The North American Telugu Association (NATA) (www.nataus.org) is inaugurated today with its 1st Board Meeting held at Harrah's Hotel in Las Vegas city in the United States.
NATA is a brand new non-profit national Telugu organization formed on November 20, 2010 at a grand meeting of tens of hundreds of prominent Telugu people at Omni Hotel in Houston, Texas. Majority of founding members have served on various Telugu organizations including ATA and hence acutely felt a need for a better and focused association to serve the Telugu communities across the US and Canada.
The purpose of NATA is to serve the growing needs of thousands of people of Telugu origin living in North America. Membership is open to people of Telugu origin living across the globe. An estimated three lakh Telugu people are living in the US and Canada, and a majority are professionals such as doctors, biomedical scientists, businessmen, engineers, information technologists, entrepreneurs, pharmacists, professors, teachers, real estate developers and others - many of them are enrolled as members of NATA.
The inaugural function and 1st Board meeting was conducted today with a glittering gathering of over 500 people from across the country. Under the auspicious guidance of highly prominent Telugu leaders of USA, Dr. Prem Reddy of Apple Valley, CA and Dr. Pailla Malla Reddy of Long Island, NY, Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Regional Vice Presidents, Regional Coordinators, Standing Committee Chairs and Convention team for 2012 were unanimously selected with the recommendations of Advisory Council.
The NATA constitution and bylaws are approved unanimously in the general body meeting.
NATA Executive Elections
The Executive Committee for 2011-2012 comprised of: President: A.V.N. Reddy, President-Elect: Sanjeeva T. Reddy, Executive Vice-President: Rajeshwar Gangasani Reddy, International Vice-President: Haranath Policherla, Secretary: Pradeep Samala, Treasurer: Ramasurya Reddy, Joint Secretary: Srinivas Reddy Anugula, Joint Treasurer: ChinnaBabu Reddy. Dr. Samba Reddy is selected as Media Coordinator.
The core Advisory council comprised of: Dr. Prem Reddy, a health entrepreneur from California, Dr. Pailla Malla Reddy, a business leader from New York, Dr. M.S. Reddy, a food scientist-businessman, Arjun Reddy Dyapa, a pharmaceutical businessman, Dr. Mohan Mallam, a prominent Telugu leader at the national level.
The Advisory council, Executive committee, and Members of NATA have resolved to promote the unique and rich culture of Telugu Indian-American community by organizing biannual conventions, which are mega events to celebrate Telugu culture. Apart from serving the people of Telugu living in North America, NATA has identified several critical missions such as exchange programs for students, scientists, artists and professionals, and also to advance the heritage of the Telugu culture, sponsoring events that enrich and enlighten society, and extending support back home for educational, business and overall development of Andhra Pradesh and India.
NATA plans to do various charitable, cultural, educational and public health activities this year and hopes to foster the developmental programs for schools, colleges, health centers, community centers and temples. NATA Foundation will facilitate the members to help the villages in India by various means.
In his remarks, Dr. Prem Reddy and Dr. Malla Reddy said that NATA functioning will be more open and transparent– in a fair and equitable manner than other organizations.
President AVN Reddy said that a special fund is kept for the people in the event of calamity or a disaster. A special committee of NATA is created to help the newly arrived people of Telugu origin to USA and Canada, said the Council member Arjun Reddy.
NATA intends to do “Seva Days”, a new program for assisting the development of villages and towns back home in Andhra Pradesh, said AVN Reddy. For more Details please visit NATA website at www.nataus.org.
NATA Convention News:
The NATA Convention will be held from June 29 - July 2, 2012 in the George Bush Convention Center, Houston, Texas. The convention leadership team comprising of: Convener, Jithender M. Reddy; Co-Convener, Harinath Medi; Coordinator, Vinta Janardhan Reddy and Advisory committee. With the help of public, NGOs and local communities across the country and globe, NATA is enthusiastic to organize the convention with several cultural, education and youth programs for people of Telugu origin.
NATA slated to promote Telugu language:
This meeting was an exciting event filled with over several hundred people from across the US – majority members who attended NATA meeting are highly accomplished and most successful persons from Andhra Pradesh. The highlight of the meeting was renewed enthusiasm of younger Telugu professionals to serve for the cause of Telugu community and protecting and preserving the Telugu culture and heritage.
The team members were highly inspired by the years of hard work and financial support provided by Dr. Prem Reddy and Dr. Pailla Malla Reddy.
The NATA has resolved to promote the Telugu language to children of Telugu origin – so that they can read and write in Telugu, said Sanjeeva Reddy, President-elect. An Indo-US exchange program is being developed for promoting Telugu language under the leadership of Dr. Samba Reddy, who is elected as Chair of NATA Standing Committee. A Telugu library is expected to complement this effort.
