Ekal Vidyalaya appoints Ranjani Saigal as Executive Director

Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation, USA (EVF) recently concluded its annualfund-raising through a series of 46 concerts throughout USA with grand success befitting 25 years of operation.

 

In last 6 yrs alone, EVF-USA has doubled the number of remote rural & tribal areas it serves in India to eradicate illiteracy and to create integrated development in those villages. As of now there are 52,000Ekal schools operating throughout India, including in Jammu-Kashmir, grooming over 1.5 million children.

 

There are now 45 Ekal-Chapters spread over all over USA supported by over 1,000 dedicated volunteers. Considering this ecliptic growth, “EVF-USA” has appointed Ranjani Saigal recently as its first Executive Director, to oversee its sprawling administration.

 

Ms. Saigal will spearhead EVF’s ambitious agenda of community outreach programs in USA, streamline its fund-raising activities, promote Ekal’s cause and interact with support system in India. A graduate of “IIT” Mumbai and University of Florida in Engineering & Computer Science, Ranjani Saigal has 25 yrs of experience in ‘Education Technology’ at ‘Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she facilitated development and deployment of several teaching tools and gaining accolades along the way. She is a co-founder of popular emagazine ‘Lokvani.com’ and serves on the board of several social enterprises.

 

Hailing the appointment, Subhash Gupta, Chairman of board of ‘EVF’, not only complimented Ms. Saigal for her passion and commitment for Education and mentoring of several non-profit Organizations in the past, but also, expressed his trust in her leadership. According to Ranjani 
Saigal, her immediate task at ‘EVF’, “will be to closely work with Ekal’s Executive branch, various Chapter Presidents, and its key Volunteers across USA and enhance interaction, cooperation between the ‘central body and satellite chapter-teams”.

 

A ceaseless bundle of energy, Ms. Saigal has already taken reigns of her responsibilities and plans to unveil her vision for ‘Ekal’ at the national meeting in Chicago, on September 21-22. There is special significance to this year’s gathering. This year also marks the 150Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the spiritual master of the modern age. It was his vision for educating the poor masses that has propelled the ‘Ekal Movement’ in the first place.

 

On September 11 (“9/11”), 1893 in Chicago, it was Swamiji who for the first time gave a profound message of Peace, Harmony and ‘Universal Brotherhood’ to the global humanity and took it by storm with his unique spiritual concept of inter connectivity of  global souls.

 

Shyamji Gupta, the founding member of “EVF” is specially flying in from India to join Ekal’s Chicago gathering, this year, not only to celebrate this all-embracing positive meaning of “9/11” , but also, to propagate the ‘unopened gift’ of  ‘Peace and Harmony’ that Swami Vivekananda has left behind for all of us to follow.