Dr. Kasturi Rajadhyaksha (Dr. Raja) was a physician, mother, grandmother, and community volunteer. A physician by training, Dr. Raja immigrated to the United States in 1969. After the death of her husband in 1976, she reinvented herself in her 50’s by deciding to go back to school to pursue a Master of Public Health Administration at Johns Hopkins University. After finishing her master’s degree, she became the Asian coordinator for Jhpiego, an international nonprofit organization run by Johns Hopkins University to improve education in gynecology and obstetrics. She spent six years in this position, during which time she traveled to more than twenty countries to organize training in laparoscopy.

In 1984, Dr. Raja moved to Columbus to serve as a board member and Minority Business Coordinator of DLZ Corporation, an architectural and engineering firm founded by her son, Vikram “Raj” Rajadhyaksha. In Columbus, she volunteered her time for many community organizations and became a community leader for several causes. In 1990, Dr. Raja founded the Women of Indian Subcontinent Support Group (WISSUG), a group to help South Asian women. In 1993, she co-founded the Asian American Commerce Group (AACG) to unite the diverse Asian-American community in central Ohio under a single voice. In 2003, Dr. Raja and nine others founded ASHA-Ray of Hope, a nonprofit organization that helps domestic abuse victims in central Ohio’s South Asian Community. Since its foundation, ASHA-Ray of Hope has helped hundreds of women and their families by providing much needed support to female immigrants who often have no other support system.