Kenny Dewan has spent decades building businesses, but today he measures success differently: by the number of lives he can positively impact.

The Southern California entrepreneur and philanthropist has set himself an ambitious personal mission-to positively impact one million people, one person at a time. Rather than treating that goal as a single charitable campaign, Dewan has built his approach around several areas of service, including behavioral health, education, recovery support and a new model of family-centered philanthropy.

At the center of that work today is Together in Giving (TiG), a nonprofit Dewan founded to bring together families who want to give back while building meaningful relationships and passing the value of service to the next generation.

Making Giving a Family Experience

Together in Giving was created around a different idea of philanthropy.

Instead of asking individuals simply to write checks, TiG brings together couples and their adult children for shared experiences centered on three pillars: Giving, Learning and Fun.

Participating families contribute to a collective charitable fund and help select the nonprofits they want to support. They also spend time together through educational experiences, conversations with guest speakers and activities designed to strengthen connections between families.

For Dewan, involving adult children is especially important. Financial success can create opportunities for the next generation, but he believes families also have a responsibility to pass down gratitude, humility and an understanding of what it means to help others.

The organization therefore treats philanthropy not as a one-time transaction, but as something families can experience and learn together.

A Model Built Around Transparency

One of Together in Giving’s defining features is its approach to charitable contributions.

The organization states that every dollar raised from its members goes directly to charity, with no member contributions allocated toward administrative expenses. Dewan personally covers the organization’s operating costs.

That structure addresses a common concern among donors: how much of their contribution actually reaches the causes they intended to support?

By separating operating expenses from charitable funds, TiG aims to make the relationship between giving and impact as clear as possible.

The model produced significant results in its first full year. In 2025, Together in Giving reported $170,500 in charitable donations, with 100% of those funds going to charities selected by its members.

The organization also held six family experiences and two weekend gatherings during the year, reflecting its belief that philanthropy can exist alongside learning, friendship and meaningful family experiences.

A Mission That Extends Into Behavioral Health

Dewan’s focus on helping people began well before Together in Giving.

In 2012, he founded Akua, a behavioral healthcare organization providing treatment for people facing mental health conditions, substance use disorders and addiction.

The work exposed Dewan to individuals and families experiencing some of the most difficult periods of their lives. Behavioral healthcare, in his view, became another way to measure impact not only through organizational growth, but through people gaining another opportunity to rebuild their lives.

Akua has operated treatment programs in California that combine clinical care with an emphasis on overall health and recovery. Dewan has also focused heavily on organizational culture, arguing that healthcare workers themselves need supportive environments if they are expected to provide compassionate care to others.

That philosophy connects closely with his broader approach to leadership: organizations are strongest when the people inside them feel valued, trusted and connected to a larger purpose.

 watch full interview on The INDUStryShow: https://theindustryshow.org/kenny-dewan-2/

Supporting Education Through Pratham

Education forms another part of Dewan’s philanthropic work.

He serves on the Executive Board of the Los Angeles chapter of Pratham USA, part of an organization supporting educational programs for children and young people in India and beyond.

Pratham’s model focuses on scalable approaches to improving learning outcomes, particularly for children and communities with limited access to educational resources.

For Dewan, involvement with Pratham fits naturally with his goal of creating impact that can continue beyond a single generation. Access to education can change not only one student’s trajectory but also the opportunities available to that person’s family and community.

His participation also reflects the role South Asian Americans can play in connecting resources, experience and philanthropy in the United States with social-impact initiatives in India.

Moving From Individual Success to Collective Impact

Dewan’s approach to giving has been shaped by a long career in entrepreneurship.

His professional experience spans more than three decades and includes ventures in business, real estate and healthcare. But after years of building companies, his priorities increasingly shifted toward deciding what those resources and experiences could accomplish for other people.

That change is reflected in his stated mission of reaching one million lives.

The number itself is less important than the philosophy behind it. Dewan does not describe impact only in terms of large institutions or headline numbers. He counts individuals helped, families supported and hope restored.

It is an approach that makes large-scale ambition dependent on small-scale human outcomes.

