Friends of Gawande College

20/12/2025

With profound sadness, we announce the passing of Dr. Sushila Gawande, President of the Student and Education Support Association and Mentor of Gawande College. Her steadfast support for liberal education and social mobility for young people in Umarkhed in India, and in Athens County, Ohio, leaves a lasting legacy.

01/02/2024

Congratulations to Dr. Someshwar Vadrabade, former Vice Principal & Officiating Principal of GSG College, on his retirement! We are grateful to Dr. Vadrabade for his decades of tireless and unwavering support to build and sustain GSG's partnerships and friendships, and his unselfish commitment to teaching, service, research, and community outreach at the Gawande College.

20/08/2023

11/08/2023

We honor the late Dr. Atmaram S. Gawande on his 12th anniversary. Dr. Gawande's belief in the emancipatory power of education continues to live and thrive in Umarkhed at GSG. The College honored Dr. Gawande today with a prayer service.

Photo: Longtime friend of Gawande College, Dr. Pronoy Rai (visiting faculty at GSG & associate professor of Geography at Portland State University, Oregon, USA) offers flowers at the prayer ceremony today.

22/05/2022

Dr. Sushila Gawande with a longtime friend of the Gawande College, Dr. Pronoy Rai (right), & Dr. David Kirakossian (left) in Athens, Ohio.

30/09/2021

To our friends near Athens, Ohio: Receive a beautiful plant for your donation! All donations support SESA's charitable projects in rural Maharashtra, India, including our Maati-Paani-Asha (Soil-Water-Hope) project, which strives to transform the current agricultural system from one of intense drought, overwhelming debt, and almost daily farmer su***des to one of environmental health and personal wellbeing. To view auction items: https://www.sesahelps.org/auction Our pilot project includes providing training, support, and facilities to transition 250 farmers in 10 villages to regenerative farming. Just $10 enables one farmer's participation for one month. Auction for a Cause will be open until October 4 at 11:59pm EDT.

08/09/2021

Meeta and Sushila Gawande's recent visit to Ohio University:

13/07/2021

In other exciting news, SESA and GSG College have been invited to join four other worldwide communities as part of EcoGather. An initiative by Sterling College, EcoGather will bring together five partnering communities from around the world in an effort to share knowledge, ideas and generational agroecological framing practices aimed at combating the forces of climate change and its effects on food supply both locally and globally.

Please visit this link to learn more!

SESA and GSG College have joined four other worldwide communities as part of EcoGather, a Sterling College initiative to battle ecological and economic crisis brought on by climate change and disruptive farming practices. EcoGather, an initiative by Sterling College, will bring together five partner...

06/07/2021

We are excited to announce that SESA's Maati-Paani-Asha Center was selected by Thought for Food, The Rockefeller Foundation, IDEO, and EAT into the Food Systems Game Changer Lab, a global program designed to bring together "game changers" who have ideas, initiatives, and innovations that will bring about positive change to global food systems. The Food Systems Game Changer Lab supports the UN Food Summit and takes action to achieve Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Please visit this link to learn more!

The Call for Solutions To support the UN Food Summit’s goal of achieving healthier, more sustainable, more resilient, and also more equitable food systems, Thought for Food, The Rockefeller Foundation, IDEO, and EAT called for solutions from across the world. Selected solutions would be invited to...

25/05/2021

Our hearts go out to all who are facing the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis. Our charity, https://www.sesahelps.org/, with support from Dr. Sushila Gawande and Lifebox Foundation Inc., is providing funds for medical facilities and supplies in Yavatmal District, India. We also continue to work toward a better future for farmers and the Yavatmal community. Check out our submission to the Food Systems Game Changers Lab here: https://challenges.openideo.com/servlet/hype/IMT?ac7b37b4fd12653501e7cdf622fc9819

Over 300,000 farmers have taken their lives in India over the last 20 years. The epicenter of farmer su***de is in eastern Maharashtra, one of the most severely food insecure regions in the world.  The soil is depleted, and farmers are falling deeper into debt purchasing inputs to overcome the depl...