A Few Words
About Us
Our Mission
Our Mission is to boost hope for underprivileged, disadvantaged individuals and communities, by providing support and help in four key areas. Our goal is to empower motivated individuals with the ability to achieve prosperity, but have solvable hurdles currently hindering their potential.
We will achieve this mission by providing one time catalytic grants to partners to help them overcome their ability to get out of poverty and on the road to prosperity. These grants will be for livelihood projects, one-time gap grants for education and skills development, and health related expenses. Gap grants could also be made for low cost housing if justified by the catalytic value towards prosperity.
Another extremely valuable aspect of Boosting Hope’s vision is to create a transparent and collaborative community. One where we see everyone as partners, and hope to learn from each other, to be able to make the most impact we need to understand the reasons which determine the hurdles people face, and how best to facilitate the solution. This will take time and a lot of effort but ultimately we believe that having a growing network of motivated, supportive partners will have the most impact.
Boosting Hope
the Problems People face
01.
Health
Helping everyday Americans overcome simple healthcare issues to help them prosper.
02.
Livelihood
Supporting small business owners build a profitable and rewarding business.
03.
Education
Supporting those bettering themselves through further education.
04.
Housing
Enabling those to secure affordable low cost housing and stability.
How can You Help?
We will be applying for government and institutional grants as our main source of funding, this money will go to the local committees to provide matching grants.
The money will go towards funding grants and therefore partners. The more money and grants we are able to receive on a corporate level allows us to fill any gaps on a local level.
Whilst we have the four main grants we also anticipate a small number of worthwhile situations where a larger grant amount would have an extremely positive impact on both the individual and the local community.
Flexibility and adaptability is the approach we are taking as we grow, because we understand that whilst New Jersey may face more specific challenges in one area this will differ state to state. The intricacies of social issues are complex and we respect we need to learn from the locals.
Non-Profit
Organization & Structure
Boosting Hope will operate through local committees, comprising of the people who know & care the most about the area. From experience we know that working on a local level creates the most impact. Each one will comprise of individuals or organisations who will have autonomy to select the local partners receiving the grants. We anticipate approximately 5 members on each committee, with either a chairperson or 2 co-chairs, who will have the deciding vote on distributing funds.
Boosting Hope will be a resource to the local committees, because we are a 501(c)(3) registered charity we have already established the platform to give back. We know that people would like to help and want to do so as well but do not have the experience or time to set up a registered organization.
We are committed to helping committees by primarily removing the administrative burden, a common theme which stops people from pursuing philanthropic endeavours. We will take care of the initial IRS status and tax reporting every year, as well as book keeping and accounting, ensuring compliance to non-profit guidelines.
Operational & fundraising guidance for committees, as well as possible cash contributions on select applicants, dependent on receiving grants, both institutional and governmental, and there are also charitable tax breaks on any donations made. Our resonating message is that this is a partnership which we want to develop in the right way, together and over time.
Board of Directors
Naseer Rana, President, Boosting Hope Inc
Naseer’s experience in the development sector spans more than three decades in over 30 countries with long-term postings in Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Kenya, and the US while working with the US Agency for International Development and The World Bank as Governance Advisor. He has a master’s degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from USC, California, and has worked in Fortune five hundred companies for ten years, including as Industrial Engineering Manager at Gillette International.
Huma Rana, Vice President, Boosting Hope Inc
Huma has a bachelor’s degree in Home Economics and has a passion for helping people overcome hurdles on their path to prosperity. She has been helping people through funding and mentoring to overcome their difficulties in education, health, livelihood, and housing. She has lived in several countries besides the US in the Far East, South Asia, and Africa. She has helped local artisans like handcrafted leather shoemakers in Pakistan, silver jewelry makers in Ubud Indonesia, and Masai handicrafts in Kenya.
Silvia Ahmed, Director, Head of Mentoring Services, Boosting Hope Inc
Board Member, Ohlone College Foundation
Silvia Ahmed is a seasoned high-tech leader with decades of experience working in industry leading organizations and developing talent. She is Vice President of Engineering at Veritas and has held senior roles at companies such as VMWare, EMC, NetApp, and Veritas. She is known for her work developing engineering talent, team building and scaling, employee productivity, quality assurance, and innovation. She actively supports and advocates for women in tech. She believes supporting women and minorities through education and leadership opportunities will not only impact the quality of life of those individuals but result in a healthier community. A healthier community where diversity and equality prevail supports our democratic values as a country.
Staff and Volunteers
Denise Menzies, Manager, Mentoring Support, Lake Tahoe
Denise Menzies is a Commercial Film Producer, Business Manager, Corporate Consultant and a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Denise and her husband, Australian Cinematographer Peter Menzies, Jr., own The Burradoo Film Company in Sydney, Australia and Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Denise Is a graduate of the University of Kansas with a BS In Journalism: Radio/Television & Film and a BA in Classical Antiquities.
Denise is an educational advocate and a trained Ethics Instructor. Denise volunteers as a mentor and college admissions advisor for first generation Latino high school students. She is Vice Chair of the Pet Network Humane Society Board in Incline Village, and is also on the Board of The Cymbal Foundation: Supporting Music in Public Schools. Denise also serves on the Board of the Rotary Club of Tahoe-Incline as Fundraising Chair.
Brett Maroni-Rana, Manager, Web Support
Brett holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Rhode Island and a Master of Science degree in Bioinformatics from Northeaster University. As a scientist working in laboratories, his career has primarily revolved around product development within the biotech industry.
Following a successful career, he found that his experience in building biotech products, could be leveraged to build web apps and websites. He continues his education in Computer Science and Front-End Web Development with a keen interest in React Web Applications.
How can you get involved?
There are many ways we would like to encourage you to get involved, from starting a committee in your community to donating, fundraising or volunteering. Click the button below to learn more and join the Boosting Hope Community.
