FIIDS Activities Report – Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS)

Bay Area Fundraiser Event:

Sunday 20th Nov 5:30pm-7:30pm (followed by dinner and light entertainment)

Venue: FalconX Hall, 691 S Milpitas Ave, Milpitas, CA

Adminission Donation: $150 pp $200 per couple family

Sponsorships (admissions included): 250-5000

Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora(FIIDS) works on strategy, policy as well as advocacy building a narrative toward global perception on matters related to US-India, India, and Indian Diaspora. We want to present the annual report 2022 and appeal for your support in terms of advice, influencing elected officials, resources, and funding for 2023.

Summary: In 2022, we focussed on a systematic analysis of bills/campaigns/issues, structured and timely responses, establishing systems including professional/administrative help,, and expansion. (1) Analysis and strategic actions on bills like condemning India / religiophobia (2) Policy Change Recommendations for the US: Eliminate visa wait time, a country-wise quota for GC, etc. (3) Policy Recommendation to India: Taxation/ finance related to Hon. finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman, Startup related to Hon. Minister Piyush Goyal, road safety to Transportation Minister Nitin Gadkari, and issues in US-India relation to EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar (4)IndoAmericanVotesMatter campaign for registrations, resources to guide IndoAmericanElectionGuide.org and voting (5) Occasion on India@75 Reimagining India 2.0 lecture series with speakers like Hon. Nitin Gadkari, Ambassador Kanwal Sibal, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi Structured (6) Awareness Panels: On HRes 1196, USCIRF, etc. (7) Human Rights: Arranged tour of Pakistan-based Hindu activist on minorities condition in Pakistan, panel, and campaign on Bangladesh Genocide, India’s policies of inclusivity Dalit author and academician Guru Prakash Pawan. (8) Skills building: We hosted a Structured Cohort Internship program in DC (for undergrad) and local (high schools) and bi-monthly workshops on organization building, media, and content to leaders and activists.

Key Highlights of 2022:

Policy and Campaign Monitoring and Strategic Response: FIIDS engaged a part-time analyst and policy consultant to regularly monitor introductions/actions on bills in congress, spread awareness and give strategic responses. Bills like Islamophobia, condemning India HRes 1196, etc. FIIDS also raised awareness about ongoing anti-India, anti-Indian campaigns in-general and anti-Hindu, specific to the department of homeland security, elected officials, house representatives, and other elected officials

US Policy Change/Recommendations:: FIIDS submitted policy change recommendations both to the US government and the government of India. Policy Change Recommendations for the US: Eliminate visa wait time, the country-wise quota for GC, etc. We also launched a Change.org petition to eliminate the wait time and discussed the matter with officials at the Department of State and the US consulate in New Delhi.

India Policy Change/Recommendations: To Hon. Finance minister Nirmala Sitataman, we submitted requests like allowing direct market investment to retail investors and fixing complications in double tax filing. We submitted Startup M&A issues, and a proposal for startup connect to Minister Piyush Goyal. We submitted road safety recommendations to Transportation Minister Nitin Gadkari. Finally, we discussed Indian American issues and the negative portrayal of minorities in India with EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar.

(4)IndoAmericanVotesMatter: Considering the important presence of ~4.5million Indian Americans particularly in swing states and critical races like Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, and others, FIIDS launched four phased-campaign for increasing Indian American voting and guiding them on candidate policies and policy asks important for Indian Americans. We also launched a website for guiding this and future elections https://IndoAmericanElectionGuide.org In this campaign we made videos for voter awareness, made a survey, and published policy recommendations and candidates studies.

(5) India at 75: Occasion on India@75 Reimagining India 2.0 lecture series with speakers like Hon. Nitin Gadkari, Ambassador Kanwal Sibal, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi. We also co-hosted a widely quoted program on India at 75 and Modi at 20 of EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar in Washington DC on 25th Sept.

(6) Think Tanks and Awareness Panels: On the role of Indo Americans in US elections, a biased report by USCIRF, anti-India resolution HRes 1196. We also engaged in discussions relating to US-India issues with experts from the Heritage Foundation, Carnegie Endowment For International Peace, John Hopkins University, Asia Society, Atlantic Council, Stimson Institute, Washington Institute, Gold Institute, and Observer Research Foundation in Washington DC.

(7) Human Rights: This year we arranged awareness tours and campaigns on Bangladesh atrocities and genocide 1971(HRCBM Priya Saha), minorities state in Pakistan (J. Ramesh), and policies of inclusivity under Modi government (Dalit bjp leader, author, and academician Guru Prakash Paswan)

(8) Inter-Community Outreach: We continue to engage Afghan Americans, Armenians, Jewish Americans, Yezidi, and Bangladeshi minorities in Washington DC, California, and Arizona.

(9)Skills Development: In 2022, we hosted workshops to build the skills and ability of community leaders, activists, and like-minded organizations to set narratives and cultivate influence on topics like the Role of Indo-Americans in the US Election. FIIDS 2022 Internship Program: This year twenty-seven high-schoolers registered for the internship cohort program. This structured well-planned program had weekly talks by experts, and hands-on assignments. We also had Maru Yelwalgadi as an under-grad full-time summer intern in Washington DC.

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Funding Needs to 2022 [ ~120K – 255k]

Hiring Part Time [ $50K-150K] – Full-time Staff: The current multidimensional high-impact activities need to scale up to a time-bound, systematic and professional level with hired resources. We plan to hire a part-time policy consultant in Washington DC, an administrative assistant in the US, and policy analysts and a back office in New Delhi, India.
Paid Internship Program for undergrads in DC [$12K-20K]
Capitol Hill Advocacy event and conferences[$20k-40K]
Experts and authors travel [$10K -15K]
Digital Content: ($15K-30) and publications

We humbly request you to support FIIDS by contributing before the end of this year online or by attending fundraiser events at http://fiids-usa.org/donate or by mailing a check payable to FIIDS, 22395 Dolomite Hills Drive, Ashburn VA 20148. FIIDS is a non-profit 501(C)(3) compliant non-profit organization. It is likely that your company allows matching contributions.

Your donation will be applied towards raising issues of NRIs, building narratives, and influencing policies on India and Indian Diaspora as well as US-India issues.