Pratham Houston Annual Luncheon - Fashion and Fun for a Great Cause!

Fashion and fun for a great cause! Pratham Houston’s annual luncheon at the Junior League on December 5th raised over $158,000 for Pratham’s Beauty Entrepreneurship Program. Asha Dhume and Annu Naik co-chaired the event attended by 270 guests supporting Pratham, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of education for underprivileged children and youth in India.

It was a glamorous afternoon with ladies trying make-up sessions from Dolce and Gabbana, and holiday shopping handbags and jewelry from local boutique vendors.

Guests learned more about Pratham’s innovative programs through a video that shared the amazing stories of several Pratham beneficiaries whose lives have been transformed by the organization’s award-winning educational and vocational programs.

Marie Goradia, the President of Pratham Houston, also shared heartfelt words that painted vivid pictures of Pratham’s programs, such as “Give Girls a Chance, Empower Women, and Unleash their Potential.”

(Counterclockwise from bottom left) Chloe Dao, Fashion Designer, Marie Goradia, Pratham Houston President, Asha Dhume & Annu Naik, Luncheon co-chairs, Leena Shah, Host committee chair, Ingrid Vanderveldt, Keynote speaker, Sapna Singh, emcee

In addition to a scrumptious lunch, guests were treated to an inspiring address from Ingrid Vanderveldt, Chairman and CEO of Empowering a Billion Women by 2020. Vanderveldt shared a touching personal story that highlighted the importance of building a young girl’s confidence, which parallels Pratham’s efforts to empower women through the Beauty Entrepreneurship Program. The Program provides a 3-month training in salon services after which students can choose to work in parlors or start their own salons with Pratham’s support. To date, the program has enabled 409 beauty micro-enterprises to be started including 247 beauty parlors and 162 door-to-door services.

The fabulous event concluded with a spectacular fashion show by Project Runway winner Chloe Dao who dazzled the crowd with her sophisticated Spring collection. The runway models included Reyne Hirsch, Dr.Sippi Khurana, and Krystal Ann Joseph. Spotted at the event, Anu Reddy, Mandy Kao, Latika Bathija, Farida Abjani, Payal Channa, Manish Jain, Bimla Jain, Swatantra Jain, Vijay Bhuchar, Chitra Divakaruni, Rita Garcia, Vijay Goradia and many others.

Pratham Houston had another successful holiday luncheon and they are eagerly looking forward to the new year. Guests were asked to save the date for another wonderful event – the 20th Anniversary Pratham Houston Gala on April 25, 2015.

To learn more about Pratham’s programs, please visit www.prathamusa.org.