improved family health, household savings and WASH awareness.

Mr. Tushar Kalia, Senior Director, Goodera, shared an analysis of CSR trends for 2016-2017. Goodera is the largest global CSR and volunteering management technology platform currently being used by over 150 companies to channelize and manage CSR projects.

There was an engaging and enthusiastic Q&A session in which the speakers answered questions on a range of topics including how companies begin the partnership process with USAID, monitoring and evaluations, the water distribution process of a WaterHealth station and the CSR trends of the largest MNCs in India. In closing, Ms. Ranjana Khanna thanked the speakers and thanked Cisco for hosting the meeting.

31st October 2017 CSR meeting (1)31st October 2017 CSR meeting (3)31st October 2017 CSR meeting (2)

 

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