Dr Priti Adani’s Keynote Address At AVPN Global Conference 9 September 2025 – Hong Kong

About 26 years ago, in the deserts of Kutch in Gujarat, the sun was merciless. That is when I saw her a woman bent low to the ground. Her hands, frail with fatigue but fierce with faith, gently watered and pressed tiny seeds into the barren soil. I asked her, “Why do you plant when the land is so dry?” She looked up, her eyes alive with hope, and said, “Because one day, the rains will come. And if the seeds are not planted, what will the rains awaken?”

This spirit of awakening, planting in faith, and believing in tomorrow is the spirit I see in this room today. That is why, as I learn more about AVPN, I see more than a network. I see a movement, a belief, a powerful ocean fed by many rivers philanthropists, businesses, and changemakers all working together with one sole objective: to create impact.

Almost four decades ago, I graduated as a dentist. As a young doctor, my purpose was to create impact by becoming one of the best dentists in Ahmedabad. But destiny had other plans. In my early twenties, I married Gautam, who was also in his twenties restless, ambitious, and dreaming beyond what most thought was possible.

The world would later know him as one of the greatest contemporary builders of infrastructure. But before that, I saw another side of him shaped by a conviction he often shared with me: “Priti, the worth of nation-building is not in what gets constructed, but in what gets sustained educational institutions that enlighten, hospitals that nurture, and livelihoods that uplift. If these sustain, our legacy sustains.”

I did not know then what Gautam would become, but I had faith faith in his stories, his drive, his vision for India, and his dreams of nation-building. That faith made me give up the profession of dentistry I loved and walk beside Gautam to support his journey.

In 1996, we lit a small lamp that grew into the Adani Foundation. It later gained strength through our family’s $7 billion pledge to philanthropy. What I believed was simple: if we nurtured our convictions, the rains would come one day. And they did.

Today, our work spans five pillars Education, Healthcare and Nutrition, Sustainable Livelihoods, Community Infrastructure, and Climate Action. The seeds we planted have grown into a foundation that reaches across 7,000 Indian villages and touches more than 9.6 million people. But it is not about numbers it is about the stories behind them.

In Umarpada, a tribal region of Gujarat, we found Vansh, a 3-year-old weighing only 8 kilograms instead of the normal 16 to 18 kilograms. His breath was shallow, his body weak, and his eyes lifeless. His mother’s gaze reflected despair. Then, an Adani SuPoshan Sangini stepped in.

These Sanginis are local women trained by the Adani Foundation to support villages. She carried Vansh to a nutrition centre and worked daily with his mother, teaching and encouraging her. Months later, Vansh was unrecognisable laughing, skipping, and racing across the dusty ground like a butterfly. He was alive and free.

In Berdipar, near our power plant in Tiroda, Maharashtra, widow Rekha Bisen’s world collapsed after her husband’s death. With two children to feed and no skills, she felt hopeless. Another SuPoshan Sangini reached out. Rekha learned, implemented, and inspired. She became the first woman to run her village’s milk chilling centre, motivating 130 other women to follow her lead.

In Mundra, Kutch, Sonal Gadhvi was born into a poor farming family where girls rarely studied beyond primary school. With her father’s support, she enrolled in the Adani Public School. That platform gave her dreams and wings. She later flew to Ireland for a Master’s in Corporate Finance, works at Apple today, and recently ranked 4th globally in a top strategic exam.

The Principles of Impact

The journeys of Vansh, Rekha, and Sonal represent commitment:
– A mother planting seeds of hope in another mother’s life.
– A widow multiplying opportunities for others.
– A girl inspiring many through education and achievement.

From these stories, I share three guiding principles:

1. Co-build, not just donate – Real change comes when philanthropists, corporates, governments, and communities work together.

2. Transform beneficiaries into multipliers – Empower recipients to become creators of hope for others.

3. Unite skills with values – Skills must carry purpose for true generational change.

No force is more powerful than belief in a purpose. These three principles are foundations for lasting impact. We must stand together not just as donors, but as co-builders; not just in sympathy, but in solidarity; not just in hope, but in belief in a better tomorrow.

We must be the generation that sowed in drought, believed before the rains, and built a harvest of dignity and opportunity for all. When the rains come, we must be able to say it was us whose rivers flowed into an ocean of collaboration, whose currents multiplied hope, and whose tides carried skills to every shore.

I promise to stand committed to work with AVPN and all of you in the years ahead.