United We Serve, United Prosperity, and other SAPP news

SAPP is working on its business plan this summer!  More news to come soon on that…  In the meantime, Venu’s getting married, Archana’s moving to a new country, and Ramya & Priyanka are busy with summer classes and internships.  All in all, we’re just not able to publish as much as we want to over the next two months.  Don’t worry, you’ll still be hearing from us, but perhaps not as often!

In the meantime, here are a few links to keep you going:

• 

  c/o Zimbio.com

  Tomorrow, Michelle Obama launches a “summer of service” through an initiative called United We Serve.  We’d love to hear from you if you participate in volunteer opportunities this summer!

• Over at Asian American Giving, Dien profiles CEO Mridul Chowdhury of ClickDiagnostics, which uses cellphones to promote health care in rural Bangladesh and elsewhere.
• She also makes her first loan through United Prosperity to an entrepreneur in India.  United Prosperity is a new microfinance platform that I encourage all of you to check out.
• Echoing Green announces its 2009 fellows, and there are at least two South Asians among them:  Veena Ramanna of IndiaGoverns, and Dhruv Lakra of Mirakle Couriers.  Their ideas seem fantastic – to remake political discourse in India and to create sustainable employment opportunities for deaf adults in India.