From the Beginning
The Foundation for Excellence was founded in 1994. After selling his first company, Prabhu Goel and his wife Poonam Goel decided to use part of the proceeds to build a philanthropic foundation to provide scholarships to bright students with financial constraints for college degrees. The initial focus was on medical and engineering degrees in India, because these professional degrees assure a high likelihood of transforming the lives of the bright students. Prabhu reached out to leaders of other philanthropic organizations in Silicon Valley and built a team that included Raj Mashruwala from Indians for Collective Action, Venki Venkatesh from India Literacy Project, and Mahaveer Jain from Asha to give shape to the idea and organization. The team was expanded to include Balaji Venkateswaran
from India Literacy Project and Dinesh Katiyar from Asha. Subsequently Pradip Joshi from the Indian Senior Center was also added. This core team contributed to building the Foundation for Excellence.
Ripples of Success
Promising young adults are now leading successful lives and careers due to FFE. As of 2017, FFE has awarded over 47,000 scholarships. And this doesn’t count the thousands of people in families and communities who have been positively impacted by FFE’s work. The circles of people uplifted by FFE continue to grow. It’s become a virtuous circle that is expanding with boundless energy and reach. New circles of people lifted from lives of limitations to lives that enjoy the benefits of strong educations and professional careers.