Introduction to NED Alumni Association of Silicon Valley
Fellow NEDians and Friends,
We’re sending this announcement to update you on the efforts to organize NEDians in Silicon Valley and ask for your help and support. Energized by the momentum from the highly successful NED Alumni Convention of 2007 that we hosted in September, we’re setting up a formal organization that will uniquely take up the charter of connecting and supporting NEDians, and the institutions, causes, and communities we are a part of. The organization will first set up an online platform to help us come together, and then work towards setting up a physical Alumni Center in Karachi and a philanthropic foundation that will handle projects such as scholarships, fellowships and endowments
Vision
The vision for this organization is to connect, serve, empower and support NEDians and NED, as well as the cause of technology and technical education in the communities we hail from and live in.
Mission and Specific Goals
As mentioned above, our organization will work on connecting and supporting NEDians, and the institutions, causes, and communities we are associated with. Within the next 12 months, we will be working to implement an online platform, expanding and building upon the NED Nama, the blog we started in the run-up to the Convention, and which was so useful in reaching out and making connections with other groups and communities around the world. Eventually, we’d like to help establish:
- The Online Platform,
- A Physical Alumni Center (Karachi), and
- A Philanthropic Foundation.
This will become a world-class support infrastructure that will serve our alumni community and beyond. Charitable contributions of $10,000 each from five influential and affluent NEDians have provided the seed money for the organization.
Structure
The organization is going to be a non-profit public benefit corporation. It will enable and facilitate NEDians to make tax-exempt contributions to causes they care about. For this purpose, we have filed for tax exempt non-profit [501(c)3] status, pending which we have also partnered with Koshish Foundation, a tax-exempt non-profit organization registered in the State of California and Pakistan. This will enable us to start taking on philanthropic projects immediately. The surplus funds ($4,800.00) from the Convention in September have been transferred to Koshish, so they can be put into service in line with the intent of the donors and attendees of the conference.
Membership
The initial Founding/Charter Members will include NEDians from varied walks of life and backgrounds (and, in special cases, will include non-NEDians whose aspirations and goals are aligned with ours). These range from academics to professionals in the fields of business, technology, media, and finance, and will also include students and other well-wishers of NED.
We will send more details as they emerge and you can also get more information, including a list of officeholders, at our website http://www.NEDians.org/SV
Thank you for your patience in reading this letter. We look forward to serving you, and working with you to serve our alumni community. We can only achieve the goals we have set for ourselves with your help, participation and support. Please send comments, inputs and feedback at SV-Board@NEDians.org; or, just drop us a line, especially if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area or are considering moving or visiting here.
Zabardasth, Zabardasth, NED Zabardasth!
With Best Wishes,
Zoaib Rangwala, President, NED Alumni Association, Silicon Valley, on behalf of the Board of Directors:
- Mohammad Asghar Aboobaker (EE, 1967-70)
Managing Director, K2 Ventures, LLC - Farhan Shahid (EE, 1995-98)
ASIC Designer, Juniper Networks - Farid Durrani (ME, 1968-73)
Founder, American Network Solutions - Idris Kothari (EE, 1968-73)
CTO, Vertical Systems - Raghib Hussain (Comp. Sys. 1988-1993)
CTO, Cavium Networks - Sabahat Ashraf (Comp. Sys. 1988-1993)
Writer, Blogger (“iFaqeer”), Activist - Safwan Shah (EE, 1980-85)
CEO, Infonox - Muhammad Akbar Suhail (Comp. Sys. 1988-1993)
CEO, EmbedSoft Inc - Zoaib Rangwala (EE, 1968-73)
CFO, Zoom Diversified
Energized by the momentum from the highly successful NED Alumni Convention of 2007 held in September of that year in Silicon Valley, the team that coalesced around that event formed this formal organization to take up the charter of connecting and supporting NEDians, and the institutions, causes, and communities we are a part of.