India Philanthropy Alliance names Neha Gupta inaugural Rising Star winner

The India Philanthropy Alliance picked Neha Gupta, executive director of Teach For India U.S., as the first winner of its Deepak Raj Rising Star Award. She will be honored Sept. 29 in Dallas at the Indiaspora–IPA Philanthropy Summit and direct a $10,000 grant to a nonprofit of her choice.

Why it matters: - The inaugural award spotlights a next-generation Indian American philanthropy leader under 40 who is building institutions and moving money toward education and other social-impact work. - Gupta will receive a $10,000 grant that she can direct to a nonprofit aligned with the award’s mission. - The recognition also elevates Teach For India U.S. and the broader network of young Indian American donors and volunteers.

What happened: - The India Philanthropy Alliance named Neha Gupta the winner of the first Deepak Raj Rising Star Award on Sept. 22, 2026. - Gupta, executive director of Teach For India U.S., will be honored and deliver the closing keynote at the Indiaspora–IPA Philanthropy Summit on Sept. 29 in Dallas. - Nikhil Jayawickrama and Karishma Navani were named finalists for the 2026 award.

The details: - The award recognizes an emerging Indian American leader under 40. - The award honors sustained leadership, not a single charitable act. - Deepak Raj is the founding chairman of the India Philanthropy Alliance. - The award reflects Raj’s legacy of strengthening India-U.S. ties and supporting organizations including the India Philanthropy Alliance, Pratham USA, Indian American IMPACT and the Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies at Columbia University. - Gupta has led Teach For India U.S. since September 2024, focused on mobilizing people and resources to close India’s education gap. - Gupta has more than 17 years of experience across Fortune 500 companies, startups, private equity-backed businesses and nonprofit organizations. - Before Teach For India U.S., Gupta spent five years as CEO of True Office Learning, now known as Confirm. - Gupta helped build True Office Learning into an ethics and compliance training platform used by organizations worldwide. - Gupta still serves as a board advisor to Confirm. - Gupta has helped scale three edtech companies into industry leaders and has affected outcomes for more than 22 million users. - Gupta earned an MBA in Management & Global Business Strategy and a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Rutgers University. - Gupta’s work on ethical leadership and digital transformation has been featured by the BBC and at Women in NYC Tech and The Global Ethics Summit. - Gupta serves on the board of Targum Publishing Co. and has volunteered with education- and economic mobility-focused nonprofits since 2017. - Gupta is also a philanthropic supporter of numerous nonprofit organizations. - Jayawickrama is co-chair of Pratham USA's New York Tri-State Young Professionals Board, where he helps mobilize donors and volunteers for Pratham’s education work in India. - Navani is philanthropic lead at the Janki Foundation, a Boston-based grantmaking foundation supporting healthcare, education and women’s empowerment initiatives in the U.S. and India, and a product analyst at eClinicalWorks. - IPA’s NextGen Task Force developed the award criteria and process, and some members served as judges. - The judges were Eleanor Elliott-Rude, Arthi Krishna, Shannon Paz, Girish Pendse, Dhirendra Pratap Singh, Jahnavi Singh, Shalina Wadhwani and Maggie Walsh.

Between the lines: - IPA is using the award to build a visible pipeline of Indian American philanthropic leaders rather than focusing only on established donors. - The combination of a cash grant, a summit keynote and public finalist recognition gives the award both symbolic and practical reach. - The emphasis on institution-building and community leadership suggests IPA wants to reward long-term capacity-building as much as direct giving.

What’s next: - Gupta will be honored at the Sept. 29 summit in Dallas. - Gupta will choose the nonprofit that receives the $10,000 grant. - IPA will continue the award annually for U.S.-based Indian Americans under 40. - The alliance says the award is aligned with focus areas including education, health, livelihoods, environmental protection, civic engagement and development in India or within the diaspora.

The bottom line: - IPA’s first Rising Star Award goes to a leader who blends executive experience with philanthropy and education-focused impact, setting the tone for a new annual recognition in Indian American giving.