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Making the Difference
Ray Umashankar
Wednesday, June 1, 2005
People around the globe have been wonderstruck by the accomplishments of Indian professionals in the U.S, especially in Silicon Valley.

Hardly a day goes by without some news in the media about an entrepreneur or Venture capitalist of Indian origin. The natural progression from this high level of success is the increased awareness about social entrepreneurship among these professionals.

They came together to help the victims of numerous catastrophes, the most recent being the Tsunami disaster. The American India Foundation (www.aifoundation.org) has done a phenomenal job of recruiting prominent businessmen of Indian origin to serve on its board and has a number of very successful programs to serve the needy and underserved people in India. There are a number of other organizations that are equally effective and successful in implementing programs to benefit those less fortunate than us.

While all these programs must continue, there is a need in the U.S., which is often overlooked. All the advances in technology that have been a boon to professionals in India and the U.S, have had virtually no impact in improving the quality of life among underrepresented groups such as Hispanics, Native Americans and African Americans.

I believe it is very important for Indian professionals in the U.S., to take a serious look at providing opportunities through scholarships, internships and other vehicles to young women and men from these ethnic minority groups. There are outstanding high school students from these communities who lack opportunities to do better for themselves and their communities. This group represents a vast talent pool that has not been fully utilized. I have personally been involved in developing programs to recruit, retain and graduate students from these ethnic groups and these results have been very satisfactory.

There are major public relations and political benefits to be derived as well from this investment in the technology education underrepresented ethnic groups in the U.S. This approach can be used as a very successful antidote to the constant barrage of restrictive bills being introduced in light of outsourcing jobs to India. There are a number of U.S congressmen very favorably disposed towards Indians because of their technical acumen and success in business.

Efforts made by Indians to help educate the underrepresented groups will sit well with the politicians and I sincerely believe that these efforts will help improve the status of our countrymen even more. In addition, major U.S business houses and industries are spending large amounts to recruit engineers and technically trained women and men from the underrepresented groups. Indian companies in the U.S that choose to engage in the aforementioned efforts can make headway in building stronger business relationships as well.

Finally all financial and other benefits aside, the efforts to recruit, retain and graduate young women and men from underrepresented ethnic minorities is immensely rewarding. We are in a position to make a difference in the lives of many who may be the very first in their family to dream of pursuing a professional career.
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