Sundeep Kumar Makthala
Sundeep Kumar Makthala is global president of Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA). He floated this organization in the year 2010 along with few techies from across Telangana.
He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Computer Applications (MCA) degrees from JNTUH besides few certifications. TITA played its role in Telangana movement by taking up several cultural and educational programs from the date of its inception.
Makthala ideated and initiated various innovative programs under TITA like Telangana Yuva Nirmanam- , Digithon and Telangana Innovation and Incubation Centre-TIIC.
He has been very actively involved in taking up Digital literacy programs across various villages in the state.
P. N. S. V. Narasimham
P. N. S. V. Narasimham, also known as Nam, joined Cyient in May 2016. He currently heads the Global Human Resources at Cyient. In this role, he is responsible for talent acquisition, management, and development processes, across all Cyient businesses.
Nam has extensive experience of over 25 years in establishing, growing, and stabilizing human resources functions in large organizations. His experience encompasses employment and engagement practices in Asia, Europe, and North America. In his previous role, he served as the Chief People Officer and Executive Vice President at Microland Limited. There he was responsible for managing the overall HR, recruitment, training and development functions. Nam has also worked in operational and strategic roles at Hewlett-Packard, Motorola and Arvind Mills, and was instrumental in establishing and running the UBS India Service Center as their Executive Director and Head of HR; and later as their Chief Operating Officer. He brings with him a unique experience of working in the manufacturing, service and technology sectors.
Nam has also been a part of several advisory and working groups of industry and government and is an active researcher in the sociology of work relating to areas of human capital and skill development. As an adjunct faculty in several management institutes, he is passionate about teaching and working with the new generation of emerging managers. Nam holds an MBA degree in Human Resources.
K. P. Nayar
K. P. Nayar was posted in Washington for nearly 15 years as Chief Diplomatic Editor & Correspondent for the Americas of “The Telegraph”. He brings to journalism over 45 years of experience as an Editor and Correspondent in Asia, Europe and the Americas and has launched green field media ventures in India and the Middle East. “KP”, as he is popularly known, was the first journalist in any Indian newspaper to be appointed “Diplomatic Editor” with a mandate to open up a public discourse on Indian diplomacy. He is a frequent commentator on South Asian issues on global radio and television. In addition to his work in the media, KP has been a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University, England, and at the Henry L Stimson Center in Washington DC. He was also part of a research team for the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, whose work on arms procurement decision-making in six countries has been published as a book by the Oxford University Press.
Mahesh Balani
Mahesh is a Partner with Anthill Ventures and brings over 20 years of operations experience to the startup innovation space. He has designed and run innovation programs across verticals and across the globe. He is an active investor in both public markets as well as in startups. Having been an entrepreneur himself, he brings a unique experience of running businesses to the startup world.
Mahesh is a business and executive coach and is a GE certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. He is an avid automobile enthusiast and loves to travel.
Satish Naidu
Satish Naidu has 15 years of rich experience in business research and consulting in large multi-national and consulting companies. He holds an MBA degree in International Marketing from Webster University, St Louis as well as a graduate degree in Engineering, specializing in Electronics and Communications. He has managed the India office of FCEDA since 2012.
Jay Krishnan
A passionate entrepreneur, thinker-doer, who believes in turning ideas into reality.
Jay Krishnan is a serial entrepreneur and investor with two successful million dollar exits in the US and India. In a career spanning over two decades, Jay has dawned many hats. He has held leadership responsibility in Fortune 100 companies, managed large transformational initiatives, built new products offerings and helped create scale. In the startup space, Jay has successfully founded and exited multiple companies in the IoT space across the world.
In the capacity of CEO of T-Hub, Jay is responsible for its overall growth. He is the brain behind several tech innovations that has aided T-Hub to become amongst the most coveted incubator in India. It is due to his foresightedness that T-Hub works on a technology enabled platform for all startups/entrepreneurs across verticals. He has been instrumental in fostering innovation through technology platforms like Sandbox and Playbook to empower entrepreneurs with solutions at every stage of their journey.
Jay is a MS in Electrical Engineering from University of Hartford, Connecticut and an alumnus of IIM, Bangalore where he did his executive MBA in General Management.
Prior to becoming the CEO T-Hub, he has worked with various organizations at leadership positions including CISCO Systems, Radifinity Information Systems Pvt. Ltd. amongst others.
Jay is an avid reader with deep interests in emerging technologies. In his free time Jay enjoys reading and traveling.
