About Us

Malayalee Association of Northern California, popularly known as ‘MANCA’ is a 501 (c) -3 Non-Profit Charity and Cultural Organization of people originally from Kerala, the ‘land of coconut palm trees’. MANCA is based in San Francisco Bay area. It bridges members, spread all over Northern California, with a membership spanning over a thousand families of Kerala origin. Its numerous cultural activities around the year, make it possible for the continued expression of the Malayalee heritage to all, especially to the younger generation.

The earliest known record of an organized event by the Malayalee community of Northern California occurred in July 1974, when Dr. & Mrs. Vijayan and Mr.& Mrs. Lakshmanan hosted the first social gathering with a picnic and the screening of a Malayalam movie. In September 1975, Mr. & Mrs.P.O. Varghese organized another picnic and a Malayalam movie at Stanford International House in Palo Alto. Since then, picnics, movies, Onam/Xmas celebrations etc. were held on a regular basis.

In June, 1983, during one of these functions attended by approximately one hundred Malayalees, there was interest expressed to form an organization for the Malayalees of the area. They elected a Committee with the leadership of Mr. K.S. Pappachan to initiate the formal process of organizing a Malayalee Association. In September, 1984, the above Committee developed the framework for a Malayalee Association and handed over the charge to a newly elected Committee headed by Vijayan Menon. In 1985, a new Committee was elected with K.S. Pappachan as the President. The Association became known as The Malayalee Association of Northern California (MANCA). At this point, it was considered necessary to establish the Constitution and Bylaws, to incorporate as a non-profit, social and cultural association and to enlarge the activities and widen the scope of MANCA. The Constitution was drawn up by K.S. Pappachan and approved by the General Body on Jan 18, 1986. It was agreed that a Committee consisting of the President, Vice-President, a Secretary, a Joint Secretary and a Treasurer would be elected to a two year term and given the responsibility of managing the day-to-day activities of the Association. MANCA was formally incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of California. The Non-Profit Tax-Exempt Number is: 94-3021337.

As the Association grew in membership, it became apparent that the Committee of seven members was inadequate to meet the needs of the community. The Amendments were approved by the General Body on Dec 22, 1991 for the inclusion of Chairman of the board and the combined board and committee to be fifteen in number.

The team under the leadership of Mr Abraham Varghese proposed additional changes to the Constitution and Bylaws which was approved by the General Body on Sep 9 2007. Main change was the introduction of a Trustee Board consisting of four Past Presidents and the current president of MANCA starting from Sep 2009. There shall be a quorum requirement of fifteen percent of the membership for the General Body. The Board of Directors shall be: the President, Vice President, Secretary, Joint Secretary, Treasurer and fourteen Directors which include two Youth representatives from CAMYL.

The Presidents who have served MANCA during the past 25 years are Kalathil Pappachan, Vijayan Menon, M.K. Shandas, Jose Karingada, Philip Karukaparampil, Sundar Ram, Jojo Vattadikunnel, Paul Pazhayattil, Praba Purayil, Kunjumol Valath, Abraham Varghese, Geeta George, Tojo Thomas, Joseph Kurian, Saju Joseph, Benzi Alex Mathew, Beena Nair, Sajan Mooleplackel, and Sreejith Karuthody.

Every year, MANCA conducts numerous programs and activities for the community’s well being and its progress. In 2009, MANCA celebrated the 25th Anniversary under the team led by Geeta George. MANCA is privileged to have over nine hundred members of which around 300 are family lifetime memberships.

While Tojo Thomas was the president (9/2009 to 9/2011), the MANCA Team was able to start Namaste Kerala Radio(only Malayalam show in the Bay area). Also during this time, MANCA started Couple’s Night, Vadam vali competition, MANCA annual raffle and participated in Sevathon and Avon Breast Cancer walks. Discounts for local malayali businesses were also started during these two years from 2009-11.

During the time of Joseph Kurian, MANCA initiated educational scholarship fund for children, distributed Malayalam calendar for the first time, Initiated children’s day event in addition to the regular activities of MANCA. We continued Namaster Kerala radio show and Couples Night. Also, MANCA organized Avalon walk breast cancer walk, bone marrow drive and seminar on stress management.

During the time of 2017-2019 under the leadership of President Sajan Mooleplackel, MANCA have achieved multiple historical miles stones. MANCA received the Best Malayali Association Award from Indian press club of North America (IPCNA). MANCA registered as 501 (c) -3 Non-Profit Organization in 2017 and organized several charity drives to benefit the community in the US as well as India. This includes a contribution of about $50K to build 6 new houses for Kerala flood victims and an additional $50K donation to CMRD for flood relief. In addition to the regular annual events, during this term MANCA introduced new events, including MANCA Dance Fest, MANCA KarshakaSree Award, hosted Mega Star Shows and co-hosted many other cultural and entertainment events.