BY NIMMI RAGHUNATHAN

LOS ANGELES, CA – The formation and presentation of a youth chapter and the recognition of two business leaders – Dean Scarborough CEO of Avery Dennison and Amit Kapur COO of MySpace – formed the highlights of this year’s fundraiser by the American India Foundation. 

The program held on Nov.15 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel here, was attended by the well-heeled members of the community and netted the charitable organization close to $500,000. Usually an event that hosts a plethora of stars, this year’s low glam quotient was made up with the smooth execution of the proceedings: there were fewer speeches and each dinner course was interspersed with entertainment and the business at hand. 

Scarborough in accepting his award from Victor Menezes, the Founder and Co-Chair of AIF, spoke of his firm’s involvement in India which employs over 1,000 people there.  He said the last five years in particular had been exciting for organized retail there and “a great place to invest.”  He said the first five years of their start up operations in Gurgaon had been tough but the past five years had seen sound growth and had been good.  He listed off the various locations where his company has offices in India including a newly opened plant in Pune.  Accepting the award on behalf of all Avery Dennision employees, he said the firm had strong community values instilled early on by its founder. 

Kapur in his acceptance speech stated at the outset he wasn’t sure why he was getting the award and then proceeded to boil it down to two possibilities: that MySpace has just invested heavily in India and that the organization saw him as someone to showcase to “younger Indians.”  Just 27 himself,  Kapur said he owed his meteoric growth to his parents who had raised him in a small South Dakota town where the biggest employer was a pork plant.  A Stanford University graduate, he said his parents always encouraged him and his brother to go out and explore.  The other person instrumental in getting him where he was, said Kapur, was CEO Chris DeWolfe who had taken chances and given him opportunities.  “Not too many CEOs will take risks with a 20 something kid,” he said.  Indeed DeWolfe in his introduction of Kapur earlier had been generous in his praise and said the latter brought to the table shining ability and talent. Kapur struck a note of restraint by saying that even though at 27 he felt he was just starting, he was now learning the importance of balancing ambition.

The COO also spoke of his company’s involvement in India.  He said the sociability and self expressive nature of Indians now has a platform with MySpace.  Praising the engineering talent in India, Kapur said the firm’s CTO was in India working with many of them to see how much to invest in technology. 

The evening began with AIF CEO Sanjay Sinho stating the importance of greater “collective philanthropy.”  He pointed out that despite the economic downturn those present were the fortunate few.  He set the tone for what was followed by each AIF official who came up to the podium – urging greater monetary contribution and the narration of a human interest story brought back from a visit to India, of those who had been rehabilitated through AIF support.

Nimish Patel, Chair, AIF Southern California Chpater compared the role of the organization with the lofty principles enshrined at the Statue of Liberty and said the group could well say, “take us to your poor.” A lot has changed over time he said, but our American principle of helping remains. The turbulent economy, he said, made it even more imperative to extend a helping hand.

AIF Board Member Navneet Chugh said the organization had raised over $50 million.  He said the 11 member board and 49 trustees had had a retreat for 2 days and several were present in the audience. Instrumental in formulating the AIF Junior Chapter, he detailed its formation and the enthusiasm of the youth.  He brought on to the stage several of the youth group who had come together late last year and had since raised $10,000 with their efforts.  A short film clip of them at work with the heart tugging “we are the world,” number in the background was shown. The audience gave them a standing ovation for their participation.  The outgoing president and the president-elect both took turns at the microphone and spoke of how they had chosen to grow from teenagers to “caring teenagers” who wanted to make a difference.  It was announced that their new annual goal was to raise $100,000.  By seeming to lead from the front, the youth were able to lead the floor appeal and quickly raised $37,000. This was matched by Trustee Anil Monga.

The entertainment segments were varied with the Anjali Dance Theater, a part of the Sundar Kala Kendra Foundation dancing a colorful invocation piece. 

Rajiv Satyal, a rising stand up comic brought laughs with his cracks on Indian thriftiness, tax cuts that were not meant for those in the audience and the quirkiness of the community. 

The UCLA Bhangra team livened up the proceedings with their vibrant performance. 

TV actor Sendhil Ramamurthy, who has been on People magazine’s “sexiest men” list was greeted with hoots of approval while on stage. 

The emcees for the evening were also stage and television actors Meera Simhan and Sunkrish Bala.