Prakash Khatri
Prakash Khatri has a national Immigration Law practice, Khatri Law Firm, LLC (www.khatrilaw.com) located in Bethesda, MD. He has been practicing law for more than 25 years. He is a nationally recognized expert on Immigration law, process and policy.
He was recognized as one of the “50 Most Influential Indian-Americans” by India Abroad in 2007. Mr. Khatri is a renowned specialist and public speaker on immigration law and related matters. From July 2003 until March 2008, Mr. Khatri served as the United States’ first Ombudsman for Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), a senior leadership position in the newly formed Department of Homeland Security. As CIS Ombudsman, Mr. Khatri provided vision, guidance, and direction to policymakers in the Departments of Homeland Security, State, Labor and Justice, the Office of Management and Budget, and the White House on immigration-related matters. He also reported annually to Congress on problems within the U.S. immigration system and offered proposals to correct these deficiencies. Before being appointed Ombudsman, Mr. Khatri managed the Immigration Compliance Department for Walt Disney World Co. in Lake Buena Vista, Florida from 1998 to2003. At Disney, he managed a team of professionals that provided technical immigration advice to the Walt Disney World Resort as well as numerous other Walt Disney Company subsidiaries and affiliates.
He organizes monthly Immigration Leadership Luncheons in Washington, DC for the Federal Bar Association. Mr. Khatri also holds the distinction of becoming — in 1984, at the age of 22 —the youngest attorney admitted to the Florida Bar.
Nallapati A. Prasad
Nallapati Ankini Prasad, NAP or simply Prasad for friends and colleagues belongs to the select band of professionals who have worked in diverse fields that range from journalism to diplomacy and security to counter-terrorism.
Over a 33-year span, NAP worked at home in India and abroad with focus on Middle East, South Asia, and South-east Asia/east Asia. He is among the few diplomats who have worked with distinction in Israel (Tel Aviv), Russia (Moscow) and the U.S., (Washington). In these three capitals, NAP worked on consular outreach, academic and economic exchanges to give a fillip to people-to-people relations.
A postgraduate in history and physiology, NAP started his career with the Defence Ministry in 1981. Over the next two years, observed at close range the working of the Naval Headquarters, particularly its Judge Advocate General Department – an exposure that gave insights into human resource management.
Joining the prestigious Indian Information Service (IIS) in 1983, NAP equipped himself with a postgraduate diploma in Mass Communications, and worked hands on in Government of India’s media organisations dealings with print and audio-visual media. At All India Radio, the State Broadcaster, his work involved newscasting, and editing of news bulletins for Indian and foreign audience. For full six-years.
NAP changed gears in 1989 and moved to the diplomatic, security and foreign Intelligence service. When India opened full-fledged diplomatic relations with Israel in the nineties, NAP joined a select band of diplomats in setting up the Indian Mission in Tel Aviv. Economic diplomacy was the mainstay of NAP’s innings in Moscow besides providing a helping hand to Russian students in India and Indian students in Russia. In the US capital, NAP worked closely with the State Department, various US agencies, and think-tanks. Streamlined consular services, and facilitated uniform working of all Indian Consulates to address the problems of Indian community in the country.
During his long innings in Indian Intelligence service, he primarily served as Analyst on Middle East affairs besides other areas.
N. A. Prasad retired as Additional Secretary to the Government of India in Oct 2015. And, started CAAPR as an independent think-tank for objective research and analysis of India’s foreign policy and strategic relations with Asian and African nations.
Ravi Puli
Mr. Puli was born in the state of Telangana, the 29th state of India in a farming family, very first graduate from his family and came to the United States in 1997.He encouraged and supported everyone in the family to be a graduate hence he believes the importance of education in transformation of an individual. While studying in high school Mr. Puli started his first venture to teach juniors in learning English, Mathematics and Science. A charter member of TiE( a nonprofit for fostering entrepreneurship) DC chapter, a board member of nonprofit focused on educating children in India called Pratham. Mr. Puli is also supporter of several nonprofits including City Impact in Las Vegas, NV.
Mr. Puliworked in telecom companies before establishing International Solutions Group, Inc. (ISG) during the recession time in the year 2002 with a mission to help clients solving IT problems of various industries. His focus and dedication to ISG, ISG was awarded the fastest growing company in United States of America by Inc. Magazine and Deloitte. Mr. Puli was invited to NASDAQ Closing bell ceremony as a honor to his achievement of growing ISG as fastest growing company. Diversity Business had honored as the top diversity company and Smart CEO magazine honored four years in a row with Smart CEO 50 awards in Washington D.C Metropolitan area.
