Harnessing the collective power of Americans fueled by Dharmic values to drive social change
October 24, 2024
We founded Dharma into Action Foundation (DhIA) in 2020 with the goal of bringing together like minded people to find ways to apply Dharmic values and principles to tackle modern day problems. We picked the name “DhIA” for its similarity to the word “diya” or lamp—as we sought to bring more light into the world through our actions. Since then, we have sponsored several successful programs, including meditation and mindfulness for students and first responders and women’s financial wellbeing. Last year, DhIA partnered with Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta for the WeAreOne Campaign that celebrated the influences of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the shared South Asian and African American history of non-violent struggle against oppression. Through these initiatives, we’ve found like minded people from a variety of backgrounds and faiths with whom we can partner.
Over the past few years, we’ve learned that Americans of Dharmic or South Asian heritage are eager to make a positive impact on the world. We want to truly understand the major issues facing our world and be a part of shaping thoughtful solutions that reflect Dharmic values. At the same time, given the many personal and professional calls on their time, our members struggled with making the time to plan and attend traditional events and fundraisers. DhIA had to evolve from our event-based approach to meet our community members where they are.
DhIA reinvented our approach to focus on the power of collective philanthropy to fund and support meaningful and secularly operating nonprofits and social entrepreneurs with existing projects or bold new ideas. Our approach is simple. We study the issues that matter to the community and our members and pick a single area of focus for the grant cycle. Then we identify organizations that are tackling that issue effectively and/or creatively and amplify their efforts through our investment. And DhIA’s support for non-profits is not limited to financial grants; we also help connect nonprofits and social entrepreneurs to resources and people who can help them maximize their success.
We’re using a giving circle model to democratize the way issues of focus are selected and grants are awarded—all voting members have an equal say in the process. At the same time, each member can engage in the process as much or as little as they want, whether they want to contribute financially or conduct research on issues and potential grantees or apply their skills and experience to mentor entrepreneurs—or all of the above.
DhIA is harnessing the collective giving power of our community to fund and support impactful non-profit initiatives to ignite, accelerate, and fuel Dharma-driven and secularly-operating social impact groups.
If you would like to learn more, please contact us at secretary@dhiafoundation.org
About the Author:
Nirupama (Niru) Raghavan is the President of Dharma Into Action Foundation and was previously the President of the Hindu Association of Northwest Arkansas. She lives in Potomac, Maryland.
