American Telugu Association (ATA) Washington DC region has conducted International Women’s Day event in Chinmaya Somnath facility, Chantilly, VA on Saurday March 7th, 2020 with pomp and grandeur. ATA is the first Telugu organization to celebrate IWD in the US with DC chapter spearheading the celebration in DC metro area making the event immensely popular in the local community. Apart from cultural programs, the event saw the participation of inspiring and motivating community leaders; and also vendor and food stalls. Mayor of Manhattan City, of Kansas State, Mrs.Usha Reddi was the chief guest for the evening, she talked about women empowerment, urged the community to more engaged in political process and advised women and girls to shed inhibitions and pursue their dreams. The Mayor thanked ATA for organizing a beautiful event for women. Fairfax County Public Schools, member at large, Ms.Rachna Sizemore Heizer guest speaker at the event, called on all South Asian women to be more involved in community activities.
Washington DC’s ATA team recognized local Telugu Association leaders, Smt. Sudha Kondapu, President, Capitol Area Telugu Society, Mrs.Sai Sudha Paladugu, President Greater Washington Telugu Cultural Society, Mrs. Pushyami Duvvuri, President Varadhi and Ms. Kavita Challa, President Telangana Development Forum. Also recognized are Dr.Prabhavathi Reddy Scholar, Ms. Laxmi Babu of Kuchipudi Dance Academy, Smt. SaiKanta Raparla, Dance teacher, Mrs.Srilekha Palle, community leader for excellence in their respective fields and community service and Miss India DC Sneha Mishra and Mrs Bharat Sandhya ByeReddy and all Sponsors ( Mosaic Dental, OakTree Dental, BBI Law Firm, Vasara Jewelers, Dr.Swarupa Reddy, A2Z Car services, Cold Stone, Anitya Scientific Skin Care, The Fitness Equation) for their generosity. Organizers thanked vendor sponsors of Raffle prizes, which made the evening very exciting. All proceeds of Raffle ticket sales were donated to ABV Foundation abvfoundarion.org) for providing 5 sewing machines and a beautician chair to encourage women empowerment. Leadership also thanked all volunteers: Sirisha Kompalli, Srilekha Palle, Deepika Boojala, Nandini Yedulla, Prasanna Komatireddy, Geeta Bojja and student volunteers for their contribution to the event. ATA thanks its DC Office bearers Bhuvanesh Boojala, President-Elect; Jay Challa, Board of Trustee; Soumya Kondapalli, Board of Trustee; Sudheer Bandaru, VA-Regional Coordinator; Koushik Sama, DC-Regional Coordinator; Anil Kasineni, WV-Regional Coordinator; Rohini Challa, Local Woman Committee Coordinator; Sudhakar Garlanka, Business Committee – Chair;Rammohan Surineni, Corporate Sponsorship – Co-chair;Amar Bojja , Archives and records – Chair, Rana Chegu, Chair, ATA Convention 2020 business committee, for putting together a successful event.
