Abraham George Philanthropy: How and Why He Gives Back
The Abraham George philanthropy model centers on Shanti Bhavan, the free residential school he founded in 1997 for children from India's lowest socioeconomic class. A former Indian Army officer who worked in New York banking and then built a financial software company, Abraham George returned to India in 1995, set up The George Foundation in Bangalore and paid for its early work with his own money.
Why did Abraham George leave business for philanthropy?
Abraham George has traced the idea back to his army years. As an artillery officer, Abraham M. George was posted to Se La, a mountain pass at about 14,000 feet on the India-China border. He was injured there in a dynamite blast while building a bunker. "It led me to think of devoting my life, at some stage, to serving the poor," he told Authority Magazine in 2022.
He moved to the United States, earned an MBA and a PhD from New York University, worked at Chemical Bank and then built Multinational Computer Models, Inc. (MCM), a currency risk software firm, which SunGard acquired in 1998.
By the mid-1990s he felt he could not wait much longer. "I began to feel that time was sort of running out for me in terms of being youthful enough to do something for the poor," he said in a 2006 STERNbusiness profile. "If I waited too long, I'd probably make a lot more money but wouldn't have the mental and physical energy that I'd need."
In the STERNbusiness profile he also pointed to the gap he saw in India: "The prosperity so far is only for a few." In 1995, after more than two decades abroad, he returned home to act on it.
How did Abraham George fund his work?
George set up The George Foundation in Bangalore in 1995 as a charitable trust. Its stated mission is "to help alleviate poverty, promote health and a clean environment, and strengthen democratic institutions and values in developing countries."
According to the foundation, he decided not to seek any outside funding for its projects during its first ten years. For that first decade, Abraham George's philanthropy ran on money from his business career. After the 2008 financial crisis, Shanti Bhavan moved from his personal funding to donor support.
NYU Stern named him its Stewart Satter Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007, saying he had "creatively and imaginatively applied the entrepreneurial skills gained from a successful career in software and financial services to raise scores of people out of poverty."
Why Shanti Bhavan is a long-term commitment
Shanti Bhavan opened in 1997 with 48 preschoolers, 24 girls and 24 boys. The campus is in Baliganapalli, a village in Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri district near Hosur, roughly 90 minutes from Bangalore. The school describes its students as "children born into India's lowest socioeconomic class," from families living on a few dollars a day.
Shanti Bhavan takes in few children and keeps them for many years. The school admits about two dozen preschoolers a year and supports each child from about age four through college. Students receive boarding, food, clothing, medical care, schooling and mentorship free of charge. The school's own phrase for the commitment is "from the first day of school to the first day of work."
The school's mission states the same aim: "free, long-term support, including education, healthcare, meals, housing, mentorship, and guidance from early childhood through career launch."
"You cannot build Shanti Bhavan with money alone. You have to build it with your heart," George said during a 2024 talk at Duke University.
A second campus, Shanti Bhavan 2, opened north of Bangalore in Karnataka in 2024. Abraham George remains Shanti Bhavan's founder and chief executive officer.
How Shanti Bhavan graduates give back
Abraham George's philanthropy asks one thing of the people it helps: that they pass the help on. According to Shanti Bhavan, 99 percent of its graduates give 20 to 60 percent of their salaries to their families, communities and other children in need.
George frames this as multiplication. "The multiplicative impact of their contributions will change the lives of many poor people," he told Authority Magazine. Speaking to Global Indian in 2025, he added: "It's not about how many people we can help today. It's about empowering people so they, in turn, uplift their families and communities."
The same principle applies to his memoir. All author proceeds from Mountains to Cross: Finding Life's Purpose in Service, published in January 2026 by Greenleaf Book Group Press, go to Shanti Bhavan Children's Project.
Abraham George philanthropy beyond Shanti Bhavan
Lead poisoning advocacy
The foundation launched Project Lead-Free in 1997 with six Bangalore medical centers. It screened more than 20,000 people in seven Indian cities, including children, pregnant women and battery and paint workers. The screening found that about 51 percent of the children under 12 tested had blood lead above the level of concern then used by the US Centers for Disease Control.
In February 1999 the foundation organized an international conference on lead poisoning in Bangalore, with co-sponsors including the World Bank, the World Health Organization and the US Environmental Protection Agency. This work contributed to public-health advocacy around India's April 2000 phase-out of leaded petrol. The foundation also helped establish the National Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning in India with St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences in Bangalore.
"It is a national disgrace that we have collectively allowed lead poisoning to affect millions of our children and others," George told Hinduism Today in 2002.
Rural health care and farm jobs
The foundation built the Baldev Medical & Community Centre in Baliganapalli in 2000, near Shanti Bhavan, to deliver free health care to surrounding villages. It offered health checks, regular medical camps and home visits by field workers. The foundation also ran a banana farm of more than 200 acres nearby, which provided employment to women from poor families.
A journalism school
The journalism school follows from the foundation's mission, which includes strengthening democratic institutions. He founded the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media (IIJNM) in Bangalore in 2000, set up jointly with the Sri Adichunchanagiri Maha Samsthana Trust. According to The George Foundation, its curriculum was modeled on that of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
In a message for the foundation-stone ceremony in April 2000, he wrote: "A public emerges when citizens take part, not when they merely watch." The institute trained journalists for more than two decades.
Frequently asked questions
What charities did Abraham George start?
Abraham George founded The George Foundation in Bangalore in 1995 and Shanti Bhavan, a free residential school, in 1997. Through the foundation he also started Project Lead-Free, the Baldev Medical & Community Centre and the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media in Bangalore.
How did Abraham George fund his philanthropy?
Abraham George used money earned in his business career. According to The George Foundation, he chose not to seek outside funding for its projects during its first ten years. Shanti Bhavan now also relies on support from donors.
What causes does Abraham George support?
Abraham George's philanthropy has focused on education for children from India's lowest socioeconomic class, through Shanti Bhavan. Through The George Foundation he has also supported public health (including lead poisoning screening and advocacy), free rural health care, employment for women from poor families and journalism training.
What is Abraham George's philosophy of giving?
Abraham George's philanthropy rests on long commitments and on the idea that help should multiply. Shanti Bhavan supports each child from about age four through college, and graduates are expected to support their families and communities in turn.