17 years of enabling brighter futures!
17 years of enabling brighter futures!
Our Vision
A happy, healthy and creative child whose rights are protected and honored in a society that is built on respect for dignity, justice and equity for all.
Our Mission
Taking Responsibility
To enable people to take responsibility for the situation of underprivileged children, especially Indian, and so motivate them to seek resolution through individual and collective action thereby enabling children to realise their full potential.
Taking Responsibility
Mobilizing Potential
To make people discover their potential for action and change
Mobilizing Potential
Inspiring Collective Action
To enable peoples’ collectives and movements encompassing diverse segments, to pledge their particular strengths, working in partnership to secure, protect and honour the rights of India’s children
Inspiring Collective Action
Taking Responsibility
To enable people to take responsibility for the situation of underprivileged children, especially Indian, and so motivate them to seek resolution through individual and collective action thereby enabling children to realise their full potential.
Mobilizing Potential
To make people discover their potential for action and change
Inspiring Collective Action
To enable peoples’ collectives and movements encompassing diverse segments, to pledge their particular strengths, working in partnership to secure, protect and honour the rights of India’s children
The Importance Of Children’s Rights
According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), all children have fundamental rights which must be
recognized by governments and citizens alike.
And yet, children continue to battle some of the worst circumstances in the world.
46 Million
children in India, between 6-18 years of age, do not go to school
(UDISE 2016-17)
33 Million
child labourers in India go to work instead of school
(Census 2011)
1 of 3
child brides in the world is from India
(Unicef 2014)
2 of 3
child deaths in India, below the age of 5, are caused by malnutrition
(Unicef 2019)
2 of 5
children in India do not receive complete immunization
(NFHS 4 2016)
500%
increase in crimes against children in India between 2008-2018
(NCRB 2018)
15 Million
children live in poverty in the U.S.
(U.S. Census Bureau 2018)
11 Million
children in the U.S. live in food insecure households
(USDA 2018)
2.9 Million
cases of child abuse are reported every year in the U.S.
(Safe Horizons 2015)
CRY America works to ensure that underserved children are able to access and exercise their fundamental rights and so, we work on 4 key focus areas:
We believe that every child should be able to go to school and complete their education without any discrimination based on gender, caste or socio-economic status. To this end, our education programs focus on:
Early Childhood Education: Helping children between 0 to 3 years develop their learning abilities to aid their intellectual and cognitive development.
School Readiness: Enabling children between 3 to 6 years get access to pre-schooling through Anganwadis to help develop the knowledge and skills that will equip them to complete their schooling.
Learning Outcomes: Ensuring that children between 6 to 18 years go to school and complete their education in an age appropriate manner to influence positive learning outcomes.
We believe that no child should suffer from malnutrition or poor health irrespective of their socio-economic background. To this end, our health and nutrition programs adopt a preventative and a responsive approach towards reducing malnourishment by focusing on:
Prenatal And Postnatal Care: Ensuring that expectant and lactating mothers receive proper care and encouraging breastfeeding practices to help reduce maternal/infant mortality and improve children’s health in the first 1000 days of life.
Growth Monitoring: Enabling children aged 3 to 6 years to have access to pre-schooling through Anganwadis helps develop the knowledge and skills that will enable them to complete their schooling.
Growth Monitoring: Regularly monitoring children’s growth till the age of 6 years, ensuring completion of immunization schedules and enabling equitable access to primary healthcare to address malnutrition and manage preventable diseases.
Adolescent Intervention: Influencing adolescent behaviour on the issues of health & nutrition and engaging them on topics like reproductive child health to bring about lasting generational change.
We believe that all children, till the age of 18 years, should have a safe environment to grow up in and stay protected from abuse, neglect and exploitation. To this end, our safety & protection programs focus on:
Child Labor: Millions of children are forced to work; often under hazardous conditions, for long hours and extremely low wages. Working with communities at the grassroots level to end this practice helps enable children to go to school instead of becoming victims of this severe form of exploitation.
Child Marriage: Child marriage is another form of exploitation and sexual abuse, particularly for girls under the age of 18. Ensuring that girls are not forced to become child brides and young mothers helps them go to school instead and empowers them to chase their dreams.
Child Trafficking: Children from underprivileged sections are often trafficked as a form of modern slavery, forced labour and even commercial sexual exploitation. Working with child protection committees across villages helps prevent children from becoming victims of child trafficking.
We believe that all children have the potential to be agents of change and the ability to hold dialogue on the things that matter to them.
To this end, our child participation programs focus on building children’s collectives, engaging with them to build an understanding around child rights issues and enabling them to speak up on the same.
