Meet Harish Kotecha

Today we’d like to introduce you to Harish Kotecha.

Harish, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It begins in Uganda, where I was born and raised. After completing my Engineering studies in the UK, I was working in Uganda in 1972 when dictator Idi Amin decided that all Asians should leave the country. Being driven out of my birthplace, I had two options – either to go to UK or come to the USA, and I chose USA.

Like many immigrants before and after me, I arrived here with a meagre $200 and was fortunate enough to have some friends who were willing to house me. After about three months, I was able to leverage my degree to get a job at IBM. I climbed the ladder and lived the American Dream! My wife, Shobhana and I raised two children. Our daughter is a Social Worker working in DC, and our son Savan Kotecha is a Oscar-nominated songwriter with over 300 million songs sold.

Per definition of homeless, I was homeless when I came to the USA, and it was the support of friends and my Education that helped me achieve the American dream!  After my retirement, I thought that I should give back to this country which gave me the opportunity to build and live the American Dream! I recognized that there were 40 million people experiencing homelessness – and the most effective way to help them would be by providing them with education.

I founded Education and Careers for America (dba of Hindu Charities for America or HC4A) in 2010 – a nonfaith based 501c3 charity.  Our first project was to provide school supplies for homeless children at the onset of the school year. We worked with the Texas Homeless Education Office (now Region 13 Education and Service Center to determine the needs and build relationships with local ISDs.

In 2014, we started providing Vocational Scholarship to economically disadvantaged students working with community colleges and other organizations that provide end-to-end support.

Our mission is to “Bridge Income Disparity Through Education” with the motto “Serve Where You Live!”.

Primarily the Indian diaspora in Austin shared this vision and as a result, we have a presence in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.

Our branding for the past 11 years was Who We are – Hindu Charities for America: We moved to brand ourselves to What We Do – Education and Careers for America to increase the donor base and get more corporate funding.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We have grown steadily – 100-fold from 2010 and have provided school supplies to thousands of students and scholarships to hundreds. With a core group of volunteers, we have worked hard to come this far, and it is gratifying to see our work benefit many. Speaking of challenges, some of the issues have to do with people’s perception of HC4A as a religious charity. It is not a religious charity and that is geared towards helping Hindus. This is a charity born here to serve our local communities.

Outreach has periodically been an issue, with local media not always recognizing the work being done. Some of the reporters have taken some interest, but TV coverage has been limited, unless through a personal connection.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler and council members have been very supportive, often sponsoring city facilities for fundraising so we can fund more students. The mayor has attended many of our fundraising events.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I was fortunate to have an engineering job at IBM in 1973. I worked hard and climbed the ladder. I loved development and had the opportunity to develop technologies to systems. In the process, I coauthored about two dozen patents. I took early retirement, wanting to do something different. For the first ten years, I volunteered in civic, cultural, religious, interfaith and such organizations mostly in a leadership role.

It was in 2010 that I founded Hindu Charities for America, now doing business as Education and Careers for America. This has been rewarding and now I am phasing out for a new team to helm the organization.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Since I have been involved in the area of homelessness, I will speak to my experiences in this area. I see that if we added all the Government funding that is allocated for solving the homelessness problem, I believe that the work done is like a band-aid to specific needs but not a comprehensive approach. More needs to be done and that is where organizations like EC4A can help. We are hoping to grow in Austin and our other chapters so we can increase our impact.

Pricing:

• Help pay for school supplies, $40 per child
• Vocational training scholarships, $1,000 per semester
• Contribute annually to our Endowment Fund, $2,500 per year
• Legacy Scholarships – Commit for 3 years, $1,000 per year for a scholarship for a student

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ec4a.org/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HinduCharities/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/hcfora
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuVDZw1dAtxtXx7I63bW57g
• Other: https://secure.givelively.org/event/hindu-charities-for-america/bollywood-meets-borscht-belt-copy