This initiative formalises the work by Sunit Prakash and Lalita Kasanji for the past 40 years with a number of publications, submissions, working groups, presentations, mentoring sessions and more; and it sets up for the next 40 as developments in India, and in technology become increasingly central to New Zealand.

Fiercely independent, fully self-funded, and free to join, this is a group of like-minded people committed to achieving success.

Driven by a sense of urgency, success will be measured by:

1. Participation in advisory groups, workshops & networking sessions
2. Submissions to inquiries
3. Presentations at events
4. Opinions and papers published
5. Guidance to organisations
6. Coaching, guiding & mentoring

Get in touch if you want to:

1. Make a difference
2. Grow your presence in new Indian & New Zealand markets
3. Understand ethnic diversity in your workforce better
4. Achieve your professional aspirations

Lalita Kasanji played a key role in establishing the Office of Ethnic Communities, Department of Internal Affairs, originally known as the Ethnic Affairs Service, in the early 1990s.

She produced publications, presented at conferences, held workshops, and worked across agencies relating to ethnic communities.

 Lalita completed her Masters in Sociology from Victoria University of Wellington, examining the settlement of the Gujarati community in Wellington and its integration into New Zealand society.

Her interests have expanded to complementary health and wellbeing. She is an active board member for business and community organisations.

Sunit Prakash is a senior digital professional. Previously, as Director Support Operations, he was responsible for Customer Service & Support, Asia Pacific Japan for a Nasdaq listed company in Sydney, before returning to Wellington.

He holds a Masters degree in Management Studies from NMIMS, Bombay University, one of India's top B-schools.

Through his work and cohort, Sunit has had a ring-side seat to the successes of the Indian diaspora in IT, notably in Australia, Singapore, Silicon Valley, and elsewhere.

Sunit writes extensively on New Zealand, India, and technology. His opinion pieces are regularly published in the national and professional press.

15 August 25, 2 years since inception, Annual Report in Numbers:

𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
• Awarded MNZM
• Join 15 others for honoured for IT
• First Indians recognised for IT
• Finalists - Wellington Airport Community Awards '24
• Finalists - New Zealand CIO Summit & Awards Community Tech Champions '24, one of 3 finalists
• Winners - New Zealand India Central Association Business Awards

𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 & 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀
• 1 submission in 16 chapters & 81 points on India FTA to the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade
• “Diverse Histories of Computing & Information in Australasia” for the Communications of the Association for Information Systems - with Dr Janet Toland, paper under review

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀
• Ran 5 events
• 20 speakers; >50% women
• 4 PhDs; 3 women
• Over 300 registrations

𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴
• Mentored 12 individuals
• Maintained a 5/5 rating
• Top 1%, Community Care & People’s Choice Badges on topmate.io

𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮
• 120 LinkedIn posts
• Grew followers to 1,200
• Just under 100% YOY growth

𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯, 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵, 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀
• 35 conversations to partner, collaborate & grow
• Support & advice to 10 businesses in NZ & India
• 25 professional networking events attended
• Created a backlog of 25 ethnic & business success stories to showcase

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀
• 4 press releases for NZ, Australia & India
• 7 interviews
• Over 35 sets of media coverage and counting
• Featured in The Times Of India The Economic Times Doordarshan Kendra RNZ Reseller News NZ MSN and others
• Viral on social with >20,000 HNIs & Ultra-HNIs reached on WhatsApp

𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘡 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘕𝘡; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴

𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
• The NZ economy is the toughest we have seen
• India offers alternative markets, capital, skills & talent
• Indian IT professionals are valuable natural resources
• Agencies must engage deeper & broader
• Nikhil Ravishankar is the visible tip and there are several others
• His promotion highlights issues to be addressed
• Ethnic Communities, International Relations & International Trade go hand-in-hand to accelerate NZ’s economic growth & success
• Self-funded, we contribute to this and look forward to collaborating with progressive govt agencies

𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀

Natasha D'Costa (Telles) Nilesh Kapoor Jai Goradia Eric Barrett Rahul Sen Urvashi Yadav Farheen Hussain Ketan Shah SVKM's Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS)

15 August 24 marked one year since the launch of New Zealand Centre for Digital Connections with India. We said we would make submissions, connect businesses, assist with diversity & inclusion, and support newcomers.

8 Point Report:

1. Submitted a case for a Digital & IT Trade Delegation to India noting India was the only country mentioned in Coalition Agreements. Christopher Luxon Winston Peters Nicola Willis MP Todd McClay Hon Judith Collins KC MP Hon Erica Stanford MP Hon Melissa LEE High Commission of India, Wellington, New Zealand.
2. Delighted to to be invited to go over critical elements with His Excellency David Pine, then NZ High Commissioner to India; In-person meeting with Graham Rouse in Mumbai to undererstand latest plans & developments.
3. Connected a few dots, brokered introductions, some referrals our way were incredible !
4. Ran events thanks Alpa Chhiba & Callum Lowe, showcased role models Cyrus Ranchhod & Shashank Handa, elevated professional profiles, created networks.
5. Conducted a Techweek NZ event; Thanks Ministry for Ethnic Communities Berlinda Chin.
6. Smashed traditional racial stereotpes with six exceptional women digital leaders: Jayshree Ravi Anu Kaw Bushra Nur, MBA (Hons) Sridevi Venugopal Alpa Chhiba Shalini Divya. Rare to see an all-women tech leaders panel, let alone from the ethnic community - a FIRST in NZ.
7. Shared successes, case studies, and developments, a viral post or two, resulting in a high quality curated list of ~650 quality followers - the ONLY of its kind in NZ !
8. Tapped into the Gujarati, Jain & Marwadi business communities, school & university alumni, witnessed firsthand the tremendous successes and eye-watering wealth that Ultra High Networth Individuals have generated - 2nd trip to India.

We know we hit and exceeded several of our objectives. Equally, there is work to do in others.