Suresh Iyer is new president of Ekal US

BAKERSFIELD, CA- Suresh Iyer has been named the new president of Ekal Vidyalaya US.

His introduction to Ekal was a strange coincidence. In 2002, he was asked by a friend to host its Founder Shyam Gupta in a last- minute change of plans. The conversation between the two turned to Ekal and lasted well into the night, and by morning, Suresh had become a donor.

Suresh, the new president of Ekal, gradually became more involved as a volunteer, then became Chapter President, Chairman of the Board until 6 months ago when he assumed the role of president of Ekal Vidyalaya US.

After brief stints at Air India and Tata Consultancy Services, US, Suresh started his own company Infospectrum in 2002 based out of Southern California.

The Ekal movement started in 1989 with one village and one school. Today, there is an Ekal school in 70,000 villages in India offering free schooling, vocational training, digital competence and agricultural education.

Suresh makes it a point to visit a school every time he visits India. If they are excited and curious to meet this visitor from America, he is no less impressed to hear a 6-year-old confidently rattle off the multiplication table of 12. To him, it is proof that Ekal is effective.

As president, Suresh is charged about taking Ekal to the next level. The Foundation raised 8 million dollars last year and his goal is to cross 10 million this year. He’s also working on putting a system of Donor communication in place and intends to strengthen those Ekal Chapters that need a little boost.

Three galas for fundraising are being planned for October in New York, Washington and Houston. He reveals that just $365 can support an Ekal school for an entire year.

Suresh is clearly thriving on this challenge but admits he couldn’t have done it without his wife Kanaka’s unwavering support, A physician, she held the fort with their two boys while he took on various leadership roles at Ekal.
This spirit of service has also passed on to Suresh’s two boys – Vasant and Sumant. Both have interned at Ekal villages and returned with a determination to do more. Vasant presented his thoughts at the Ekal National Conference in 2015 while Sumant is working with the Coimbatore team and Google mapping division to coordinate ways by which Ekal schools can be quickly plotted on google maps.