About Us

Sehgal Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private charitable foundation established in 1998 in Des Moines, Iowa, by agricultural scientist and businessman, Dr. Surinder Mohan (Suri) Sehgal, and his wife, Edda Sehgal, to support innovative work on issues dear to their hearts, including sustainable agriculture, conservation of plant genetic resources, environmental protection, and empowerment of women and girls in the most vulnerable communities in rural India. To put their ideas into action at the grassroots level, Suri and Edda launched S M Sehgal Foundation (SMSF) in Suri’s native India in 1999. SMSF, headquartered in

Gurugram, Haryana, is a public charitable trust whose mission is to “strengthen community-led development initiatives to achieve positive social, economic, and environmental change across rural India.”

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Sehgal Foundation in the US supports the work of SMSF in India, partnering with nonprofits, academic institutions, corporations, and individuals. A primary focus is on an innovative program, Transform Lives one school at a time! that combines the resources of all SMSF programs that address food scarcity, water scarcity, and social justice in rural India. The program transforms the lives of schoolchildren in government schools by making desperately needed school improvements in rural Indian villages to address low school enrollment and high dropout rates by making sure the resources for learning are available, including clean water, separate toilets for girls, empowering School Management Committees, and providing digital literacy and life skills training.