Mr. Puli is the proud husband of a beautiful wife and very proud father of two young sons in 6th and 2nd grades living in Fairfax county of Virginia.
Harish Shah
Harish Shah is the Founder & Managing Director of Signet Chemical Corporation Pvt. Ltd.
Signet was set up in 1986 and is India’s leading Pharmaceutical Raw Materials Distribution Company. It has several partners in different parts of the world and has been a pioneer in the promotion of specialty products to the Healthcare Industry.
Harish, a mechanical engineer and MBA from Mumbai, started Signet in 1986. His wife Bina, is also an active director at Signet. They have two daughters, Amiraand Anushka. Amira is an M. Pharm (Hons) and works in Signet. She is married to Robin, who is a M. Arch in Architecture from the University of Michigan, USA and currently runs his own firm, ThirdAct Studio.Anushka holds a BSC in Government & Economics from LSE, UK and a Masters in Applied Quantitative Research from NYU. She currently works at the MIT media lab in Massachusetts, USA.
The Shah family has been actively involved in philanthropy and currently focuses its time and resources on supporting organizations working in governance and civic media, public education, hospital management and adolescent and women’s empowerment. Their family foundation, the Harish and Bina Shah Foundation, consists of 18 team members that are engaged with several NGOs and institutions that positively affect the social, political and economic situation in India.
Radhakrishnan Sundar
Radhakrishnan Sundar is the Chairman of the HI-5 Foundation, an NGO set up to teach and promote basketball among young people in India. Sundar also formulates and drives strategic new business growth initiatives at Mastek. Radhakrishnan was the founder and CEO of MajescoMastek’s USA subsidiary. In 1999, he set up VARStreet.com, a B2B internet service promoted jointly by Mastek and KB Chandrasekhar of Exodus Communications.
Radhakrishnan is the CEO of VARStreet.com and a member on the Boards of Mastek and MajescoMastek. Radhakrishnan holds a Masters degree in Business Management from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.
Jayanti Shukla
Jayanti Shukla joined United Way of Mumbai in 2008. Prior to this assignment, she was with the New India Assurance Co. Ltd, a multinational insurance company, as their Regional Manager at the company’s Delhi Regional Office and then with IL&FS Investsmart Insurance Brokers Ltd as Vice President for corporate and insurer relations.
Jayanti is an Independent Director on the boards of Standard Chartered Securities (India) Ltd, Standard Chartered Finance Ltd and Standard Chartered Investment and Loans (India) Ltd. She is on the CII task force for India@75 and has been the co-chairperson of the CSR Committee of the Indian Merchants Chamber. She is an alumnus of the Hunt Partners Independent Directors Club. She is also the founder trustee of the Celebrate Bandra Trust which organizes the hugely popular Celebrate Bandra Festival, an annual feature which showcases the culture and heritage of the suburb. Jayanti is an M.Phil from the University of Delhi.
Vandana Bhansali
Vandana Bhansali is a development profession. She has over 15 years of experience in Development and Corporate Sustainability sector. She has interacted with over 150 NGOs across India during her career. She holds B.Sc and M.Sc in Home Science from Nirmala Niketan College of Home Science, Mumbai University with specialization in Human Development and Diploma in Management of Voluntary Service Organizations from NMIMS. Her longest tenor was with HSBC India for 10 years and worked within Corporate Sustainability and Inclusive Banking Unit and currently is working with Mann Deshi as Programme Director. She has specific interests in trekking and enjoys adventure sports, nature, travel and music.
Vandana Goyal
Vandana is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College, with a degree in Economics. As part of her undergraduate studies, she spent a year at the London School of Economics. The initial years of her Career were spent at Citizen Schools, a Boston-based non-profit organization dedicated to changing the life trajectory of underprivileged urban children in the United States. She joined Akanksha in 2006, initially serving on the team that created a blueprint for Teach for India, later moving on to manage the Beyond School department serving all adolescent children of Akanksha. In 2007, she became the Director of Akanksha’s School Project, launched to create a network of high-performing schools within the government system. She took over as CEO in January of 2010. In 2012, Vandana was honored by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader. In 2014 she successfully completed two Executive Education courses, Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Strategic Perspectives in Non Profit Management at Harvard Business School. Vandana serves on the Board of Directors of The Akanksha Foundation, Akanksha Canada and Thermax Social Initiatives Foundation. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the India School Leadership Institute, KINOE (Kids in Need of Education) and STIR Education.
