When I graduated early from Boston University, I will admit it, I felt lost and did not know my purpose. Fortunately, I secured my first full-time job in the healthcare management field, but I barely knew how to diversify my network since I did not have much real-world experience. For the non-Indian side of things, I joined some groups catered towards professional and healthcare networking. 

However, for the Indian side of things, with lots of research on social media and the internet, I found absolutely no active groups that were focused on young Indian professionals networking. I have been blessed to have parents (Manoj and Preeti Munjal) who are highly connected in the Indian community and are extremely supportive of my goals. But I wanted to create a name for myself and wanted to network with like-minded Indians from whom I can get inspired and learn. 

As an American-born Indian, staying in touch with our Indian culture was important for me. Growing up, I would always be considered a fake Indian or an ABCD just because I was not born in India. I used to hate being called something I am not. I wanted to change that narrative to bridge the gap between Indians from India and American-born Indians and unite them together.

In New England, there are so many cultural and charity organizations in which I have been involved but none for professional networking. The older generation of Indians in the New England area has built such an amazing platform for us to connect on a cultural level. However, it is up to us who are from the younger generation to take and elevate things to the next level. We have to carry what our parents taught us in terms of cultural values and upbringings and pass it down to future generations. 

On April 12, 2022, I was having a conversation with my mother about how there was a lack of Indian Professional Networking in the New England area. She then said why don’t you make one. And that is exactly what I did. My organization – Young Indian Professionals of New England (YIPNE) – was born. My initial thoughts were that if 10 people joined, I would make 10 new friends/acquaintances. I never imagined that it would build up to this scale. 

YIPNE is a collaborative networking platform catered to professionals of Indian origin who live in the New England area. We are dedicated to connecting and inspiring young professionals of Indian origin in New England. We strive to create a space where young professionals can network, share their experiences, learn from one another, and stay in touch with our Indian culture.

Since I started this organization, we have over 8k members collectively on all social media platforms. Many people have received job opportunities and have made meaningful connections using the platform. We have created a board of advisors’ team that consists of very highly accomplished people in the Boston Indian community. We also have been featured on many reputable news sources like Boston Globe, News India Abroad etc. We also were recognized by the US Senate, United India Association and Sewa International Gala Event for our efforts.

To help professionals get inspired and learn from accomplished professionals, we have launched a YouTube Talk Series where we highlight community groups and individual success stories of Individuals who have succeeded in their ventures. 

YIPNE has launched some initiatives such as the Small Business Saturday initiative to highlight and promote different Indian small businesses around the Indian community in New England. Recently, we launched a new initiative called the South Asian Founders Circle where we offer resources and networking exclusively for founders.

We have hosted many successful networking events around the New England area. On our first anniversary, we had more than 400 young Indian professionals who came to network. It sold out in less than 3 days which is unheard of in the Boston Indian community. On May 19, 2024, we hosted our sold-out 2nd anniversary event which had over 100+ people come and make meaningful connections. We hosted our first live panel event with 4 highly accomplished senior-level/CEO executives.

We host many other smaller in-person networking events such as brunches and many virtual meet and mingles through Zoom which all have been successful. In those meetings, members were able to engage with each other and also have a productive conversation over the topics chosen for that meeting. Some important topics that were mentioned were leadership, decision-making, effective communication etc. Additionally, we have done virtual panel talks on Mental Health, Finance, Youth Empowerment, and entrepreneurship. We hosted Boston’s first-ever Indian Networking After Work event and Summer Social Networking event. For activity based events, we hosted a BollyX dance event. 

To have members stay in touch with our Indian culture, I strongly believe in collaborating with other Indian organizations to mutually benefit each other. We collaborated with local community organizations such as MyDream Entertainment, Vision Aid, Cliq Social Club, and more for their events and also with student conferences such as the Harvard India Conference and the Falcon’s Nest at Bentley’s Entrepreneurship Society conference. We strive to always promote the values of our heritage, Indian news, holidays etc., through our social media so people can engage and stay in touch with the latest news. Many members also share local events in our WhatsApp community chats, so members have a chance to attend cultural events, cricket and other sports practices, food outings etc. 

As an American-born Indian, I continuously strive to create a home away from home for YIPNE members because we understand that members might not be able to visit India so often, and also many might have immigrated to America and feel somewhat lost in the Western culture. Creating a community like this where they can network professionally with other Indians and even make friends allows them to stay in touch with their Indian roots and heritage and not feel alone.

In the coming years, I envision YIPNE to build a stronger network in the Indian community of New England. I continuously want to expand YIPNE by introducing new innovative ideas for meet-ups and initiatives, establishing more community collaborations, doing more individual and panel talk shows with highly accomplished individuals, and also helping members stay in touch with our culture, At the end of the day, the sole purpose to help others build their network in the Indian community so if we can provide them with more resources, that would help them grow as a professional since many might have trouble doing so because of certain circumstances. Networking is the key to building professional connections, sharing ideas with others, and getting access to job opportunities. Also, the more you network, the more your professional skills will improve. 

On a larger scale, I would love to see YIPNE expand nationwide so we can create a stronger South Asian Indian professional network in the United States. We have so many top-level executives who are Indian here so it would be great to have them all on board and have other Young Indian Professionals support each other and get inspired. We also have a massive Indian population in the United States so it would be great to see them all unite into one community and celebrate each other’s professional success. 

Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this article/column are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of South Asian Herald.

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