The US India SME Council honored community leaders with leadership awards at its 3rd Annual Incredible Inc. 50 Awards Gala, on October 1, 2024, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Maryland.
While Promila Gupta, vice president of the National Council of Asian Indian Associations (NCAIA), received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, Sashi Agarwal, a member of NCAIA’s board of trustees, was recognized with the “outstanding digital creator” award.
Congratulating both Gupta and Agarwal, Trustee Chairman of NCAIA, Sunil Singh told South Asian Herald “Both are valuable members of NCAIA.”
Praising Gupta’s long-standing contributions, President of the SME Council, Elisha Pulivarti, told South Asian Herald “Gupta has been a community leader in the DMV for over three decades. She is compassionate to everyone in the community. The Council is honored to recommend her for the Presidential award.”
Gupta began her career at Hotel Ashoka in New Delhi during the late 1970s and has over 15 years of experience in sales and marketing. Since 2004, she has been dedicated to serving the community in the DMV area.
Her daughter, Divya Gupta, president and CEO of G.R.I.D.S. Consulting, a global communications and PR firm in Bethesda, Maryland, told South Asian Herald, “My mother is my first hero, and she continues to inspire me with her strength, wisdom, and kindness.”
Gupta expressed her gratitude to the SME Council for recognizing her mother, emphasizing that the award reflects her mother’s dedication to enhancing cultural awareness within the Indian American community.
Pulivarti also commended Agarwal for her contributions to various community organizations and her entrepreneurial spirit.
Since the 1980s, Agarwal has served as a digital creator for the Asian American Network – Manoranjan TV and has been an active community activist and TV producer.
Agarwal told South Asian Herald, “I am honored and humbled to receive this recognition from the US India SME Council. This acknowledgment will empower me to persist in my unwavering efforts to improve our community.”