Aparajita Agarwal
Aparajita joined the British Asian Trust in September 2016 as its first India Director, with about 14+ years of experience in the development sector in India and specializing in social entrepreneurship, impact investing, microfinance and livelihoods. Aparajita has extensive experience in planning, implementing and managing strategic initiatives, convening platforms and in building and scaling up business lines. She has successfully led several global engagements through rapid network building, fundraising, new geography expansion and multi-stakeholder management. From 2004 until 2016, she worked with Intellecap, a leading global development advisory firm, as the Director of Sankalp forum. In this role, Aparajita built the forum as the leading convener of dialogue and outcomes for inclusive development globally in India and led its expansion in Africa and South-East Asia. Prior to Intellecap, she worked at CARE India on initiatives around microfinance and livelihoods in the underserved states in India. Her work has been featured through media coverage in CNBC Young Turks, Hindu Business Line, Financial Chronicle and Outlook Business. She currently serves on the India Steering Committee of the Aspen Network of the Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE). She holds a management degree from the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), India.
Manjeet Kripalani
Manjeet Kripalani is the co-founder of Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations, and acts as the executive director of the institution. Prior to the founding of Gateway House, Kripalani was India Bureau chief of Businessweek magazine from 1996 to 2009. During her extensive career in journalism (Businessweek, Worth and Forbes magazines, New York), she has won several awards, including the Gerald Loeb Award, the George Polk Award, Overseas Press Club and Daniel Pearl Awards. Kripalani was the 2006-07 Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, New York, which inspired her to found Gateway House. Her political career spans being the deputy press secretary to Steve Forbes during his first run in 1995-96 as Republican candidate for U.S. President in New Jersey, to being press secretary for the Lok Sabha campaign for independent candidate Meera Sanyal in 2008 and 2014 in Mumbai. Kripalani holds two bachelor’s degrees from Bombay University (Bachelor of Law, Bachelor of Arts in English and History) and a master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, New York. She is a member of the Asian advisory board of the International Centre for Journalists and the Overseas Press Club, and sits on the executive board of Gateway House, the Indian Liberal Group and Emancipaction, all of which are non-profit organizations.
Chetna Gala Sinha
An economist, farmer and activist, Chetna Sinha works for social change in some of the poorest and most drought-stricken areas of rural India. Born in Mumbai, Chetna abandoned the urban lifestyle to pursue a career in farming in the drought-prone area of Maharashtra in Western India. As a result, she experienced first-hand the difficulties facing women in this region, from the lack of financial support to the fact that they were not treated as viable entrepreneurs. She went on the develop India’s first rural co-operative bank owned by women. The Mann Deshi Mahila Bank, a micro-enterprise development bank, works with low-income women and provides business loans. She also established a B-school for rural women that provides training in entrepreneurial skills. Since 1996, Sinha has been organizing women in rural areas of Maharashtra in the fight for the land and housing property rights and launched a community radio station, providing a valuable platform for information sharing and creative self-expression. Chetna is also behind the unique new “Mann Deshi Chamber of Commerce with toll free number” initiative and “Finance Company” for rural women. Mann Deshi aims to launch one million rural women entrepreneurs through partnerships with social enterprises and mainline financial institutions in India. Taking into account Chetna’s great contribution to the holistic cause of female empowerment, India’s Ministry of Women and Child Development has nominated Chetna as a member of the Governing Board (GB) of Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK). She was also name India Social Entrepreneur of the Year for her work with Mann Deshi and in 2014, was named a Schwab Foundation Entrepreneur of the year
Monica Mehta
Monica is a director at Omidyar Network where she manages the firm’s Education initiative’s investments in India. Prior to joining Omidyar Network, Monica was a partner at Kaizen Private Equity where she was involved in fundraising, investor relations, deal sourcing, due diligence, education operations, board roles, investment monitoring, and exits. Before working in capital markets, Monica spent 10 years in the education sector and was the founder or co-founder of three entrepreneurial education ventures. She also conceptualized and set up the Global Pathways Institute (GPI), Mumbai and the American National College (ANC) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where she was instrumental in forging relationships with several U.S. universities that offer US programs in Asia. Additionally, Monica’s family trust runs 12 nonprofit schools and colleges in Saurashtra, Gujarat, where the schools have helped raise the literacy of women to 93%. Given her experience, Monica is well-networked in the education sector in India, with easy access to senior level professionals in the education sector. Monica graduated from Thunderbird School of Global Management with an MBA in International Business, and she also received an M.Com and a B.Com in accounting and finance from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics.
