About Us
Back in 2006, a few Marathi families in Ann Arbor region, came together to form a small club of Marathi people. Founding principles were
- Celebrate Marathi festivals, culture, traditions and food
- Teach their kids about their heritage
- Make people comfortable enough to share their hidden talents
- Build friendships, support structure
- Have fun
In those days, Maharashtra Mandal of Detroit held all their programs far away from the Ann Arbor region, so it was difficult to attend and participate in them. The club was started with no intentions of starting another Mandal. However, after overwhelming response from early members, they decided to establish Ann Arbor Marathi Mandal (a2mm) in 2006. Most of the programs were smaller scale, with 50-80 attendees and were held at the home of Bhushan - Swatee Kulkarni in Saline. Swatee Kulkarni was the founding president and held that position for the first 3 years of operation. Under her leadership, the Mandal grew to almost 200 people in attendance. The presidents and teams that led a2mm after Swatee stepped down, continued to take Mandal to the next level every year.
Highlights of these Presidents can be summarized below -
2006-2008: Swatee Kulkarni – Put the foundation in place for a long-term sustainability
2009: Prashant Javkar – Launched the first A2MM website, introduced the newsletter, kicked off the Karaoke club, and introduced the sponsorship platform
2010: Mandar Kulkarni – Mobilized volunteers to bring out creative programs
2011: Madhuri Deshpande – Established sponsorships and elements for structural growth
2012: Swapna Chitre – Expanded attendance levels through wider participation
2013: Lini Athavale – Introduced and nurtured team of new volunteers
2014: Suresh Nair – Introduced many creative programs and streamlined operations
2015: Bhushan Kulkarni – Created A2MM branding and recruited, nurtured new leaders
2016: Ajeet Kulkarni – Established and nurtured a team of new volunteers
2017: Sameer Joshi – Scaled-up A2MM by bringing in many new members
2018: Laukik Deshpande – Launched many creative programs
2019: Amit Mandhare – Creating foundation for growth while keeping culture intact
2020: Gnanada Joshi – Strengthened the bonds between all members during a challenging pandemic year
2021: Ketan Savale – Strengthened the bonds between all members during a challenging pandemic year and find innovative ways to have programs online
2022: Nachiket Kasarekar – Strengthened the bonds between all members during a challenging pandemic year and re-start the programs to have in person
As the mandal rapidly grew, basic foundational principles and culture remained at the forefront and every new member reflected on them and made them their own. It’s the culture of a2mm that makes the organization unique. Preserving and nurturing that culture will ensure a2mm will continue to thrive.