One person receiving treatment matters. One student receiving an educational opportunity matters. One family becoming more committed to philanthropy matters.

Over time, those individual outcomes can become something much larger.

Teaching the Next Generation to Give

Perhaps the most distinctive part of Dewan’s work through TiG is its multigenerational focus.

Many successful immigrant families devote enormous energy to creating security and opportunity for their children. Dewan’s model asks another question: once that opportunity exists, how can families also pass down responsibility?

By involving parents and adult children together, TiG gives younger family members direct exposure to philanthropy rather than simply telling them that giving is important.

Families learn about nonprofit organizations, discuss where their charitable funds should go and participate in community-focused experiences together.

The objective is not only to raise money. It is to help generosity become part of a family’s identity.

Dewan has said that if participation in TiG helps even one member of his own family become a better human being, he considers that a success.

That perspective turns philanthropy into something more personal than a financial contribution. It becomes part of the values one generation intentionally passes to another.

Building Community Through Giving, Learning and Connection

Together in Giving is also designed to create relationships among families who share similar values.

Modern professional life can produce large networks without necessarily creating deep connections. TiG attempts to address that by repeatedly bringing the same families together through charitable work, learning opportunities and shared experiences.

Each forum is designed around a limited group of families, with members participating in the causes they support rather than remaining distant donors.

Dewan’s longer-term vision is to build a community of families who can learn from one another, support meaningful causes and expand the model beyond Southern California.

That approach illustrates a broader change taking place within South Asian American philanthropy. As immigrant families establish themselves professionally and financially in the United States, many are increasingly looking for structured ways to turn that success into social impact-and to involve their children in the process.

A South Asian American Story of Giving Back

Dewan’s work represents a familiar but evolving South Asian American story.

Entrepreneurship created professional opportunity. Success created financial independence. But rather than treating those achievements as an endpoint, he has increasingly used them as a foundation for service.

His work spans causes on both sides of the Indian American experience: behavioral healthcare and community impact in the United States, educational opportunity connected to India, and a philanthropic network built around families of Indian origin.

Together, those efforts demonstrate how diaspora success can become a resource for broader communities.

The impact is not limited to money donated. It includes the culture created around giving, the people who receive care, the students who gain opportunities and the younger family members who learn that success carries the possibility of responsibility.

A Mission Measured One Life at a Time

One million lives is an intentionally ambitious target.

Yet Dewan’s philosophy is based on reaching that number in the smallest possible unit: one individual at a time.

Through Akua, that can mean someone receiving help for addiction or a mental health challenge. Through Pratham, it can mean supporting educational opportunity. Through Together in Giving, it can mean helping a family discover a more intentional approach to philanthropy.

The organizations are different, but the underlying goal remains consistent—use available resources to leave people better than you found them.

For Dewan, legacy is therefore not primarily about what a person accumulates over a lifetime. It is about what their success allows them to give back.

And by bringing other families into that mission, he is working to make that idea extend well beyond his own generation.

Key Takeaways About Kenny Dewan

• Kenny Dewan is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Together in Giving (TiG), a Southern California nonprofit centered on family philanthropy.
• His personal mission is to positively impact one million lives, one person at a time.
• Together in Giving brings couples and their adult children together around three pillars: Giving, Learning and Fun.
• TiG states that 100% of member charitable contributions go directly to the charities selected by its members, while Dewan personally covers operating expenses.
• In 2025, TiG reported distributing $170,500 to charitable causes during its first year.
• Dewan founded Akua in 2012 to provide treatment for mental health conditions, substance use and addiction.
• He serves on the Executive Board of Pratham’s Los Angeles chapter, supporting educational opportunity in India and beyond.
• His philanthropy places particular emphasis on teaching younger generations about gratitude, humility and giving back.
• His work reflects a broader model of South Asian American leadership in which entrepreneurial success becomes a platform for community service and long-term social impact.

About ASAN

South Asian Spotlight is an initiative of the American South Asian Network (ASAN), a national nonprofit connecting and advancing younger South Asians across the United States through community, mentorship, leadership development, professional opportunity, representation, and well-being.

Join ASAN’s mailing list, attend an upcoming event, or get involved as a volunteer.