Ashok Kamath
Ashok Kamath has been the Managing Trustee since 2003 and Chairman of Akshara Foundation since July 1, 2008. He has been actively involved in the strategic planning, analysis and expansion of programmes at Akshara Foundation since 2003. An alumnus of IIT-Bombay, he was formerly the Managing Director of the Indian operations of Analog Devices. He opted to leave behind a successful career in the corporate sector and involve himself in the development sector. His alma mater, IIT-Bombay, presented him with its Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2013 for his various initiatives and contributions to the field of child education. Ashok is also a Founder Trustee of Pratham Books which aims to have A Book in Every Child’s Hand.
Anita Belani
Anita Belani is a seasoned professional with 29 years of rich post MBA experience as a senior business &
human capital leader. She is currently the Operating Partner of a growth PE Fund called Gaja Capital.
Anita is also an independent director on the board of Wanbury Ltd, Eternis Fine Chemicals, Euro Kids and
SportzVillage India Pvt Ltd. She has held an independent director position with Laxmi Organic Chemicals Ltd
and has been on the Advisory Board of Crederity Inc.
Prior to joining Gaja Capital Anita was a Partner with BMR Advisors. In her previous role as Managing Director
India for Russell Reynolds Associates she specialized in assignments across sectors, leveraging her extensive
human capital and consulting background to provide strategic leadership solutions for her clients. She was also
responsible for CEO / Board advisory assignments and specialized in the Private Equity / Venture Capital area
in addition to focusing on diversified industrials..
Prior to joining Russell Reynolds Associates, Anita was with Right Management as the Country Head for India.
Her areas of expertise included helping clients solve their business issues through human capital solutions in
such areas as change management, restructuring, organizational effectiveness, succession planning,
leadership development and talent management. Prior to joining Right Management, she was Country Head for
Watson Wyatt India and was responsible for building a successful consulting brand for the organization. In all
these roles she was responsible for P&L management, business strategy & implementation to build successful
franchises in India.
Anita has previously worked with Sun Microsystems in San Francisco as a Senior HR Business Partner in
charge of strategic global HR. Prior to that, she was in a senior business partner role with KPMG in the USA
and was instrumental in building the India operations of Jardine Fleming. She has also worked with American
Express TRS in the early part of her career,
Anita takes keen interest in mentoring startups and is a key member of the Lead Angels network which focuses
on investing in early stage companies. She is a Certified Executive Coach and has coached several C-suite
level executives across various sectors.
Anita did her M.B.A. from XLRI, Jamshedpur and B.A.(Hons) in Economics from Miranda House, University of
Delhi
Ramachandran Gopalakrishnan
Mr. Ramachandran Gopalakrishnan is a venture partner at Z Nation Lab – an accelerator based out of Silicon Valley and India, in addition to being a mentor capitalist, professional entrepreneur and a speaker. He was a CEO and MD at Atco Healthcare, executive director at the Times group and one of the founders at Gold’s Gym.
Samir Stewart
Samir Stewart is an American citizen of Indian origin, who grew up in different parts of India, but has spent most of his professional life working in economics, investment or infrastructure oriented roles in major international institutions such as the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, and the Louis Berger Group largely in the Washington DC area. He has spent the past couple of years after relocating on an “extended temporary basis” to India working on developing business and investment opportunities related to startups in renewable energy, waterless toilets, and with an Australian real estate development consulting firm focused on asset value maximization and distressed asset acquisition. He has a strong interest in media, strategy and branding, particularly as they result in investment facilitation and business development.
At present, Samir is based in Bengaluru, with frequent travel to Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune, in connection with his various business and professional interests. In his spare time, Samir is also a part-time actor, compere, and speaker, and does voice overs, narration, and tv anchoring whenever the occasion presents itself.
