Maya Ajmera
Maya Ajmera is the founder of The Global Fund for Children, a nonprofit organization that seeks to advance the dignity of children and youth by making small grants to innovative community-based organizations working with some of the world’s most vulnerable young people.[1][2]
Ajmera is also the author of more than fifteen award-winning children's books, including Children from Australia to Zimbabwe: A Photographic Journey Around the World, Extraordinary Girls, To Be an Artist, and Faith.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life and education
Raised in eastern North Carolina by Indian immigrants, Ajmera graduated from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham.[4] She holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Bryn Mawr College and a master's degree in public policy from the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.[5]
[edit] Career
Ajmera founded The Global Fund for Children in 1994, when she was just 25 years old. The inspiration came from a trip she took to India on a Rotary Fellowship a few years earlier. While waiting for a train she saw a group of children being taught by a teacher on a train platform. Ajmera learned that these children were students in a Train Platform School for impoverished children who could not attend school. Moved by what she saw, Ajmera applied for and won a seed grant from Echoing Green. This initial funding helped her build an organization to support innovative grassroots efforts on behalf of vulnerable children around the world.[6]
During her tenure years with the organization, the Global Fund for Children gave more than $22 million in capital to nearly 500 grassroots organizations in 75 countries. These grants have served more than one million children around the world.[7] Ajmera left her position as president in 2011, after sixteen years, but remains on GFC's board of directors.[8]
For the 2011-2012 academic year Ajmera is a visiting scholar at the Paul H. Nitze School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.[9]
She also serves on the boards of directors of New Global Citizens[10] and Echoing Green.[11]
Ajmera is a trustee for the North Carolina School of Science and Math and on the Board of Visitors of the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.[12] She also serves on numerous advisory boards, including the Center for Advanced Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University and the American India Foundation.[13] She was a trustee for the Blue Moon fund, and she served on the board of the Washington Area Women's Foundation for nine years before becoming part of that organization's Leadership Council.[14]
[edit] Marriage and children
Maya Ajmera is married to David Hutzler Hollander Jr., an intellectual properties attorney at Adduci, Mastriani & Schaumberg.[15]
[edit] Honors and awards
Ajmera was the recipient of a Rotary International Graduate Fellowship to study in South Asia in 1989-1990 and a zone winner for Rotary International's Global Alumni Service to Humanity Award.[16] She was also the recipient of the 1993-1997 Echoing Green Public Service Graduate Fellowship and the William C. Friday Fellowship for Human Relations of North Carolina.[17]
In October 2007, Maya Ajmera was featured on CNN's Heroes segment. Actress Mira Sorvino named Ajmera as her hero.[18]
In June 2008, Maya Ajmera received the Women of Distinction award at the 2008 National Conference for College Women Student Leaders at Georgetown University. The award is given to women who have made amazing accomplishments in their professions and who serve as inspiring role models for female students.[19]
She served on the Innovation and Civil Society subgroup of the Obama Presidential Transition’s Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform Policy Working Group.[20]
Ajmera is a member of the 2011 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.[21]
[edit] Published works
- Xanadu: The Imaginary Place Edited by Maya Ajmera and Olateju Omolodun. Charlesbridge 1999.
- Extraordinary Girls By Maya Ajmera, Olateju Omolodun, and Sarah Strunk. Charlesbridge 1999.
- Let the Games Begin! By Maya Ajmera and Michael J. Regan. Charlesbridge 2000.
- Children from Australia to Zimbabwe By Maya Ajmera and Anna Rhesa Versola. Charlesbridge 2001.
- Come Out and Play By Maya Ajmera and John D. Ivanko. Charlesbridge 2001.
- To Be a Kid By Maya Ajmera and John D. Ivanko. Charlesbridge 2001.
- Back to School By Maya Ajmera and John D. Ivanko. Charlesbridge 2001.
- A Kid's Best Friend By Maya Ajmera and Alex Fisher. Charlesbridge 2002.
- Animal Friends By Maya Ajmera and John D. Ivanko. Charlesbridge 2002.
- To Be an Artist By Maya Ajmera and John D. Ivanko. Charlesbridge 2004.
- Be My Neighbor By Maya Ajmera and John D. Ivanko. Charlesbridge 2004.
- Children of the USA By Maya Ajmera, Arlene Hirschfelder, Yvonne Wakim Dennis, and Cynthia Pon. Charlesbridge 2008.
- Faith By Maya Ajmera, Magda Nakassis and Cynthia Pon. Charlesbridge 2009.
- Our Grandparents: A Global Album By Maya Ajmera, Sheila Kinkade and Cynthia Pon. Charlesbridge, 2010.
- What We Wear: Dressing Up Around the World By Maya Ajmera, Elise Dertine, and Cynthia Pon. Charlesbridge forthcoming.
- Healthy Kids By Maya Ajmera and Cynthia Pon. Charlesbridge forthcoming.
Many of Maya's books have forewords written by prominent individuals, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bill Bradley, Marian Wright Edelman, John Hope Franklin, and even Kermit the Frog.[22]
[edit] Interviews and speeches
Interview with the Clinton Global Initiative, 2007[23]
Interview with Think Change India, 2008 [24]
Appearance on NPR's Tell Me More, 2008[25]
Interview with The Financial Times, 2008[26]
Appearance on Dallas NPR Station KERA, 2009[27]
TEDxAshokaU: Universities Driving Global Change at Duke University, February 25, 2011[28]
TEDxSMU, 2011[29]
William D. Reimert Lecture at Cedar Crest College, 2011.[30]
[edit] References
- ^ Global Fund for Children | Staff
- ^ Global Fund for Children | Our Model
- ^ Charlesbridge | Maya Ajmera
- ^ Duke Magazine | November/December 2006
- ^ Global Fund for Children | Staff
- ^ Global Fund for Children | Founder's Story
- ^ Aspen Institute | 2011 Henry Crown Fellows
- ^ Global Fund for Children | Board of Directors
- ^ Aspen Institute | 2011 Henry Crown Fellows
- ^ New Global Citizens | Board of Directors
- ^ Echoing Green | Maya Ajmera
- ^ Sanford School of Public Policy | Board of Visitors
- ^ American India Foundation | US Advisory Council
- ^ Global Fund for Children | Maya Ajmera
- ^ Maya Ajmera, David Hollander Jr. - New York Times
- ^ Rotary International GASHA Winners
- ^ Welcome to Charlesbridge
- ^ CNN's Heroes Segment | Mira Sorvino
- ^ Philanthropy Journal | Women of Distinction Award
- ^ Global Fund for Children | Founder's Story
- ^ Aspen Institute | 2011 Henry Crown Fellows
- ^ Global Fund for Children | Bookstore
- ^ Philantopic Interview
- ^ Think Change India | Download mp3
- ^ National Public Radio | Tell Me More, 2008 | Listen to Interview
- ^ Financial Times Interview
- ^ National Public Radio | Dallas KERA | Listen to Interview
- ^ TedxAshokaU | Universities Driving Global Change at Duke University | Watch YouTube video
- ^ TedxSMU
- ^ Reimert Lecture at Cedar Crest College
