The American India Foundation (AIF, founded 2001) is a nonprofit American organization that is devoted to accelerating social and economic change in India. The AIF has invested in over 100 Indian non-governmental organizations while raising about $50 million since its inception. It is one of the largest secular, non-partisan American organizations supporting development work in India.
AIF awards grants to education, livelihood, and public health projects in India – with emphases on elementary education, women’s empowerment, and HIV/AIDS, respectively. AIF has a program called Digital Equalizer which attempts to bridge the digital divide by providing computers, internet access and training to under-resourced Indian schools. It also funds the Service Corps Fellowship, renamed the William J. Clinton Fellowship for Service to India on May 11, 2009, which sends skilled young Americans to work with NGOs in India for a ten month period. The fellowship helps exchange technical skills, intellectual resources and helps increase the capacity of Indian NGOs to continue their work while giving American leaders a good understanding of India.
The American India Foundation was founded by a group of Indian-Americans responding to the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. Former United States President Bill Clinton serves as the Honorary Chair, and has been involved in a number of AIF events; he was asked to get involved with the group by Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the wake of the earthquake.
Read more about American India Foundation: AIF's Emergency Response
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