Varsha Tagare
Varsha has 20 years of operating and venture capital experience in Silicon Valley and India. Prior to her current role Varsha was at Intel Capital investing in US and Indian companies
Past Investments – JAMDAT, Mobile365(Sybase), Pollex (Mediatek), Packetvideo (NTT), MCX
Current Investments – Reverie Language Technologies, Birds Eye Systems, Housing, Housejoy & Mindtickle
Vijay Dhingra
Partner, Deloitte India
Arihant Patni
Arihant is the Managing Director of Patni Financial Advisors (PFA), which is an advisory company he founded in 2004. Under his leadership, the firm is in charge of managing deployment of assets across listed securities, debt instruments, real estate and other alternate assets in India, UK and the US. Additionally, after the sale of Patni Computers in 2011, Arihant has been an active venture capitalist and directly engaged in three sector focused VC funds. He is Managing Director of Ideaspring Capital, a new early stage fund in collaboration with established IT entrepreneurs that will focus on enterprise technology.He is Managing Director and Co-founder of the Hive, a silicon valley ‘Big Data’ incubator with offices in Palo Alto, Mumbai and Bangalore. He is Director and Co-founder of Nirvana Ventures, a fund focused on the Internet space. Lastly, he is an active angel investor, and works closely with portfolio companies.
Arihant received his Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Chemical Engineering. He continued his education at Babson College, where he received his Masters of Business Administration (Magna Cum Laude), with a dual concentration in Entrepreneurship and Finance. He then received a separate Masters Degree in Statistics from Columbia University, with a concentration in Quantitative Finance.
Rajesh Sawney
Rajesh is a serial entrepreneur and business builder who has set-up multiple successful businesses over the last two decades.
Rajesh is the co-founder of InnerChef, India’s fastest growing food tech platform. InnerChef is an online food discovery and delivery platform that will make the chef in you come alive.
Rajesh is also the founder of GSF, India’s leading multi-city Tech-Startup Accelerator for the brightest tech startups in India. GSF provides tech startups mentorship from celebrated digital founders, initial capital and global exposure. At GSF, Rajesh is architecting the vital building blocks of a nascent early stage startup ecosystem in India.
Rajesh has made 50 angel investments as an active and engaged angel investor, which include Viki (acquired by Rakutan for USD 225M), Little Eye Labs (acquired by Facebook), Mobstac, Pokkt, Silverpush, Hackerearth, Browntape, Overcart, Flinto , Timesaverz, Weareholidays, instalively and Nightstay.
Rajesh is the host and curator of three leading Tech/Startup conferences in Asia: GSF #Evolution in Mumbai, GSF #WhereDoWeGoNow in Bangalore and Global Superangels Forum in New Delhi.
Rajesh brought private radio (Times FM) to India in the early nineties, redefining Indian youth culture. He was at the cusp of early Internet culture in India in the early 2000, building Indiatimes.com, the most valuable Internet business in India in 2005 (funded by Sequoia). Rajesh as the founding President of Reliance Entertainment, oversaw the corporatization of mom and pop Bollywood businesses into a multi-billion dollar industry. He led the biggest investment deal (Dreamworks) between Hollywood and Bollywood.
Rajesh serves on multiple boards and advises Trident Capital, a prominent venture firm based in Palo Alto, California.
Rajesh is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School (AMP), and has a fellowship from the London School of Economics.
Karthee Madasamy
Karthee is Managing Director, Qualcomm Ventures, and is based in Bangalore, India. Karthee has over 20 years of experience in the wireless and multimedia industries and has worked in product development and management roles at various semiconductor startups. Prior to his current role, he worked as a management consulting intern at Boston Consulting Group and as an associate at the venture capital firm, JK&B Capital.
Karthee currently manages and actively serves as a board observer for Qualcomm Ventures investments in Capillary, Deckapp, Zopnow, Portea Medical, Move In Sync, MapMyIndia and Tessolve. Karthee’s past investments include Waze (acquired by Google) and Validity Sensors (acquired by Synaptics). Karthee holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago and an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Sameer Jindal
Sameer Jindal is a Managing Director at GCA and is the Head of the Indian Operations. Sameer’s focus is on providing investment banking solutions involving M&A, strategic advisory and capital raising to public, private and listed companies and other stakeholders in India. Sameer also focuses heavily on mergers & acquisitions and has over 15 years of experience working in the U.S., Japan, and India on a broad range of complex cross-border merger transactions. Prior to moving to GCA’s Mumbai Office in 2013, Sameer served as an M&A generalist in GCA’s San Francisco office for five years. Before joining GCA in 2008, Sameer worked in the M&A group at JPMorgan in San Francisco. While there, he executed several transactions across a broad range of industries including Technology, Media and Telecom, Consumer and Healthcare. Sameer also served in the Technology M&A groups at Credit Suisse First Boston and Thomas Weisel Partners. His clients have included Amkor, Asahi Kasei, Fastclick, Hitachi, i2 Technologies, Internap, MarketLeader, Olympus, ON Semiconductor, Panasonic, and Tessera. Before entering investment banking, Sameer worked at Qualcomm as a Software Engineer focused on designing complex wireless communication systems. He earned a B.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Pradeep Joy
Over 12 years of experience in the legal industry, Pradeep has worked with a full-service law firm and as in-house counsel. Presently, he works as part of the SNG & Partners at Mumbai as Principal Associate.
