INCREDIBLE, INC. US INDIA SME COUNCIL’S 50 INCREDIBLE INC. CELEBRATION 2024 1 US INDIA SME COUNCIL’S 50 INCREDIBLE INC. CELEBRATION 2024 A MESSAGE FROM CHAIRMAN AND FOUNDER Sudhakar Gande, Board Chairman and Founder. Dear Friends, It is our pleasure to welcome you to the 20th Anniversary celebrations and Second annual ‘Incredible Inc.50 Awards program, and to extend our congratulations to this year’s honorees. Small businesses are the backbone and foundation of our Nation’s economy, innovation and job growth. SMEs represent over 90 percent of the business population, 70 precent of employments and 55 percent of GDP om developed economies. These firms are a significant part of the engine that drives our Nation’s economy. To help minority and women -owned companies remain viable and prosperous, we are committed to promoting and empowering to business opportunities and programs and resources. On behalf of our U.S. India SME Council, where small, minority and women-owned is our greatest strength, and are the engines that fuel our Nation’s economy. we are grateful for your continued commitment and hard work and efforts to build the better, stronger future we all prefer. Please accept our best wishes for 20th anniversary celebrations and second annual Incredible Inc.50 Awards gala. Sincerely, Sudhakar Gande Board Chair INCREDIBLE INC.50 Elisha Pulivarti, President & Chief Executive Officer, The U.S. India SME Council, Inc created The ‘Incredible Inc.50 awards’ in 2022 to recognize and honor the fast-growing small, minority and women companies. These prestigious awards are aimed to recognize the exceptional achievements and successful journey of these companies. This is our second year and a total of twenty companies (II50) will be acknowledged for their outstanding work. Other twenty-five companies will be honored in India. The selection process for the Incredible Inc.50 awards is highly competitive and involves evaluation process by a distinguished panel of judges. The II50 lists recognize the innovative achievements of companies in generating sustainable growth and jobs creation, sacrifices and dedication. SMEs are the backbone and the engines that fuel our Nation’s Economy and Innovation and Job growth through their innovation, creativity, sacrifices, and dedication. SMEs represent over 90 percent of the business population and 70 percent of employment and 55 percent of GDP in developed economies. These business owners are living their dreams and making significant contributions to their clients, professions, industries and communities. Nominations for this award were solicited through the many chambers of commerce, professional organizations, the business community and the public. Once application is completed, received and evaluations process will take some time and panel of judges will come up with final awardees of Incredible Inc.50 of fast-growing companies. The Incredible Inc.50 ranks companies by overall revenue growth over a three-year period. All 50 honoree companies are individually profiled and featured in the ‘India This Week’ News Paper The purpose of this magazine is to introduce you to our awardees, these incredible men and women who have achieved the American dream of business ownership despite the obstacles and challenges in their path. Their stories are real and their contributions are inspiring. To honor the memory of the late Dr. M. E. Cherian, we bestow the Dr. M. E . Cherian Leadership Award to those individuals who have dedicated their lives to the advocacy and support of projects or initiatives for good cause. They epitomize the legacy of Dr. M. E. Cherian and his hard work.