In The Media
CRY America Galas- Over $1 million raised to support underprivileged children in India and US/ The Indian Eye
May 2023
$1 Million Netted at CRY America’s Fundraising Series/ India West
May 2023
Bollywood Star Neelam Kothari Soni to Headline CRY America Benefit Gala/ India West
April 2023
Colorful Holi Celebration Hosted At Castaic Lake/ KHTS
March 2023
CRY America Joins IPA for India Giving Day/ News India
February 2023
India Giving Day /Yahoo News
February 2023
CRY Houston Gala Celebrates Heroes For Life | Indo American News
June 2022
Vivek Oberoi Interview – CRY Gala | Hindi Media
May 2022
Focus Live with Vivek Oberoi | TV Asia
May 2022
CRY America’s “Heroes for Life” Gala Raises $1 Million | The Indian Panorama
May 2022
CRY America’s “Heroes For Life” Gala Raises $1 Million | India West
May 2022
Actor Vivek Anand Oberoi hosted CRY America NYC Gala to Benefit Children in India | ITV Gold
May 2022
Santa Clarita Kite Festival To Benefit Children In Need | Hometown Station
Jan 2019
Bolsa Chica State Beach gets splash of color at Holi by the Sea festival | LA Times – Daily Pilot
March 2019
Celebrating Ambassadors of Change for Children’s Rights (pg. 4) | South Asian Insider
March 2019
CRY Gala Raises $125,000 for Children’s Rights (pg. 5) | India Herald
March 2019
Actress Konkana Sharma Headlines CRY America Spring Fiesta in San Diego, Palo Alto | India West
May 2019
Our Team
Shefali Sunderlal
President & Program Director
Vatsala Mamgain
Honorary Trustee
Puja Marwaha
Honorary Trustee
Ravi Krovidi
Honorary Trustee & Treasurer
PERCY PRESSWALLA
Honorary Trustee, Board Secretary & National Volunteer Representative
Apoorv Agarwal
Jacksonville, Florida
Dharam Bali
Houston, Texas
Arti Kulkarni and Ketan Duwedi
Bay Area, California
Sonal Soni
San Diego, California
Juuhi Ahuja
Houston, Texas
Edward Remias
San Diego, California
Murali Narayanan
Seattle, Washington
CRY America Staff
CRY India Support Staff
Our Financials
As a custodian of public funds, we believe we are accountable to the wider public for the efficient use of these funds.
Accountability and transparency have always been guiding principles.
The CRY America Pledge
Before anything else, I am a human being. As are these little children. The rights I enjoy are theirs too. They have a right to a home and family, education, healthcare, play time and protection from being exploited. Most of all, they have the right to be children.
A right they are denied, for no fault of theirs.
And so, I pledge to do whatever I can, in my own way, to fight for their right to have a childhood. With my skills, with my resources, with my heart, I will fight for them because I can and they can’t.
Apoorv Agarwal
Jacksonville, Florida
Apoorv holds a PhD and an MBA from Michigan University and is a Principal at LLC, a consulting practice focused on alternative energy, new technology development, sustainability and scaling up small businesses. Apoorv has held volunteer leadership positions at CRY in Detroit and the national level, including serving on the CRY America Board from 2009 till 2020. He currently leads the CRY America Advisory Board with a focus on recruiting new members and keeping existing members suitably engaged. He resides in Jacksonville with his wife Sunitha and their two children.
Dharam Bali
Houston, Texas
Dharam owns Vantive, an IT consulting and staffing company in Houston, Texas. He has worked as a Consultant with several companies including Capgemini, Deloitte, PwC, IBM and Accenture. Dharam has led the CRY Houston Action Center for many years and has been instrumental in building brand salience and increasing the donor base for CRY through his persistent efforts at physical events such as the CRY Houston Gala and CRY Walk events. Dharam resides in Houston with his wife Priya.
Arti Kulkarni and Ketan Duwedi
Bay Area, California
Arti currently leads health and social impact products at Facebook. She has 15 years of technical and UX experience and has led teams of product managers and engineers to build platforms and consumer products like Expedia platform and packages, Amazon Fresh, Amazon Referral program, Amazon CPM Ads, Facebook Audience Insights and Facebook Ad Library.
Ketan is an engineering manager with 20 years of experience planning, designing, developing, shipping and maintaining multiple scalable and performant software products. He has a proven track record of building large scale enterprise systems, high scale distributed online services, building teams from scratch and growing them, setting team vision and delivering results.
Arti and Ketan have been long term donors and supporters of CRY America and the cause of children’s rights. They reside in the Bay Area with their two sons.