Pradeep’s areas of practice primarily include legal support for banking and finance transactions, general corporate, commercial & transactional, mergers & acquisitions, fintech, technology communication and regulatory matters.
Pradeep previously worked with Sberbank as its India legal counsel and managed the legal department of the Sberbank, Branch in India and provided legal support for regulatory, commercial banking, corporate lending, structured finance and transactional business activities of the bank in India.
Before joining Sberbank, Pradeep headed the legal and compliance department of Indian School Finance Company, (an investee company of a social venture fund based in & Atlanta USA) and acted as India legal counsel.
During the initial years of his career, Pradeep also worked with Universal Legal/The Chugh Firm, a full-service law firm and worked on general corporate, M&A matters and employment law related issues and with Jacob Sebastian & Co Lawyers, where he was primarily involved in Litigation and Real Estate Legal Practice.
Frank F. Islam
Frank F. Islam, an entrepreneur and philanthropist, heads the FI Investment Group, a private investment holding company that he established in 2007 after he sold his information technology firm, the QSS Group. Islam founded the QSS Group in 1994 and built it from 1 employee to more than 2,000 employees and revenues of approximately $300 million before its sale.
Islam was an active participant in the information technology, aerospace engineering services, and systems integration business for more than twenty-five years. During his professional career, he garnered multiple industry awards for leadership, entrepreneurship and excellence. He was recognized by the Ernst and Young as Maryland Entrepreneur of the Year and the US Small Business Administration selected him as the Small Business Person of the Year of the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Area in 2001.
Dr. Javad K. Hassan
Dr. Javad K. Hassan is the founder and chairman of NeST Group, a global conglomerate of more than a dozen companies spread across several continents. Under the leadership of Mr. Hassan, NeST Group has become a worldwide leader in technology, with operations in India, the Middle East, Japan, Europe and the Americas. It has more than 4,000 employees, and has products and technologies in a whole range of areas, including health care, green energy and wireless and fiber optics communication systems. Its global customers include GE, Toshiba, Hitachi, ABB, Verizon, Honey Well, France telecom and Etisalat.
Dr. Gajanan M. Sabnis
Dr. Sabnis has a combined teaching, industrial and research experience totaling to over five decades, most of it in the United States. He has over 20 years of rehabilitation experience with various types of concrete structures, technical and professional committees at national level and in construction management, and has played important and active part at national and local level in professional committees of ASCE, ACI, ASEE and PCI. He was elected Distinguished Member of ASCE, the highest honor Bestowed by the society.
At Howard University, He was a successful teacher, Researcher and a mentor to many of his students and has been well respected for his dedication to the profession. He carried out research in collaboration with other universities, such as Northwestern and Penn State University in material science in various aspects as related to the basic properties of concrete and transportation structures (recycled construction materials) for eight years. This activity resulted in several students pursuing their Ph.D. work at other universities. Dr. Sabnis had a consulting firm with offices in New York and Silver Spring, MD; it specialized in construction management, inspection of transit structures and maintenance of transportation structures.
Dr. Sabnis worked with Deloitte after retiring from Howard and spent two years between India and US to develop project management in India and in the UAE. Currently, he splits time between India and the US in advising on project financing and also related to infrastructure report card to promote the concept of structural health monitoring of bridges to lead to sustainable structures, based his long-term experience in the USA.
Sanjay Mittal
Mr. Mittal is a global leader with 15 years of healthcare and 20 years of professional and international experience in many countries including USA, MALAYSIA, INDIA and SINGAPORE. Prior to joining eHealthObjects, Mr. Mittal worked as the IT executive at Coventry Health care and managed multiple IT departments including application development, business intelligence, data integration, enterprise architecture and proposals. From 2003 to 2007, Sanjay held the role of Director, IT at Health Management Corporation, a subsidiary of WellPoint. Mr. Mittal holds a master’s degree in computer science (1991) and has a certified chronic professional (CCP) from Health Sciences Institute in partnership with “The Care Continuum Alliance” (2011). Mr. Mittal is responsible to setting up the overall business direction and product strategy.
