Teach For India Exec Neha Gupta Wins IPA’s Deepak Raj Award

India-West News Desk

HYATTSVILLE, MD – Neha Gupta, executive director of Teach For India U.S., has been named the winner of the inaugural Deepak Raj Rising Star Award by the India Philanthropy Alliance.

Gupta will receive the award and deliver the closing keynote at the Indiaspora-IPA Philanthropy Summit on September 29 in Dallas. She will also receive a $10,000 grant to direct to Teach For India U.S.

Nikhil Jayawickrama and Karishma Navani were named finalists for the 2026 award. Jayawickrama is co-chair of Pratham USA’s New York Tri-State Young Professionals Board. Navani is philanthropic lead at the Janki Foundation and a product analyst at eClinicalWorks.

The award recognizes an emerging Indian American leader under 40 for sustained work in philanthropy and community building. It is named after Deepak Raj, an investor, philanthropist and founding chairman of the India Philanthropy Alliance. Raj has supported organizations including the Alliance, Pratham USA, Indian American IMPACT and the Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies at Columbia University.

Gupta has served as executive director of Teach For India U.S. since September 2024. She has more than 17 years of experience across Fortune 500 companies, startups, private equity-backed businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Gupta holds an MBA in Management and Global Business Strategy and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Rutgers University. She serves on the board of Targum Publishing Co. and has volunteered with nonprofits focused on education and economic mobility since 2017.

“It is an honor to receive an award named after Deepak Raj,” Gupta said. “I look forward to working with current and future recipients who bring their own energy and ideas as we grow a community of award winners and finalists.”