Leading Advocate of India's Children at Synergos' University for a Night

Add as a preferred source on Google

October 11, 2006: Ingrid Srinath, CEO, CRY, Child Rights and You, India's India's premier non-profit organisation working to restore the rights of underprivileged Indian children, will be one of the four plenary discussion speakers at the Synergos University for a Night event on October 12, 2006 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.

University for a Night brings global leaders together to discuss the world's most pressing problems. Through the plenary discussion, a question and answer session and discussions over dinner, participants learn from each other and share ideas that help to address problems of poverty, inequity, environmental degradation and conflict.

On this occasion, Ingrid will be sharing the platform with E Neville Isdell, Chairman and CEO of the Coca Coca Company, Ted Turner, media baron and Founder and Chairman of the United Nations Foundation and the first woman head of State in Africa, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

Ingrid was selected as a Synergos Senior Fellow in 2003. As part of her fellowship, she consults with foundations across the world, sharing CRY's experience in social marketing and fundraising.

Ingrid joined CRY in 1998, after working extensively in the advertising industry. Among the positions she held was that of Associate Vice President, Grey Worldwide. Retaining an abiding passion for brands, Ingrid is a member of the Consumer Complaints Council of the Advertising Standards Council of India.

After a period as Regional Director, West, Ingrid was appointed CRY's Director Resource Mobilisation in 2000. During this tenure, CRY's fundraising operations were completely re-engineered resulting in several new revenue streams including online marketing, fundraising and advocacy. As a result CRY has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 35% over this period and has one of the most robust resource mobilisation models in the sector.

A founding board member of CRY America, Ingrid currently spearheads CRY's expansion to the UK and the Middle East. Articulating CRY's vision, Ingrid says: "We've learned that the only way to make lasting change happen is to adopt what we call the 'child rights approach'. Stripped of all jargon, what this entails is looking at children's issues in their entirety rather than through narrow segments, then seeking the underlying root causes of the deprivation - gender, caste, livelihoods, displacement and the like and finally, mobilising each local community to find long-term solutions to these problems by ensuring the relevant laws and policies that guarantee their rights are actually implemented. In a nutshell, CRY believes in child rights for three reasons - because the alternatives are ineffective, illegal and unjust."

CRY - Child Relief and You America Inc., a 501c3 registered non-profit organization in the USA, believes that every child is entitled to basic rights of survival, protection, development and participation. In partnership with CRY, a leading advocate for child rights in India, CRY America works with NGOs, communities, the media and is dedicated to mobilizing all sections of society to eliminate the root causes of deprivation, discrimination, poverty, exploitation, abuse and alike, to ensure justice for children.

CRY America, commenced operations in November 2002. Today, it partners 16 child development projects across India and USA, restoring to more than 35000 children their right to a childhood. On-site planning, monitoring and evaluation are provided by CRY and its 27 years of experience of working with and for children.

CRY America is founded on the premise that everyone - an individual or an organization, can make a difference. In over three years, it has a 500-strong volunteer base spread across 23 US cities comprising students, executives, professionals and homemakers. CRY America seeks to provide American donors' new levels of accountability and transparency in measuring the impact their contributions make in ensuring children their rights.