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DEF announces first Indian beneficiary
The Diamond Empowerment Fund has named the nonprofit Veerayatan as the first educational institution in India to receive its funding, awarding it a $50,000 grant.
DEF said it chose the organization for the innovative way it approaches education to improve the quality of life for its students. Benjamin Chavis, senior strategic advisor for DEF, as well as Executive Director Nancy Orem Lyman and diamantaire and DEF board member Dilip Mehta, met with school officials to see first-hand how it was positively affecting its students’ lives.
As part of a welcoming ceremony for the DEF, students from the Veerayatan College of Engineering, College of Pharmacy, and College of Business Administration shared their stories of overcoming adversity for the opportunity to receive higher education.
Hearing these stories inspired Mehta to make an on-the-spot commitment to match DEF’s donation to the school this year and all years following, bringing the total donation for 2015 to $100,000.
As a result of the donation from DEF, two students from Veerayatan will travel to Las Vegas to attend the organization’s Diamonds in the Sky event on May 28. The gala will honor Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of the Republic of India.
Veerayatan is a nonprofit organization dedicated to alleviating suffering through medical care, vocational training, environmental protection programs and education through a number of schools and colleges in India and around the world.
“Veerayatan epitomizes the convergence of excellence in education with holistic sustainable development,” Chavis said. “This institution is making a positive transformative difference in India.”
The organization joins three existing DEF beneficiaries--the African Leadership Academy, Botswana Top Achievers Program, and CIDA City Campus.
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