2021 Awards Sunil Singh
Gunjan Rastogi
Elizabeth Cagan
Sunil Singh from Washington D.C. is a community leader for the Washington D.C. area for the past three decades. Born in 1959 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He completed his bachelors in engineering from Allahabad University in 1982 and worked as Assistant professor at PostGraduate College in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh. He also served as the Assistant Director of the National Productivity Council at Lodhi Rd, New Delhi.
Mrs. Gunjan Rastogi is an entrepreneur, community leader, philanthropist, social worker, and resident of New York City whose dedicated service to the community-at-large is lauded and acclaimed by many residents in the United States. Gunjan migrated to the United States in 1981 after completing her Bachelor of Science Degree from Miranda House College located in New Delhi, India. Upon her arrival to New York, she furthered her education by earning a diploma in Computer Science and pursued a career as a Software Engineer for 10 years with leading Wall Street Fortune 500 companies such as Prudential Securities, Lehman Brothers, UBS, and Fidelity Investments. In pursuit of the true American dream, Gunjan’s passion for helping others led her to start UniversaCare. UniversaCare is a licensed and accredited Home Healthcare Agency which provides skilled and non-skilled care to seniors in the comfort of their own home. Gunjan currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the organization and oversees the Agency’s operations and growth plans. UniversaCare currently operates two offices with ambitious plans to open more branch locations across the country. Gunjan’s passions run deeper than just her professional career. Hailing from a culturally gifted family, her late parents based out of Faizabad, India, encouraged her to pursue the arts from a young age. With the strong support from her family, Gunjan was able to excel in the performance and expression of Indian arts and culture. She is the recipient of several awards and accolades for her prowess in folk and classical dancing, singing, acting and choreography. Due to the popularity that she gained from a young age, Gunjan modeled for Campa-Cola, a market leader in the Indian market during the 1970s and 1980s. She was a noted TV anchor in Lucknow for the children’s program ‘Nanhe Munne’ and performed the lead female role in several stage theater performances like “Lal Rekha” and “Udhar ka Patti” before moving to the United States.
Elizabeth Cagan earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Northwestern University and her Master of Arts Degree in International Relations from The University of Chicago. For the past twenty-five years, she has served as Executive Director of White Crane Wellness Center, a not-for-profit organization that sustains the mission to improve the health and well-being of older adults. In this capacity, Elizabeth oversees the operations of an agency that provides health and support services for more than 5,000 individuals annually. Under her leadership, White Crane expanded its service delivery throughout Chicago, as well as to suburban Cook, Lake, and DuPage County. The organization developed an innovative Adult Day Wellness Center for older adults at-risk for institutionalization, was the recipient of a five-year Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant and selected twice by GlaxoSmithKline and The University of Pennsylvania for excellence in health service delivery for diverse populations. Additionally, White Crane is the proud recipient of the Sid Granet Award, presented by Illinois Association of Area Agencies on Aging, as well as the Program Standout Award, presented by AgeGuide. The organization was twice selected by National Council on Aging as a Best Practice Model. In her role as Executive Director, Elizabeth served as Regional Chair and Chicago Committee Regional Coordinator, while currently serving as President of the statewide Illinois Adult Day Services Association. She serves on the board of directors of Coalition of Limited English-Speaking Elderly (CLESE) as well. Elizabeth is also a board member of Southland Human Services Leadership Council and co-chair of its senior services work group.
Pramod Kumar Philanthropy
Mr. Singh immigrated to the USA in 1994 and opened his wings to explore opportunities. In 2002 he acquired his first franchise restaurant in Maryland, and continued growing at a very fast pace. Currently his business empire has grown to close to 50 restaurants across multiple states in the USA. He also has ventured into Hotels and owns a Hilton Garden Inn in Manassas, VA. Mr. Singh strongly believes in diversification and entered in the real estate market in 2014 and currently owns over 100 commercial and residential properties. Sunil Singh is not only a great businessman, but also a philanthropist and an accomplished community activist. He had the distinction of serving as the President of the Rajput Association, Washington D.C. Sunil Singh shared the dais with prominent Indian American leaders from across the United States along with The Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr, the renowned Civil Rights leader at Washington D.C. On May 19,2021 to request President Biden to send COVID vaccines to India and other developing countries. Dr. Mrs. Santosh Kumar first met Sunil Singh at Washington D.C. when she was invited along with Dr. Vijay G. Prabhakar from Chicago to welcome the Indian Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission Amit Kumar in 2019.
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Community Service Award
Partnership Award