US INDIA SME COUNCIL’S 50 INCREDIBLE INC. CELEBRATION 2024 The U.S. India SME Council, Inc Program and Incredible Inc.50 Awards and gala October 1, 2024 Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, Maryland 20852 Mr. Larry Webb, District Director for Washington Metropolitan Area District Office, U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Mr. Ben T. Raju, Director of Program Management for the U.S. SBA Office of Field Operation. Dr. Rajan Natarajan, Former Deputy Secretary and Outstanding Entrepreneur Susan Lee , Secretary of Maryland State Rhonda S. Binda, Program Host/MC Pr. John Daniel, Senior Pastor, Southern Asian Seventh-Day Adventist Church Dr Sanjay Rai, Secretary for Higher Education, State of Maryland Mr. Sudhakar Gande, Founder-Chairman, U.S. India SME Council, Inc Ms. Swapna Das, Board of Director, U.S. India SME Council, Inc and Entrepreneur
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US INDIA SME COUNCIL’S 50 INCREDIBLE INC. CELEBRATION 2024 MAHATMA GANDHI AWARD RECEPIENTS 2021-2024 Senator Chris Van Hollen was the recepient of the Mahatma Gandhi Leadership Award for the year 2023 Rep. Jim Clyburn was the recepient of the Mahatma Gandhi Leadership Award for the year 2022 Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb was the recepient of the Mahatma Gandhi Leadership Award for the year 2021
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6 INCREDIBLE INC. CELEBRATION 2024 Center for Social Change: Service with a commitment An Interview with Jesse Singh (COO) and Sajid Tarrar (CEO) Center for Social Change is a privately-held non-profit organizations that supports people with organizational and behavioral challenges. Sajid Tarrar, CEO and Jesse Singh, COO of the center sat down with us to talk about their motivation and beginning into the field, the sense of fulfillment they enjoy from serving the community and different services that the center offers. In this first of two part interview, they talk about their background, motivation, challenges, and process. In the second art, next week we will look into their services in detail. by Mihir Jaiswal Mihir: Jesse and Sajid, please introduce each other. Sajid: First of all, thank you for coming to Center for Social Change. This is a great privilege. Jesse Singh is a wonderful and passionate human. In our organization, if you do not have passions, you can not stay for long. Jesse has been working in this organization for almost 25 years. In addition to that, he is a wonderful father, husband, brother and friend. I haven’t met any stronger, more accomplished, and passionate person. He is a team builder with organizational skills. Jesse came to this country as a student from Indore in Madhya Pradesh, India. He has passion for his country. I have been privileged to visit Indore a few times. Indore is the cleanest city in India right now. I have been a big fan of poet Rahat Indori and because of my relationship with Jesse, I feel like I belong to Indore. Jesse: I have known Sajid for more than 30 years. We both have similar stories. We are two brothers from either side of the border. He is from Central Punjab in Pakistan. We both came here as students. They are two brothers. We are also two brothers. His dad was a selfmade and famous attorney. He was the second attorney from the town of Mandi Bahauddin in 1950s. My father came as refuge from Pakistan in 1947, but he became a big industrialist in Indore. We both came from similar good families. I learn something new from Sajid every day. He has a generous heart. He is an honest person. A Hindu elderly person died in Pakistan in a stampede to get Atta. Sajid found out about that and discovered that his daughter was to get married just few days after that elderly person’s death. Sajid sent some money to them to make sure that the marriage went ahead as planned. Sajid is also a family man. His son is an attorney. His one daughter is in biomedical field. His youngest daughter is one of the top seeded squash players. I met Sajid 25-30 years ago, when I went to buy a business from him. I did not buy the business but I was influenced by his honesty. Since then, we have been friends. Mihir: Let’s talk about your combined passion, Center for Social Change. What was the inception of the idea of the center? Jesse: It was not just the center, but the whole field. While I was in college, I was a student worker in this field. I was working as a direct staff at one of the homes with a place to live and taking care of different individuals. I used to cook for them, assisted with bathing, assisted with daily activities. Thus, very early into my American stay, I was exposed into this side of humanity. Once I graduated, I met Sajid. We went into our own retail businesses like every immigrant does. However, we missed the fulfillment. This is a company that started in 1993. I was always a part of it. We took it over and made a full time entity. We quickly grew. Today, we have about 400 employees; we serve about 250 patients in different fields. We have about 50 group homes throughout the state. We have one adult day care center. We have a program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We also have a program for Children as young as one year old. We have six homes for CENTER FOR SOCIAL CHANGE SEE NEXT PAGE
