Prakash Shah, veteran Indian American community leader from New Jersey, newly elected President of Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) was sworn in on Jan. 31 along with the new leadership at a virtual Zoom ceremony.
Shah, former Chairman of New Jersey Development Authority, has been a Founder Life member from GOPIO inception in 1989 and was serving as the Global Ambassador and later as the Convener of the GOPIO Convention 2024 in New Jersey in his last term.
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Others sworn in at the ceremony were media and community leader Umesh Chandra from Brisbane, Australia as Executive Vice President; Los Angeles area community leader Kewal Kanda as Vice President, and former IBM official and New York social activist Jasbir “Nami” Kaur as Global Ambassador. Also elected were International Coordinators for Africa, Ishwar Ramlatchman and for South Asia, Dhiraj Ahuja,
Since the officials come from different continents of the world, the oath ceremony was conducted virtually with Dr. Thomas Abraham, Chairman of GOPIO International, welcoming the participants and providing a brief introduction to the birth of GOPIO and its achievements in the last 36 years.
“GOPIO chapters around the world have been doing a lot of organizational groundwork in many countries to promote leadership in public service and the thrust has been to promote and involve the Indian Diaspora in the larger society and local communities wherever they live,” said Dr. Abraham.
Outgoing president Lal Motwani spoke on the activities done during his term and thanked his team members.
In his acceptance speech, Shah said, “It is my ambition to try and activate those regions and Chapters which are not active now so that GOPIO does become a functioning Network for the 38 million strong India Diaspora.”
GOPIO Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) would be relaunched in different parts of the world, he said The next GOPIO Convention will be held in Brisbane, Australia March 28-30 under the leadership of Umesh Chandra.
Shah has been involved in founding a number of leading community organizations including GOPIO, Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA) and the NYC based India Chamber of Commerce of America (ICCA). He also served on Southern Africa Fund and was Chairman of New Jersey Development Authority.
Umesh Chandra is a founder member and board of trustee of the Queensland Multicultural Council and serves on the police ethnic advisory group and Lord Mayors Multicultural round table. He has won many community service awards, including the Bharat Gaurav award in 2011. Umesh and Usha Chandra were named Brisbane City Councils’ citizen of the year in 2019 and own Globenet Realty.
Kewal Kanda retired from Boeing Company after 26 years of service as production planner, principal analyst and planning manager. Community service being his passion he is a member of many non-profit community organizations such as Founder of Rajput Association of America (1984), Founder president of GOPIO-LA Chapter, Treasurer of GOPIO International, and President FIA-SC.
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J. Nami Kaur completed a 32-year corporate professional career in technology, marketing and communications at IBM. Since 2009, she has donated her time and skills pro-bono to New York Botanical Garden, Children’s Hope India, Riveredge Cooperative Board, and GOPIO
Philanthropist and humanitarian Ishwar Ramlutchman (Mabheka Zulu) has received many awards. He is the first person of Indian Origin to foster relations with the largest African tribe and become part of Zulu Royal Family. He has Supported the Indian diaspora in many of His cultural, peace initiatives and heritage programs. He upholds corporate social responsibility by building schools, feeding and providing health facilities for the poor and disadvantaged in South Africa.
A self-made businessman, Dhiraj Ahuja has a wide international network. President of GOPIO-Delhi/NCR Chapter, Ahuja is associated with a few prominent NGOs as well as business houses.