New York [USA]/ New Delhi [India], January 27 (ANI/BusinessWire India): On the meaningful occasion of India's 74th Republic Day, NY-based Rural India Supporting Trust (RIST) and the American India Foundation (AIF) have renewed their commitment to India's nation-building by announcing a USD 7.6 million (Rs 60 crores) investment on girls' education, maternal and newborn health, and strengthening the bridge between the civil societies of these two largest democracies in the world.



A major supporter of AIF for over a decade, in 2022, RIST expanded their investment in AIF's multi-award award-winning Maternal and Newborn Survival Initiative (MANSI) with a USD 3M grant to reduce neonatal and infant mortality by 25 per cent and 20 per cent respectively, across 6 blocks in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand over 5 years. On this Republic Day, RIST announced a deepened and expanded commitment to AIF through a USD 1.6M investment in its Digital Equalizer (DE) program for school children and a USD 3M grant in support of the Banyan Impact Fellowship (BIF) program to nurture the next generation of social impact leaders.



This new grant for AIF's award-winning DE program will help train 120 government school teachers on DE-designed techno-pedagogy and expose over 12,000 students-especially girls-to STEM-based learning. It will also provide technology and STEM infrastructure in 40 schools in Uttarakhand, amplifying the impact of their investments in the state.

The grant for BIF ensures sustainability for the program in collaboration with the $5 million grant from the Krishnan Shah Family Foundation (KSFF). Together, these two investments will enable 300 young professionals the opportunity to contribute to sustainable development and civil society strengthening in India and the U.S., creating future social impact leaders in the US-India corridor.



"Since its inception in 2007, RIST has been dedicated to supporting organizations like AIF that create solutions to social inequity and poverty by designing bold solutions to complex problems for communities that need it the most. Through this multi-pronged and expanded investment in AIF's programs, RIST can generate a sustainable positive impact for thousands and catalyze transformation at the systemic level to leverage this change, over time, at scale. We are excited to deepen this partnership and amplify our impact across the communities we serve," said Shweta Rawat, Managing Director of RIST.



Nishant Pandey, Chief Executive Officer, American India Foundation, said, "There are no words for how grateful we are for RIST's continued partnership. These generous, multi-year grants and project scale-ups are a testament to the trust and collaboration that comes with our partnership, the dedication of our implementing team on the ground, and the impact that the two organizations make together. Since our partnership began, RIST has pushed us to be better, think bigger, and has supported us all along the way. We are thrilled for this next phase of work and the lives we'll be improving together."

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