About ANI Foundation & Board Members

About ANI:

ANI Foundation is a charitable trust established in India in November 2007. We are an Indian counterpart of Act Now India, a U.S. based non-governmental organization. ANI Foundation is a non-profit advocacy organization committed to engaging our youth for an effective response towards HIV and AIDS in India.

We have collaborated with National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) & State AIDS Control Society (SACS), UNESCO, UNAIDS, National Service Scheme (NSS), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), Modicare Foundation, Wizcraft, Saregama, Buzz, Hindustan Times Group, Ogilvy and Mather (O&M), Youth congress, NSUI and DSACS and Radio Mirchi to spread awareness about HIV and AIDS amongst the urban and rural youth of India (Ages 18- 25). ANI Foundation and partners will disseminate HIV and AIDS information through sensitization teams in 50 colleges and 9 districts in Delhi and NCR.

We plan to reach approximately 5 million youth through our print, radio and electronic partners.

ANI Foundation’s Purpose and Mission Is to bring about PREVENTION through:

• A high impact Media Campaign involving the youth of the country on issues related to HIV and AIDS
• Altering current risk-taking behavior to safe and healthy practices
• Collaborating with the UN, Govt. bodies, NGOs and media to address Denial, Rights, Stigma and Discrimination.

Our Key People:

ANI Foundation has been nurtured and empowered by a team of committed individuals.
• Ms. Supriya Sen, Founder
• Ms. Karishma Walia, Project Coordinator
• Dr. Tehnaz Dastoor-Trustee
• Ms. Sita Raina-Trustee

ANI Foundation was established in November 2007 in India by Ms. Supriya Sen. She is the daughter of the late Mr. Mihir Sen, Guinness Book of Record inductee for being the first Indian to Swim the English Channel in 1958 and the Seven Seas in 1966 and the recipient of the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shree Awards in 1966.

Supriya was raised in Kolkata, India. She is a graduate (BFA in Textile Design) from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She has spent the last 20 years heading the import divisions for major Home Furnishing companies in the U.S.

Supriya has been passionate about the cause of HIV and AIDS. In 2006, she founded “ACT NOW INDIA” in the U.S which is a registered non profit 501(c)(3) advocacy organization committed to engaging our youth for an effective response towards HIV and AIDS in India

Ms. Sen is also a member of the U.S Advisory Council of the Micro Finance NGO Hand in Hand Seed, based in Kancheepuram, South India.

Our Board Members:

Dr. Tehnaz Dastoor, a long-time UN employee, was previously UNICEF’s Global Coordinator on Landmines and Focal Point on Child Soldiers. Tehnaz has worked globally on the issues of children in especially difficult circumstances. She developed UN Guidelines on Mine Awareness Education and among others, also dealt with children’s health and well-being, psycho-social trauma, and education worldwide.

Dr. Shoshanna Sofaer, Dr.P.H, is the Robert P. Luciano Professor of Health Care Policy at the School of Public Affairs, Baruch College, City University of New York. Dr. Sofaer did her graduate work in Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. She has served on the faculties of the UCLA School of Public Health and at George Washington University, where she was Associate Dean for Research of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences. Dr. Sofaer has published over 50 papers in academic journals.

Dr. Smita Tewari Jassal, anthropologist and gender studies expert is the wife of R.S Jassal, the current Ambassador to Turkey. She authored ‘Daughters of the Earth: Women and Land’ (2001, Manohar Publishers) and The Partition Motif in Contemporary Conflicts (2007, Sage Publications). She currently teaches Gender and Development at Columbia University, NYC.

Mr. Vinay Singhal has worked for over four decades in a number of leading multinational companies in India such as Unilever, DCM, the JK Group, Indo Rama and Fortis. Following a long and successful career in corporate life, he joined Fortis Healthcare, a Ranbaxy company, specializing in building and operating hospitals.

After retirement, Vinay accepted the position of Country Director for the Clinton Foundation. Currently he is Managing Director for a consulting company which represents Partners Healthcare, Boston, in India.

Ms. Sita Raina has been involved with the fields of Theatre & TV, film acting, direction and production for numerous years. She also has over twenty years of rich business experience in marketing, sales, retailing, corporate communication and administration to her credit. Sita is the ex- Director of Corporate Affairs for EURO RSCG India, the Indian Arm of the world’s fifth largest Advertising Agency.