14th OUTSTANDING WOMEN’S ACHEIVEMENTS AWARDS GALA 2025
Celebrating the strength, resilience, and remarkable achievements of women, with the aim of Inspiring others to understand and value women’s inclusion to forge a better world, Indian American Forum honored several dignified and accomplished women of substance at their 14th Annual Women’s Achievements Awards Gala this past weekend at the Akbar Banquet in Long Island.
Under the leadership of Chairperson Indu Jaiswal and Gala Chair Shammi Singh, known for their strong commitment and dedication to the community cause, along with the entire team of IAF, were the organizing force behind the GALA, celebrating the success of the outstanding achievements by these distinguished personalities in the presence of many accomplished guests and community leaders.
Several distinguished women, representing various sectors were recognized and honored. The honorees were presented with special citations from Nassau County Executive, Town of Oyster Bay, Town of Hempstead, Town of North Hempstead and Nassau County Legislature.
Our distinguished awardees and honorees included:
- Jagmohan Kalra, MD -> Board certified Hematologist-oncologist, a renowned community leader and Karaoke group owner and singer.
- Leena Doshi – Founder of Doshi Diagnostics and non-profit Doshi Smiles, an athlete, philanthropist and painter.
- Nita Mehta – Specialization in Ophthalmology and glaucoma. Board member of Indian Cultural Unit at Parker Jewish Institute and on the board/committee of several organizations like Rotary, Indo-American Senior citizen center of NY, India Home and GGKLI.
- Sarina Jain – Founder of Masala Bhangra – A trailblazer in fitness and a dynamic cultural ambassador revolutionizing fitness through culture and movement celebrating over 30 years in the fitness industry.
- Falu (Falguni Shah) – Grammy Award winning multi-lingual singer/songwriter, recognized by Economic Times as one of the 20 most influential Indian women and named as one of the Top 50 Global leaders from India in Business and Arts.
- Sanjana Iyer – Youth Empowerment
Syosset school senior and professional Bharatnatyam dancer and musician, two times DECA state qualifier, Two time speech and debate LIFA qualifier using her professional dance experience for Parkinson’s research fund raising.
Several Officials including Nassau County Comptroller Hon. Elaine Phillips, Town Supervisor Hon. Joseph Saladino, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, Hon Rose Walker, Nassau County Legislature and Deputy Supervisor Hon. Dorothy L. Goosby, were respectfully invited and welcomed by Dr. Bobby Kalotee, portrayed the women empowerment and success.
Starting with the beautiful décor and warm welcome with sumptuous appetizers, the evening started with American and Indian National Anthem followed by a rocking welcome by hosts Indu Jaiswal, Roopam Maini and Shammi Singh.
Traditional Bharatnatyam and Kathak dance performances portrayed true colors of our rich culture. Sarina Jain from Masala Bhangra rolled the feet of audience with her powerful Bhangra dance moves. DJ Parminder rocked the dance floor.
Several distinguished political and community leaders, IAF Board of Trustees, Members, Volunteers, supporters and audience graced the occasion applauding the distinguished accomplishments of women honorees. Several Board of Trustees and community leader in presence included Dr Bhupendra Patel, Mukund Mehta (Indo-American Senior Citizens of NY), Jasbir (Jay) Singh, Anil and Sunil Jain (Vass Pipe), Dr. Nitin Doshi (Doshi Diagnostics), Beena Kothari (President-AIA), Flora Parekh (President – Gift of Life USA), Dr. Bhavani Srinivasan (AAPIQLI), Ravi Bhooplapur (Xaviers Medical College), Shashi Malik (SEVA center for Humanity), Vimal Goyal & Deepak Bansal (IDPUSA), Rotary Club, Lions Club, Sandy Bhatia (Flushing Bank), Rizwan Quereshi (HAB Bank), Dr. Mamta Shaha, Kalpana Patel (UCI), Sudhir & Swati Vaishnav, Vijay Goswamy, Anju & Sanju Sharma (Registration), Dr. Jagdish Gupta, Dr. Kukar, Dr. Prachi Dua, several past honorees and many other organization leaders. Our sincere gratitude to outstanding media professionals for their generous coverage and support. Aashmeeta Yogiraj emceed the event and concluded with a Thank you note from Roopam Maini and Shammi Singh. A beautiful souvenir journal was produced by Beena Kothari and Team highlighting IAF achievements, programs, events, advertisers, sponsors, supporters, committee and honorees. Entire IAF team with several volunteers were instrumental in making the event a grand success. It was indeed a very successful evening, showcasing and honoring outstanding women achievers, who are successful in business, cultural, professional, education, and medical. Community and social services.
