WALTHAM, MA—About 400 entrepreneurs, corporate executives, philanthropists, educators, community leaders and New England Patriots owner and Kraft Group Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft gathered on Friday at Westin Hotel in Waltham, MA, to honor 10 shining stars of the Indian-American community in New England.
Robert Kraft and Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria
Organized by INE MultiMedia, Inc., in collaboration with INDIA New England News, New England Choice Awards 2018 also honored Mr. Kraft for his service to sportsmanship, and community.
Mr. Kraft, whose holding company owns many businesses, including New England Revolution, Gillette Stadium, International Forest Products, Rand-Whitney Group, Rand-Whitney Container board and a portfolio of more than 100 private equity investments, introduced Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria and gave him the New England Choice Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.
“New England Choice Awards 2018 was pure magic, which only happens when you have extraordinary awardees, guest of honor like Jit Saxena, supportive community and amazing Mr. Robert Kraft as Chief Guest,” said Manju Sheth, President of INE Multimedia. “All the stars were aligned for sure on October 26. Any project done with pure intentions and backed by hard work inevitably gets blessed. Our cup is full of gratitude. Thank you to all of you for your support.”
The 2018 New England Choice Awards 2018 Committee consisted of Anu Chitrapu, Upendra Mishra, Mandy Pant, Anupendra Sharma, Manju Sheth and Aditi Taylor. The judging committee consisted of several prominent members and entrepreneurs of the Indian-American community.
“As always New England Choice Awards gala this year was nothing but a good example of teamwork, combined with hard work, passion, strive for excellence and an innate determination to do the best in honoring our heroes, champions and our community,” said Upendra Mishra, publisher of INDIA New England News. “We are thankful to our organizing committee, judges, awardees and all the attendees of the event that was sold out a month-and-a-half before the event.”
In addition to Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr. Nohria, other awardees were honored with the following awards:
Outstanding Academic Achievement Award: Subir Sachdev, Herchel Smith Professor of Physics and Chair of the Department of Physics at Harvard University;
Artist of the Year: Annette Philip, Faculty Member at Berklee College of Music, Artistic Director of Berklee India Exchange, and Creative Director and core vocalist, Women of the World;
Art & Culture Organization of the Year: Stage Ensemble Theater Unit known as SETU;
Business and Entrepreneurship: Dharmesh Shah, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, HubSpot, Inc.;
Community Service: Vasant Jinwala, an early supporter of Shishu Bharati, serving for about 40 years as director, secretary and now treasurer;
Healthcare and Health Education: Dr. Sanjiv Chopra, MD: Professor of Medicine and a Faculty Dean for Continuing Medical Education at Harvard Medical School for 12 years; Non-Profit Organization
TiE Boston: the second-oldest chapter of TiE-Global, supports entrepreneurs by offering education, mentorship, networking, and funding opportunities;
Philanthropy: Samir Desai: Founder, The Desai Foundation, which empowers women and children to elevate health and livelihood in India and the United States.
Youth Leadership: Miriam George: Passion to Protect Civil Rights.
NECA this year was supported by a number of businesses: Platinum Sponsor: Harvard Pilgrim Health Care; Gold Sponsor: Masala Art; Silver Sponsor: BMW of Sudbury and Lahey Health. Supporting sponsors are: Alankar Event Planners & Decorators, Boston Sound and Light Co. and Art of Memories. Community sponsors are: Ameriprise/Mahadev Group; Shah, Dixit & Associates PC, Academy of Creative Arts, among others.
