This year’s Asha for Education (Asha) two-day biennial conference – Asha-32 – took place in sunny Campbell, California, over the weekend of September 28-29, 2024 and was a huge success!

The conference was hosted by the Asha Silicon Valley chapter and brought together 112 attendees – with 78 attending in-person and 34 remotely – with representatives from across 26 Asha chapters, the Asha-wide Coordination team and Asha alumni. We were also honored to have been able to host eight external speakers and recognize the longstanding hard work and dedication of our Team Asha coaches over the two-day conference event.

Coming together was a powerful reminder of the importance of staying connected to the grassroots realities of our work, as emphasized by inspiring keynotes and panels from Santosh More and Khushboo Awasthi (Mantra4Change), Anshu and Meenakshi Gupta (Goonj), Gita and Madan Gopal (AFEC), and Vince Kohli (Trillion Ventures Capital) and Jyotika Gupta (z21 Ventures).

The Asha for Education Board of Directors addressed key volunteer challenges, shared successes, and outlined future goals, while also emphasizing the importance of maintaining strong donor relationships to support Asha for Education’s mission. Breakout sessions fostered incredible conversations among volunteers from across the US, highlighting the need for cross-chapter collaboration to tackle challenges and move forward together. The energy throughout the event was infectious, leaving participants re-energized and motivated to make a lasting impact!

Inspiring keynotes and thought-provoking panels by (clockwise from left) Anshu Gupta and Meenakshi Gupta from Goonj, Santosh More and Khushboo Awasthi from Mantra4Change, Gita and Madan Gopal from AFEC, and Vince Kohli and Jyotika Gupta encouraged us to be more connected with realities at the grassroots, reiterating that this is the only way to bring about real change.

The Asha for Education Board of Directors addressed common volunteer challenges, highlighting the organization’s successes and outlining future goals. They emphasized the importance of maintaining strong donor relationships to ensure continued support for Asha for Education’s mission.

The conference sparked some incredible conversations with volunteers from various chapters, especially those from university chapters. Breakout sessions emphasized the need for cross-chapter collaboration and dialogue to address challenges and move forward together.

The conference reinforced a sense of purpose, emphasizing that even small contributions can lead to significant change. The energy in the air was infectious, and participants left feeling motivated to make a meaningful impact in their work for the organization.

We are especially thankful to the conference planning team – Shoba Viswanath, Sekar Srinivasan, Saroj Bangaru, Kajal Gaglani, Shaibal Dutta, Bharathi Ramajayam, Chitra Mandyam, Sailaja Kattubadi, Srini Singanallur, Diksha Gohlyan, Subra Nathan, and many others – for their hard work in making this event a success!