UA News

Nita Umashankar and her family established an organization to aid victims of sex trafficking in India. The organization is up for a $1 million donation in a Facebook competition.

The success of a former University of Arizona student and her father's organization in helping child victims of India's sex trafficking and sex worker industries has resulted in a spot in Facebook competition.

UA alumna Nita Umashankar and her parents formed ASSET India Foundation in 2006 while she was still a student. Her mother, Sushila Umashankar, is a UA senior lecturer of marketing and her father, Ray Umashankar, is the UA College of Engineering's assistant dean who also directs Multicultural and Minority Engineering Programs. 

Now, the organization is one among 100 – and the only one based in Arizona – in the running for $1 million in the voter-driven J.P Morgan/Chase Chase Community Giving competition. Voting went live Jan. 15 and will close on Jan. 22. To vote, visit the competition's Facebook page.  

Nita Umashankar, who is currently completing a doctoral program in marketing at the University of Texas at Austin, earned a marketing degree from the UA's Eller College of Management. Her organization advanced to the second round in the competition, having advanced in the first round held at the end of last year. 

The Achieving Sustainable Social Equality through Technology, or ASSET Foundation, teaches individuals the English language while also training them in computer skills and helps with job placement in eight locations throughout India.

The foundation's issue page on Facebook notes that its staff will partner with the SMILE Foundation, which supports children in India, for a three-year outreach effort.

With needed funds, the foundation would be able to expand its offerings to 50 locations, targeting communities in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. 

"The aim of the program is to make the target group – children and youth from underprivileged section of society especially girls rescued from trafficking and children of sex workers – gain marketable skills and become economically independent and socially empowered and live a decent mainstream life," the ASSET Foundation notes on its issue page.

"Many of these beneficiaries come from absolutely deplorable conditions, facing multiple rapes and beatings daily until rescued by one of our partners," the statement continued.

All told, the foundation intends to reach 5,000 individuals and plans also to collaborate with schools and teachers. Additionally, the foundation intends to target an additional 15,000 underprivileged youth, involving them also in training and education programs.