India’s rapid economic growth has generated an extraordinary amount of wealth in recent years, leading to an unprecedented interest in philanthropy on the part of individuals, companies and foundations, both in India and in the Non-resident Indian community, overseas. One impediment to the growth of India’s philanthropic sector has been the lack of infrastructure to support charitable giving.

In close cooperation with United Way International’s Friends of India program, the MurthyNAYAK Foundation is actively working to promote the development of this infrastructure, to bring greater transparency, accountability, and leadership to India’s expanding non-profit sector. Attorney Sheela Murthy contributes her time and expertise as a member of the United Way’s Leadership Council of India. In 2008, she traveled to India with the MurthyNAYAK Foundation’s board of directors and a U.S. delegation from the Friends of India initiative, to launch new United Ways in Hubli and Dehli.

During the launch events, Attorney Murthy spoke from the heart about the need to help fellow Indians to break the cycle of poverty, “I challenged everyone in each of the cities where a new chapter of United Way was launched to give of their time, talent, and treasure to work together with all of us to improve the conditions of the poor and make a better world for all children to share – one in which the basics of food, clean water, shelter, and education are not reserved for the privileged.” The MurthyNAYAK Foundation has demonstrated the sincerity of this challenge by making a ten-year financial commitment to the United Way India Fund for investment in the Bangalore communities through the local United Way.

Donors want to know that their contributions will have the maximum impact possible. The United Way Friends of India program is bringing to bear its reputation, expertise, and network of relationships to ensure that donations will be used efficiently and effectively to solve specific problems – creating the trust needed to build a robust philanthropic community. It also is providing a way for North Americans to participate in this endeavor as supporters and volunteers. The MurthyNAYAK Foundation is proud to be among the leaders of these efforts.

For further information, visit http://worldwide.unitedway.org/.

The MurthyNAYAK Foundation is deeply committed to the empowerment of girls and women, and the mission of the Girl Scouts resonates strongly with that commitment. MNF is an enthusiastic supporter of the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland (GCSM), providing regular financial contributions as well as active leadership: Attorney Sheela Murthy was the Board Chair for the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland.

MNF is especially proud of its support for the GSCM Beyond Bars Project, an award-winning program that brings girls together with their mothers who are in prison. By spending time with their incarcerated mothers, these girls achieve awareness of the paths that led their mothers toward crime, presenting them with the option to choose differently.

Here in Maryland, Girl Scout programs reach thousands of girls and young women, developing their skills as leaders and agents of social change, in a supportive environment that promotes good values and integrity of character. It gives girls hands-on experience in camping, hiking, and ecology, teaching the value of environmental stewardship and respect for our natural resources. These are empowering experiences for young women, giving them the confidence and strength to take their place as leaders in a changing world, and to change the world for the better. The MurthyNAYAK Foundation is deeply committed to this mission, and very pleased to support the fine work of the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland.

Further information is on the web at www.gscm.org.

Vimochana is a Bangalore-based organization that has been working for 20 years on the issues of Indian women, focusing on domestic violence and sexual harassment in the workplace. Of particular concern to the MurthyFoundation is the problem of dowry burning and deaths. Thanks to organizations like Vimochana, there is increasing awareness of this problem, and significant efforts are being made to prevent this, but a great deal more work needs to be done to make dowry burnings and deaths a thing of the past. We wholeheartedly support the work of Vimochana to end these unconscionable crimes against the basic human rights of women.

Vimochana also does valuable work to promote peace and conflict resolution across the many barriers that otherwise lead to division along linguistic, ethnic, cultural, and religious lines. Vimochana serves as a forum for women’s rights issues, and a gathering place for women seeking equal rights and other positive social change. Feminist books are available there, and a network of women’s and human rights groups meet there as well. Vimochana also sponsors educational programs on marital violence and related topics, and provides vocational training for women.

The MurthyNAYAK Foundation supports Vimochana because we share their commitment to advancing the rights of women and girls, and their empowerment as full partners in the growth of a new India.

American Red Cross – The American Red Cross needs no introduction. When disaster strikes, the Red Cross is usually the first aid organization on the scene, providing food, shelter, clean water, and a sense of safety to people displaced by earthquakes, floods, fires, tsunamis and other crises. The MurthyNAYAK Foundation has given funds to support Red Cross relief efforts in the wake of the 9-11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, the Indian Ocean Tsunami, and other catastrophes.

http://www.redcross.org

KHUSHII – KHUSHII stands for Kinship for Humanitarian, Social, and Holistic Intervention in India. This nonprofit works to uplift poor communities in India – both urban and rural – offering health and education programs, vocational training, and assistance in organizing grass-roots self-help groups. The MurthyNAYAK Foundation has provided generous support to KHUSHII’s adult literacy program, which is working to address the rampant illiteracy that affects 39% of the adult population in India. KHUSHII provides literacy and numeracy education, and also addresses financial and legal literacy in its adult education classes. The program is designed to provide social uplift to, and combat exploitation of, one of India’s most vulnerable and neglected populations.

http://www.khushii.org/shikshaantra.html

India Network – a nonprofit internet resource for all things Indian, providing news, matrimonial advertisements, links to Indian government agencies, and a host of other useful information to Indian communities around the world, and to researchers and scholars interested in learning about India. The India Network was created to meet the cultural and social needs of the Indian diaspora, and to increase knowledge and awareness of India and Asian Indian culture overseas. Of particular interest is India Network’s Immigration Law Forum, which links readers to the MurthyLawFirm website and to immigration resources from the U.S. government, and from immigration authorities in other leading destinations for Indian expats.

http://www.indnet.org/

The MurthyNAYAK Foundation supports the Episcopal Refugee & Immigrant Center Alliance – ERICA – a resource center for refugees, asylees and immigrants in the Baltimore-Washington area. In 2010, the MurthyNAYAK Foundation sponsored ERICA’s annual benefit concert, Music and Stories of Migration, which featured outstanding musicians from the Peabody Conservatory – most of them immigrants – and first-person accounts of the immigration odysseys that brought three ERICA clients to America.

With the support of the MurthyNAYAK Foundation, ERICA has helped immigrant and refugee families to weather rent and utility emergencies, and has provided no-interest legal-aid and family-reunification loans to clients in need. ERICA also offers one-on-one casework assistance and referrals to community services, helping clients to overcome obstacles that stand between them and jobs, educational opportunities, health care, and resettlement assistance. To help clients adjust to their new lives in the United States, ERICA provides educational programs, including English classes and cross-cultural workshops on financial literacy, health care access, legal rights and responsibilities, entrepreneurship, and computer and internet skills.

ERICA’s goal is to empower immigrants, providing the resources and information they need to become self-sufficient, full participants in the common life of our society. The MurthyNAYAK Foundation actively supports these goals.

Further information on ERICA is on the web at www.erica-baltimore.org.