INCREDIBLE INC. CELEBRATION 2024 7 Center for Social Change: Service with a commitment An Interview with Jesse Singh (COO) and Sajid Tarrar (CEO) CENTER FOR SOCIAL CHANGE FROM PAGE 1 children and recently we added a home for seniors. Mihir: Did you acquire the center or is it the organization you created in 1993? Jesse: It was created in 1993 and I was on the board from the beginning. However, I never participated in its operations. When we decided to grow it then we became part of it full time. From a very small organization, the center has grown to today’s budget of about $25 million. Mihir: When did you switch from board to the full time organization? Jesse: Around 2000, government was shutting down large institution. There was new need to bring people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to the community. That’s when our real growth started. Large institutions like Rosewood and Woodhaven were shut down. All the patients were moved into the community settings. Center for Social Change was one of the many organizations that ended up having people with severe behavioral challenge. There were doubts whether they could live in community settings at that time. Today I can proudly say that we are one of the pioneers in the state of Maryland to implement the rehabilitation program successfully. A lot of those people with behavioral challenges are still living with us. Sajid: My story is similar to Jesse. I was also serving on the board at that time. It is very fulfilling to help people that can’t express their pain. I call it God’s work. I had passion to stay in this field and help people. Mihir: What are the challenges and process to rehabilitate someone into the community from those large institutions? Jesse: Normalcy in one’s life is very important. When you give them as normal life as possible while they have Adult Residents at Center for Social Change Vocational Training Center: Center for Social Cange different diagnosis like autism, cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome etc., it helps. There are protocols and behavioral plans that are used to put them as a part of a community. However, the key is the stability of the staff. Making relationship with the staff they work with reduces the behavioral challenges and helps them becoming a part of the community setup. It is not easy. We have patients with violent Services Provided by the Center for Social Change • Residential for Adults • Residential for Children • Supported Employment • Autism Services • Vocational Services • Day Services • Assisted Living behavior. It is a total different field, where trained experts work with these patients. Things have really changed in past couple of decades. In institutions, they were tied down. They were locked up. In community, those medieval practices are not options. In community, proper behavioral plans, trained psychiatrists, and other standardized processes take care of them. This has been a successful experiment started by the government in 90s to fade-out the institutions and to encourage community rehabilitations. Center for Social Change was a pilot agency. We are piloting a new program right now for children. We are bringing a lot of Maryland children who were in institutions in other states back to the state. Contact information: Center for Social Change 6600 Amberton Dr. Elkridge, MD 21075 Phone: 410-579-6789 E-Mail: Info@centerforsocialchange.org
8 INCREDIBLE INC. Awardees Of CELEBRATION 2024 This Year Chief Ashish Alfred-President Lifetime Achievement award Dr. Lakhanpal, CEO, Center for Vein Restoration- President Lifetime Achievement Award Rajat Kapoor-Ascent Health President Lifetime Achievement Award Dr. Suresh Kumar, President Lifetime Achievement Award Shireen Ambush, President Lifetime Achievement Award Priti Sheth, President & CEO Priti’s Fashions and Jewelery (Nina Jewelry) Kwame Yadome, President Lifetime Achievement Award Dr Vincent Injety - Dr. M E Cherian Global Leadership Award 2024 Dr. Richard Raj - Dr. M E Cherian Global Leadership Award-2024 Moses Duggaral, Dr. M E Cherian Global Leadership Award-2024 Wesly James -Dr. M E Cherian Global Leadership Award-2024 Moses Durggaral, Incredible Inc awardee Vizy Samson Raj Tatapudi Incredible Inc awardee David Rajamonickam- Media Outreach Minister -Incredible Inc Awardee 2024 Sunny Kalapala: Sunny Entertainment, Incredible Inc Award Mr. John Karley-J & E Karley, LLC- Incredible Inc Award Dr. Kavya Kannan- Global Cancer Connect -Incredible Inc. Award Sumanth Peravalli - Incredible Inc Sward Biju Pandit - Incredible Inc Sward Srihari Kotela - Incredible Inc Award Mr. Franklin Khandagle _ Dr. M E Cherian Global Leadership Zubin David Dr. Helen Wilson Yanu Osuri Arun Gandh Sun Myung Huang Qili Li Sam Jesudas, Incredible Inc awardee Dr. Gopi Krishna Ganesh Patel
INCREDIBLE INC. CELEBRATION 2024 PRESIDENT’S LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS CHEF ASHISH ALFRED MR. GURCHARAN SINGH DR. SANJIV LAKHANPAL PRAMILA GUPTA RAJAT KAPOOR PRITI SHETH SHIREEN AMBUSH MEENA CHERIAN KWAME YADOME SURESH KUMAR DOUGLAS LIRA LARRY G. WEBB DR. M. E. CHERIAN LEADERSHIP AWARDS MR. FRANKLIN KHANDAGLE DR. VINCENT INJETY MR. MOSES DURGGARAL MR. WESLEY JAMES DR. RICHARD RAJ 9
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