Abraham George Social Impact: What the Record Shows

Abraham George's social impact is clearest at Shanti Bhavan, the free residential school he founded in Tamil Nadu in 1997 for children from India's lowest socioeconomic class. According to Shanti Bhavan, 98 percent of its students complete a college degree. Through The George Foundation, set up in Bangalore in 1995, Abraham George also ran lead-poisoning screening and a rural clinic, and he founded a journalism school.

Before that, he was an Indian Army artillery officer who rose to Captain, then built a career in finance and software in the New York area, at Chemical Bank and at his own company, Multinational Computer Models.

A timeline of Abraham George's social impact work

• 1995: The George Foundation is set up in Bangalore.
• 1997: Shanti Bhavan opens, and Project Lead-Free begins.
• 1999: The foundation hosts an international conference on lead poisoning.
• 2000: A rural medical center is built, and a journalism institute is inaugurated.
• 2010: Shanti Bhavan's first class graduates.
• 2024: Shanti Bhavan 2 opens with 60 children.

What results has Shanti Bhavan produced?

Shanti Bhavan opened in 1997 with 48 preschoolers, 24 girls and 24 boys. The original campus is in Baliganapalli, in the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu, near Hosur and about 90 minutes from Bangalore. Children join at about age four and are supported free of charge through college. Their families live on a few dollars a day.

The first class graduated in 2010. In October 2022, Shanti Bhavan reported 169 graduates and about 280 students on the original campus.

Outcomes the school reports

Shanti Bhavan's own figures show that 97 percent of its students graduate from high school and 98 percent complete a college degree. By the same figures, 97 percent of graduates earn more in their first five years of work than their parents earned in a lifetime.

Alumni have studied at Stanford, Dartmouth and Duke and worked at companies including Google, Amazon, EY, Mercedes-Benz and Deloitte, according to a 2022 Shanti Bhavan announcement.

What alumni give back

The school also reports that 99 percent of graduates give 20 to 60 percent of their salaries to their families, communities and other children in need, and that 90 percent volunteer in their communities. Its Alumni Association lists 130 active members.

Abraham George explained the idea to Global Indian in 2025: "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. That's the real impact."

A second campus

Shanti Bhavan 2 opened in 2024 in Chikkahosahalli, north of Bangalore in Karnataka, with 60 children in preschool and kindergarten. The school plans to grow it to more than 300 students. Abraham George continues to lead the school as its Founder and CEO.

How did The George Foundation address lead poisoning?

The George Foundation launched Project Lead-Free in 1997 with six Bangalore medical centers. The program tested blood samples from more than 20,000 people in seven cities, including children, pregnant women and workers in the battery and paint industries.

The screening found that about 51 percent of the children under 12 who were tested had blood lead above 10 micrograms per deciliter, the US CDC's level of concern at the time. Abraham George framed the findings as a call to act, telling Hinduism Today in 2002: "It is a national disgrace that we have collectively allowed lead poisoning to affect millions of our children and others."

In February 1999, the foundation organized an international conference on lead poisoning in Bangalore, with co-sponsors including the World Bank, WHO, the US EPA and the US CDC. About 450 delegates from 20 countries attended. A plan to phase out leaded petrol was announced during the conference, and India's nationwide switch took effect in April 2000.

The foundation's work contributed to the public-health advocacy around that phase-out. It also helped establish the National Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning in India with St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences in Bangalore.

What did Abraham George do for rural health and jobs?

In 2000, the foundation built the Baldev Medical & Community Centre in Baliganapalli, near Shanti Bhavan, to provide free health services to surrounding villages. In the late 2000s, the center offered obstetrics, pediatrics, eye care, ENT and dental clinics, along with home visits and medical camps, and saw about 30 patients a day.

The foundation also ran a banana farm of more than 200 acres near the school that employed women from poor families. Global Indian reported that its profits were reinvested in community development.

What was the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media?

In 2000, Abraham George founded the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media (IIJNM) in Bangalore, set up through a trust formed by The George Foundation and the Sri Adichunchanagiri Maha Samsthana Trust.

In a message for the foundation-stone ceremony that April, he wrote: "The press is one of the major vehicles of this public dialogue." The institute took its first students in January 2001, with a curriculum the foundation says was modeled on Columbia's journalism school. It trained journalists for more than two decades before it closed in 2024.

How did Shanti Bhavan help during COVID-19?

From April 2020, Shanti Bhavan distributed food and supplies to surrounding villages. By February 2021, the effort had reached more than 2,000 families, about 9,000 people, with 8,000 kilograms of rice among the supplies. The school's May 2021 update put the total at nearly 14,000 rural community members.

Recognition for Abraham George's social impact work

In 2007, NYU Stern named Abraham George its Stewart Satter Social Entrepreneur of the Year, 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." In 2025 he received the GOPIO Philanthropy Award.

Netflix released Daughters of Destiny, a four-part series about Shanti Bhavan directed by Vanessa Roth, in 2017. In March 2026, George appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show with a Shanti Bhavan graduate.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best-known example of Abraham George's social impact?

The best-known example is Shanti Bhavan, the free residential school Abraham George founded in Tamil Nadu in 1997 for children from India's lowest socioeconomic class. The school reports that 98 percent of its students go on to finish a college degree. A second campus opened near Bangalore in 2024.

What role did Abraham George play in India's move to unleaded petrol?

Abraham George's foundation carried out some of the first large-scale blood-lead screening in India, testing more than 20,000 people from 1997. Its February 1999 conference in Bangalore, where a plan to phase out leaded petrol was announced, contributed to the public-health advocacy around India's nationwide switch in April 2000. That switch completed a national policy phased in from 1995.

How many people has Abraham George's work reached?

Abraham George's lead program tested more than 20,000 people. Shanti Bhavan reported 169 graduates in 2022, and during COVID-19 the school reported assisting nearly 14,000 rural community members.

What do Shanti Bhavan graduates do after they finish school?

According to Shanti Bhavan, most complete a college degree. Alumni of the school Abraham George founded have studied at Stanford, Dartmouth and Duke and worked at Google, Amazon, EY and Deloitte. The school reports that nearly all share part of their salaries with their families and communities.

What awards has Abraham George received for his social work?

NYU Stern named Abraham George its 2007 Stewart Satter Social Entrepreneur of the Year. The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) gave him its Philanthropy Award in 2025.