Asha’s History

Asha for Education is a non-profit organization dedicated to the support of basic education in India. Asha, which means hope in many Indian dialects, was founded at the University of California, Berkeley in 1991 and has since grown to over 65 chapters scattered throughout the United States, Europe, East Asia and India. Each of these chapters raises funds to support various education-related projects in India.

Since its inception, Asha has partnered with more than 800+ NGOs from across 24 states in India and has disbursed in excess of $25 million. In 2012 alone, Asha has disbursed $2+ million and has supported the education of 250,000+ kids in India directly and many hundreds of thousands more indirectly.

Asha Boston’s Story
Asha Boston/MIT was founded in fall of 1995 by a group of students who understood the importance of education and the need to provide such opportunities to the underprivileged. Today, the chapter draws members from a diverse group of students and professionals living in the Greater Boston area.The members of this Chapter are a close knit group of dedicated individuals working towards a common goal.
Culturally sensitive, secular and committed to community-based interventions, Asha Boston/MIT is currently funding 10 projects in 7 different states in India. In addition to strategy meetings for project planning, Asha MIT/Boston volunteers coordinate socials, fundraising drives and visits from leaders in education in India
 To maximize the chapter’s outreach, the group selects diverse education related projects from various parts of India including rural education, education of girl children, vocational training and non-formal education, education and support for physically/mentally challenged children as well as teacher training programs. Asha Boston/MIT works closely with other Asha chapters to ensure quality support is provided to educational efforts in India.