The Co-Chairs of the BVI Charitable Fund are the Premier of the British Virgin Islands, the Hon. Ralph T. O’Neal, OBE and Ajit Mathew George, Managing Director, Nail Bay Resort.

The BVI Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation (BVI) Limited was initially established by Ajit George on Easter Monday, March 24, 2008 to create new and innovative fund-raising events to benefit various charities in the BVI by attracting support from both outside and within the British Virgin Islands while at the same time promoting this destination to potential new visitors.

The BVI Charitable Fund has no staff or overhead, thanks to Nail Bay Resort, which has agreed to provide its staff and offices at Nail Bay at no cost for the first twenty-four months.

The first fundraiser that the BVI Charitable Fund organized was the 2008 Winemakers Dinners plus a VIP Reception. This was held over nine consecutive days in Summer 2008 throughout the British Virgin Islands and attended by 608 people who came from such diverse locations as France, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovakia, United Kingdom, and United States in addition to the BVI. During the course of the 2008 Winemakers Dinners, the twelve visiting chefs from around the world with the assistance of four local chefs prepared 2,420 dishes serving 55 unique courses of gourmet meals that were paired with 888 bottles of fine wines poured by seven visiting winemakers from Germany and Italy. The beneficiaries of the net proceeds of the 2008  Winemakers Dinners were the BVI Red Cross, St. Mary’s School, Virgin Gorda and  St. George’s School, Tortola.

The BVI Charitable Fund’s Dream Vacations Collection features a diverse variety of homes and luxury hotel rooms throughout the BVI that were donated to raise funds from silent and live auctions conducted in partnership with various charities in the U.S. and U.K.  To donate accomodations for your silent of live auction, please e-mail CoChair@bvicharitablefund.com.

For additional information on the BVI Charitable Fund, please contact Ajit Mathew George by e-mail at CoChair@bvicharitablefund.com. 

Background on Co-Chairs

The Hon. Ralph Telford O’Neal, OBE  is the Premier of the British Virgin Islands. He was the first person to be appointed to the newly titled office  on August 22, 2007 after leading the Virgin Islands Party to a landslide victory in the 2007 elections. Mr. O’Neal also served as Chief Minister of the BVI from 1995 to 2003  and as Leader of the Opposition from 2003 to 2007. He has represented the 9th Electoral District, which includes Virgin Gorda and Anegada continuously since 1971. Educated at  such diverse places as St. Mary’s School, Virgin Gorda and the University of Oxford, Mr. O’Neal began his career with the Civil Service before leaving it 1969 to start his own company. He served as the first director of the BVI Red Cross and was one of the founding members of the Rotary Club of Tortola.

Ajit Mathew George

Ajit Mathew George is Managing Director of Nail Bay Resort, a luxury villa resort, in Virgin Gorda. Ajit first came to Nail Bay in December 1982 and currently divides his time between Virgin Gorda, London, United Kingdom and Wilmington, Delaware.

Over the years, Ajit has volunteered thousands of hours to various charitable causes and non-profit organizations in both the United States and the BVI. Ajit’s other philanthropic interests in Virgin Gorda led to the development of the Computer Lab at St. Mary’s School in Virgin Gorda in 2002. He also chaired the 2nd Annual Jazz On The Hill Festival for St. Mary’s School, Virgin Gorda in 2007. He is a charter member of the Rotary Club Sunrise of Road Town, BVI. Ajit was appointed on February 25, 2009 by the Premier to serve on the Board of Directors of the BVI Tourist Board.

In 1989 Ajit became the Founding Chairman of Meals On Wheels Delaware and launched in 1998 the highly successful Meals From The Masters Culinary Weekend (www.mealsfromthemasters.com).  During the ten years that he chaired these major culinary events before he retired in 2007, this event raised more than $4.2 million for Meals On Wheels in Delaware.

In 2006 and 2007, Ajit served as Chairman of the American Red Cross Delmarva Chapter's highly successful “Black Tie Monopoly Tournament.” Together with his wife, Dr. Sarah Brown, Ajit created “An Evening Of Style” for YWCA Delaware and co-chaired this event in 2006 and 2007.

Over the years, Ajit has been recognized for his many philanthropic activities.  He received the prestigious 2007 Award for Outstanding Philanthropic Service from the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Brandywine Chapter.  Ajit also received from the Rotary Club of Tortola in 2006 the Paul Harris Award by Rotary International.  In addition to being the recipient of the l994 Governor's Outstanding Volunteer Award in Delaware, Ajit was the recipient of the Jefferson Award in 2002 for his work with the YWCA and the Jefferson Award in 2003 for his work with Meals On Wheels. Ajit also received in 1999 the National Volunteer of the Year award from the Meals On Wheels Association of America .