Rural India Supporting Trust (RIST) and AIF Announce a $7.6M Partnership on India’s 74th Republic Day
                     Rural India Supporting Trust (RIST) and the American India Foundation (AIF) Announce a 
$7.6M Partnership on India’s 74th Republic Day 
 
 
New York, USA and New Delhi, India, January 27, 2023 - On the meaningful occasion of India’s 
74th Republic Day, NY-based RIST and AIF have renewed their commitment to India’s nation 
building by announcing a $7.6 million (INR 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 $3M grant 
to reduce neonatal and infant mortality by 25% and 20% 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 $1.6M investment in its Digital Equalizer 
(DE) program for school children and a $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, creating future social impact leaders in the US-India corridor.  
 
“Since 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 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.”  
 
About American India Foundation (AIF) 
Founded in 2001 at the initiative of President Bill Clinton following a request from Prime Minister 
Vajpayee, AIF is committed to catalyzing social and economic change in India and building a 
lasting bridge between the United States and India through high-impact interventions in 
education, livelihoods, public health, and leadership development, with a particular emphasis on 
empowering girls and women to achieve gender equity. Working closely with local communities, 
AIF partners with NGOs to develop and test innovative solutions and with governments to 
create and scale sustainable impact. Driven by values of transparency, secularism, and non-
partisanship, AIF remains staunchly dedicated to executing initiatives to further equity, inclusion, 
and opportunity for marginalized communities in India. To date, AIF has impacted 13 million 
lives across 35 states and union territories in India. 
 
 
About Rural India Supporting Trust (RIST) 
 
Rural India Supporting Trust (RIST) was established in 2007 by two families with concerns 
about the well-being of communities in India. Our roots in India have shaped our vision, 
efforts, and mission. In order to address these matters, RIST awards grants to organizations 
that work on solutions to societal inequities and poverty. At our core, we focus on Health, 
Education, Disability, Environment, and Emergency Response. 
 
Since 2015, we’ve implemented more than 120 projects across 19 states in India. With The 
Hans Foundation as a main implementing partner, RIST activities have benefited over 
300,000 people. 
 
Our mantra is: “To bring about positive change, we must pay attention to the story of every 
person”. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For queries on the RIST-AIF partnership, please contact Jeanine Racioppo, Development Director, East Coast at  
[email protected], or Kalpana Kanthan, Chief Development Officer, at [email protected]. For 
inquiries in India, please contact Shreya Ralli, Director of Communications, at [email protected].