Gobind Munjal, a successful Chartered Accountant and CPA by profession has worked as a Senior Vice President of Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions and served on the Board of Directors of the International Division of Tata Group of Hotels in the USA, totaling 30 years of professional services with the renowned Tata Group in various senior leadership positions. During his services with the Tata Group he saved millions of dollars for the company by way of efficient tax structuring of the deals and was recognized for his excellence in the Hospitality Merger & Acquisition field. In 2006 he started his own advisory and consultancy services. His involvement in community affairs and activities started since more than a decade ago when he joined what was then one of the fastest and largest growing not for profit Organizations on Long Island representing Indians in America, known as the India Association of Long Island (IALI).

This Organization was about 20 years old then with a growing membership of Suffolk and Nassau County residents, which today numbers 1,600 strong. The aim of the Organization was primarily to promote the culture and heritage of India so that bridges may be crossed between Indians living in America and the local Americans to promote a better understanding of the two cultures. Mr. Munjal served on the Executive Board of IALI for seven of the fifteen years of his continuing membership, in various capacities climbing steadily to the very top :- 2006 – Member-at-Large; 2007 – Membership Chair; 2008-2009 – Secretary; 2010 – Treasurer; 2011 – President. He worked very hard in each of the positions that he held taking each position very seriously and elevating its standards to a much higher level. He brought ethics, professionalism and transparency in producing Minutes of Meetings and raised the standards of Financial Reporting and its presentation to a level that almost everybody in the Executive Council and Past Presidents expressed their overwhelming praise for his work and dedication.

As President he did much to improve and raise the standards of IALI by bringing transparency, accountability and professionalism to the Association. As President of IALI Mr. Gobind Munjal’s goal and objectives was to bring back Unity, Harmony and Team Work within the Organization; bring back “INDIAFEST” IALI’s hallmark event which truly promotes and showcases India’s culture and traditions in mainstream America; build “INDIA CENTER” for the Indian community, a long cherished dream come true for the India Association of Long Island; encourage stronger participation of the youth and Seniors Group; involve more with the local American community; provide educational support to needy Indian students; build closer ties with local Senior Groups and National Indo-American Association for Senior Citizens (NIAASC); and increase participation and support for the Annual Food Drive to take it to a higher level.

Growth of membership of IALI during Mr. Munjal’s presidency of one year has been exponential, with around a hundred new members added. A remarkable feat. Many of these objectives were remarkably achieved with the IALI having all successful, well attended month to month women, seniors and youth programs and major events for the year 2011. INDIAFEST turned out to be a BLOCKBUSTER of an event well received and well attended by many dignitaries, community leaders and scores of Americans who thoroughly enjoyed the high end Floor Shows with its sophisticated Fashion Show, a page out of Broadway, a wealth of scintillating performances and dances, mindblowing variety of delicious Indian cuisine and showcasing of the wide variety of arts and crafts and ethnic designer ware of India. Not giving up on the dream of having the INDIA CENTER a place India Association of Long Island has long wanted to call their very own Mr. Munjal has still persisted and today chairs the Ad Hoc Special Committee in IALI with a committed team set up for 2012 so that this dream become a reality.

Mr. Gobind Munjal’s vision for the future of the Indian community is to see realize INDIA COMMUNITY CENTER and at the same time he also holds true his dream of some form of Housing and Assisted Living Facility for the Seniors. His involvement with India Home providing services for seniors of Indian origin, is testament to his commitment towards improving lives of seniors. He is relentlessly working towards achieving his goal of providing medical, social, and spiritual services for the aging Indian Seniors in Queens and Long Island. When his term as President of IALI concluded at the close of the year 2011, in spite of his tremendous popularity he did not seek reelection, rather made himself available upon invitation to give his services for others. His dedication and passion for community service did not diminish. This has resulted in his joining Indian American Forum (IAF) as Co-Chair of Indian American Night and Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) Long Island Chapter as Secretary. He has been invited to join the National Federation of Indian Americans (NFIA) and has twice participated in the Congressional Hearings and White House briefings in Washington DC.

He is also a life member of Association of Indians in America (AIA) and Nargis Dutt Memorial Foundation (NDMF) and participates in their activities. He has received numerous Citations and Awards in his year as President of IALI, among them being the Certificate of Recognition from Hon. Kate Murray, Supervisor, Town of Hempstead and has been honored with a Citation by Nassau County Executive Hon. Ed. Mangano and NYS Comptroller Thomas Di Napoli together with Indian Consul General at New York Hon. Prabhu Dayal. During his professional career, he received Outstanding Professional Award from the America’s Registry of Outstanding Professionals. IALI events gained not only popularity but commanded a certain amount of respect among the community and administration. As a result, whereas community loved to associate itself with IALI events, lawmakers and administration officials looked upon these events as opportunities to gain support of the community. Mr. Munjal assiduously built bridges of understanding and cooperation between the Indian American community and the mainstream Americans.

He took the IALI to the next stage of growth which is getting recognition for the community at the political level, a step in the right direction of empowering the community. The dignitaries that graced various IALI events included Ambassador Prabhu Dayal, Congresswoman Goosby, New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, New York State Senator Tony Avella, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman, Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray and Mayor of Laurel Hollow Harry Anand and many more. Mr. Munjal’s work for the community is far from complete. On August 11th, 2012 he stood tall and proud with 5 other founder conveners of India Day Parade USA who put together Long Island’s First India Day Parade for Long Islanders in Hicksville, an event never before attempted, but successfully concluded. His involvement in India Day Parade USA started with bringing together of all Indian Organizations onto a single platform to participate in the first ever Parade in Hicksville, Long Island. This was concluded as more than 100 Indian Organizations came together as one for the very first time to participate and march in the India Day Parade USA in Hicksville Long Island.

However, it is not just work all the time for Gobind. He and wife Suman who is in to Real Estate business and is often busy make it a point to take time off their work to travel and enjoy their vacation. The family has been to Europe, Far East, UAE, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and seen much of North America. The latest has been a visit to China which has impressed Munjals much. They are all praise for China. They said they were impressed with the infrastructure there. The cleanliness that they witnessed was in total contrast with what they had been made to believe about China. And, above the human effort to give an impressive look to the country is the power of Nature which one sees in her abundant beauty and glory in the most populated country of the world. . Gobind Munjal lives happily in the Whitestone/Malba area with his wife Suman who is a professional in real estate with Prudential Douglas Elliman. He has two sons Gaurav and Kevin and daughter in law Iona with two cute grand-sons Sajin and Neilan, 4 years and 2 years respectively.