About Us

The OSA Board of Governors (BOG)

The Executive Council

The executive council consists of the President (Chairperson of the committee), Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Editor-in-Chief (non-voting).

OSA BOG consists of the following officers:

  • President
  • Vice-President
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • Past President
  • Presidents of the chapters

Advisory Council

The Advisory Council (AC) gives advice on administrative matters that come before the organisation. The Advisory Council is not required by by-laws. However, the President may form an advisory council by appointing members that include past presidents, vice-presidents, secretary, treasurer, and editors to assist and advice in critical matters of the society.OSA: The Orissa Society of the Americas..

Activities

Activities of the organisation include Annual Convention, cultural promotion through festivals and events through local chapters, oriya language propagation and motherland development.

Membership

The membership is open to individuals and families interested in Orissa, the eastern coastal state of India, to promote activities for a better understanding of Oriya culture and exchange of information between Orissa and the United States and Canada.

History

The Odisha Society of the Americas (OSA) is a non-political, non-profit, and voluntary association recognized as a 501(c)(3) public non-profit in the United States. OSA was established in 1969 by a few visionary Oriyas who thought of establishing Oriya identity in the adopted land. The society was incorporated in 1981 in Tennessee as a non-profit corporation for promoting activities for a better understanding of Oriya culture and exchange of information between Orissa, United States and Canada. It held an annual get-together called convention, where people of Oriya origin from different parts of USA and Canada mingled and shared experiences of ethnic living.

Our Mission

OSA will continue to strive to be a focal point of all Odias around the world to debate issues and to find action plans in the nurture and promotion of Odia heritage and culture and matters meanigful to Odias. The annual conventions and regional celebrations will continue to play major roles in this endeavour along with the electronic preservation & dissemination of information and efforts to gain media attention for Odia people’s causes.

The vision of OSA is to promote and propagate Odia culture in Americas by bringing together all the people interested in Odisha.

OSA Story

1985

OSA Fiscal Year

Fiscal year of OSA is from July 1st to June 30th.

1981

Incorporation and Constitution

The Official Constitution and Bylaws are available from the corresponding document on constitution.
From inception until August 1981− Orissa Society of Americas. From August 1981 − The Orissa Society of the Americas

1985

Governance

OSA conducts its business through OSA Board of Governors (BOG) that consists of OSA National executives and the Chapter representatives. OSA BOG acts as the centralisation point of information and decision-making.

Current Status

Today OSA is a strong organisation with more than 1000 member families and close to 2000 members. This is due to individuals stepping forward to support different activities of OSA with innovative ideas which, when implemented, benefit us all. The organisation has now spread into many  regional chapters, which operate as a social umbrella for different regions in the US and Canada. The chapters arrange various activities such as Odia festivals, social get together, cultural events and participate in the cultural life of the local community as representatives of Odia culture. Besides these the annual convention is known as the centrepiece of the OSA’s activities.

In the constitution, the objectives are mentioned as:

    • To form a non-political and non-profit organization of all persons interested in Orissa.
    • To promote interest and activities in the understanding of the Oriya culture.
    • To facilitate the exchange of information between Orissa and the United States/Canada.

    The logo is an identifying symbol used to advertise and promote an organisation. OSA logo has the following design.
    The theme – The Orissa Society of the Americas.
    O – Graphically presented as an eye of Lord Jagannath, which represents Orissa.
    S – Graphically presented as Canadian flag, which represents societies in Canada.
    A – Graphically presented as American flag, which represents societies in the USA.