Sonal Soni
San Diego, California
Sonali is the Creative Director of her own design studio called StudioS. She’s an alumni of NIFT and is a multi-talented artist, muralist and graphic artist. Sonali lives with her husband Nakul and son in San Diego. Sonali and Nakul have been long term donors and supporters of CRY America and the cause of children’s rights.
Juuhi Ahuja
Houston, Texas
Juuhi is the President, & CEO of Wise Men Consultants which has grown from a Staffing company into a full-blown Technology Solutions provider. Juuhi began her career in New York City in the insurance industry. She has a Bachelor’s in Business & an MBA from the New York Institute of Technology. Juuhi is an active member of various organizations, including the Houston Minority Supplier Diversity Council, Indo American Chamber of Commerce and Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance.
Juuhi’s believes that “If I am not networking, I am not working” and if something is worth doing, one must do it quickly and with high quality. She is a certified yoga teacher & practices meditation daily. She enjoys music, traveling & reading. Juuhi is married to Omprakash, a successful businessman who owns hotel franchises like the Sheraton, Hilton and Marriott. They have a daughter who is their pride and joy.
Edward Remias
San Diego, California
Edward joined CRY America in 2008 & has cultivated San Diego to be one of the most successful Action Centers in the country under his leadership. He served on the CRY America Board from 2015 till October 2020 and thereafter joined the Advisory Board in January 2021. He is looking to leverage his experience to help with CRY America’s event management, IT and social media functions.
Edward is a Software Professional at Qualcomm, enjoys playing volleyball on the beach and snowboarding. He currently lives in San Diego with his wife Jyothi & daughter Nitya. He says, “I consider myself privileged to serve in this role to make a difference in the lives of children who deserve it the most. Because I can! And what I can, I will!”
Murali Narayanan
Seattle, Washington
Murali Narayanan has been an active supporter of CRY since 2006 and continues to provide guidance to the Seattle CRY team to execute its mission. Starting his career at Bell Laboratories, Murali has held senior management positions across several major companies such as Microsoft as well as leading many startups throughout his career. Murali has an MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Business, MS in Computer and Information Engg from University of Michigan, BSEE from Indian Institute of Science and BSc in Physics from University of Madras (now Chennai). He is currently an advisor to the Dallas Venture Capital. He is an avid nature photographer and lives with his wife Mythili and daughter Priya in Redmond, WA.
Shefali Sunderlal
President & Program Director
Shefali holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from Delhi University and has held leadership positions at CRY India and CRY America for the past 3 decades. She has been leading CRY America since 2002, with a focus on brand building, civic engagement, fundraising and grant making. CRY America has grown its supporter base to 25,153 donors, 2,000 volunteers and has impacted the lives of over 733,684 underprivileged children through support to 90 Projects across India and the USA. Shefali currently lives in New York with her son Vikrant.
Vatsala Mamgain
Honorary Trustee
Vatsala has an MBA from IIM Calcutta and has worked in advertising for close to two decades on clients like J&J, Unilever and Maruti. She has also set up a design portal, run a home catering business, worked as a textile consultant and is a published writer. She believes that every single person has limitless potential and she hopes that her work at CRY will help India’s children realize theirs.
Puja Marwaha
Honorary Trustee
A post graduate diploma holder in Human Resources from XISS, Ranchi, Puja joined CRY in 1994 to set up the HR function. Prior to that, she worked with Citicorp and KSIL. Puja has held the role of CEO of CRY [India] since February 2010. She joined the CRY America Board in the same year. She currently resides in Bangalore with her husband Ajit.
Ravi Krovidi
Honorary Trustee & Treasurer
Ravi works for PwC in the role of Managing Director out of the San Jose office and advises technology sector companies to scale new business models via digital transformation. He is part of the PwC Responsible Business Leadership initiative and helps local non-profits such as the Children Discovery Museum. Ravi is an alumni of the Indian Institute of Management – Bangalore and the Haas Business school at UC Berkeley. He has served on the Haas alumni board for 2 years. He has been a CRY donor since 2005 and joined the CRY America Board in January 2020 with a firm belief in CRY’s charter and impact. The Krovidi family conducted a CRY Walkathon in SF Bay Area in 2015. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Hima and children Ronit and Arush.
PERCY PRESSWALLA
Honorary Trustee, Board Secretary & National Volunteer Representative
Percy is a Senior Technical Business Analyst with the Automobile Club of Southern California since 2007. He has a BCom degree from Bombay University and was the Area Commissioner for Scouts Canada Willow Valley Area. He loves reading philosophy and traveling. He has been a volunteer leader since 2012 in Los Angeles and has organized several events such as CRY Holi, Walk and Gala. He is passionate about the cause of children and is delighted to serve on the Board from May 15, 2020.
