Meera Satpathy, founder of Sukarya, brings a message of optimism for better health and nutrition for all mothers and adolescent girls of the world.
At the first public event, an awareness-fund raiser, after almost two years of pandemic, SUKARYA USA felicitated Meera Satpathy, the Founder and Chairperson of Sukarya, one of India’s most respected and successful grassroots level NGOs for its path-breaking initiatives addressing most critical issues of underprivileged women living in the urban slums and villages since 1998.
Speaking at the event, Meera Satpathy shared her life experiences while showcasing Sukarya’s programs which has already served six million women & children by providing access to maternal child health, nutrition, education for slum children, gender equality program for adolescent girls and economic empowerment through women self-help groups.
In recent years, Sukarya has undergone tremendous growth, witnessing increased acclaim and the demand for its programs in India as well as globally for filling the health and gender gap among the marginalized communities.
“I am humbled to be here at this pivotal moment for our organization. Our India and US teams have been working very closely with one another, this was particularly true during COVID, we can go from strength to strength while at the same time expanding our outreach to bigger communities fighting anemia and malnutrition will be an integral part of this next phase of Sukarya”, Meera said. “With 57% of total women population being anemic along with 40% of adolescent girls and 67% of children between 0-5 years, we have a huge task before us”, she added.
According to Ellen Abellera, the legendary API community leader and former director of CAPAA, Sukarya’s work is especially relevant to the U.S. at this time: “There is such a need for the kind of grassroots, high-quality maternal-child health and nutrition programs and services Sukarya provides with its community-based and digital platforms that are increasingly global in scope. A new report out from the Commonwealth Foundation doubles down on data stating that the United States has the worst maternal mortality rate in the developed world, as well as a number of cost and primary care access issues hampering wellness for women of reproductive age. I’m excited and humbled by this opportunity to meet Meera. I look forward to working with her global team to deepen Sukarya’s impact in India and share its learnings to improve health gap in our communities here in the United States.”
Speaking to the audience, Shree Saini, the reigning Miss World USA who also became the Miss World’s “Beauty With A Purpose Ambassador” expressed her pride for being the first Indian born American to own those titles and equally proud for being the global Ambassador of Sukarya. “My generation is lucky to have legendary non-profit leaders like Meera, who I consider the mother of all do-gooders, striving for a better society to which she has dedicated her entire life”, she said. “Today, the world has something to learn from the footsteps of Sukarya for how to develop and execute programs for the marginalized population in a cost-effective manner. So, I would like to appeal to all of you present physically, online, and offline to give to Sukarya in the best way possible”, she added.
The event was anchored by Kasper Lee, the long-time Microsoft executive who is also known for her huge philanthropic engagements in Seattle communities. She also did the Ask after the felicitation toast to Meera Satpathy and Sukarya.