Nafessa Kassim
Nafessa is a former American India Foundation Clinton Fellow who has leveraged her passion for innovation and creativity to work on social change around the world. Currently she is Director, Business Development at Bamba Group – a real time web based data gathering platform that allows organizations to access, engage, and gain insight from hard to reach target populations in emerging markets on their mobile phones. Her work has included: poverty alleviation (micro-finance), women’s empowerment post sexual assault, and corporate volunteerism. Nafessa holds a dual Master’s in Global Public Health & Social Work focused on Social Entrepreneurship from Columbia University. In her spare time Nafessa is often found breaking into song and dance in public spaces in Washington, DC in order to fulfill her childhood Bollywood dream.
Sohini Sarkar
Sohini Sarkar is a senior international development professional with over 16 years of experience in a range of management, technical, operational, and strategic roles in humanitarian, transitional, and development programming in economic development, shelter/settlement, protection, governance, health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and gender. She has worked in complex emergency situations and high-risk environments including Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq, Jordan, Liberia, and South Sudan. She currently serves as the Director for Capture and Business Development Strategy at University Research Co. (URC), a public health organization working in more than 50 countries. Prior to joining URC, she served as the Director of Technical Services at International Relief and Development Inc., a US-based nonprofit.Ms. Sarkar has a Masters in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India.
Moustafa Mourad
Moustafa Mourad is the President of One Global Economy, which he founded 2005. Under Mr. Mourad’s leadership, One Global Economy helps provide technology training and relevant content in 17 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Previously, he was the principal of Mourad, Warnke & Associates, an international community development consulting firm with projects in Oman, South Africa and Honduras among others. Mourad was also the Director of Planning, Design, and Development at the Enterprise Foundation, the second largest national community development intermediary in the United States. Prior to his tenure at Enterprise, Mr. Mourad held positions as Senior Planner with the City of Boston, and City Planner for the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also consulted for USAID, the Ford Foundation as well as the governments of Egypt, Sri Lanka and the Sudan on a number of development issues ranging from affordable housing policies to economic development and employment.
Angelina Klouthis
Angelina Klouthis is the executive director of VFF USA, where she guides strategic partnerships through her belief in harnessing the market’s power to drive philanthropy from “spare change to real change.” With over a decade of development experience, Angelina has worked directly with over 40 organizations in the use of social media as a fundraising tool, grant writing, performance measures, transparency, sustainability, and community organization. Throughout her career, she has managed programs on a governmental level with the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. State Department, the Colombian Ministry of Labor, and a diverse portfolio of private foundations and businesses. She has also designed and implemented training programs for grassroots organizations in Colombia, Niger, Haiti, Nicaragua, Cameroon, and most recently Maine, where she grew up. Before joining the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, Angelina served the Office of Multicultural Affairs in the Refugee Program for the State of Maine. She has a degree in international relations from Florida International University, and post-graduate specialization in organizations, social responsibility, and international development.
Rakesh Bhatia
Rakesh Bhatia is the President of Pratham DC. He is also a member of Pratham’s National Executive Committee. Bhatia is a Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Alex Counts
Alex Counts is the President and CEO Alex Counts of the American India Foundation. He is a leader in international development with two decades of experience building, scaling, and managing nonprofit organizations. Counts is the founder of Grameen Foundation and became its President and CEO in 1997, after having worked in microfinance and poverty reduction for 10 years. A Cornell University graduate, Counts’ commitment to poverty eradication deepened as a Fulbright scholar in Bangladesh, where he witnessed innovative poverty solutions being developed by Grameen Bank. He trained under Professor Muhammad Yunus, the founder and managing director of Grameen Bank, and co-recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Since its modest beginnings, sparked by a $6,000 seed grant provided by Prof. Yunus (who was a founding board member and continues as director emeritus), Grameen Foundation has grown to become leading international humanitarian organization with an annual budget of approximately $20 million.
Counts has propelled Grameen Foundation’s philosophy through his writings, including Small Loans, Big Dreams: How Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus and Microfinance Are Changing the World and Voices From the Field. Counts has also been published in The Washington Post, the International Herald Tribune, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Miami Herald, The Christian Science Monitor and elsewhere. In 2007 he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Horace Mann School. While at Cornell University, he received the John F. Kennedy Memorial Award, given annually by the Class of 1964 to the graduating senior who is the best example of the ideal of public service articulated by our 35th President.
Counts is a board member of Citizen’s Climate Education and Grameen-Jameel Microfinance, Ltd, and sits on the Advisory Council of the Center for Financial Inclusion. Previously, he has served as the Chair of Fonkoze USA and co-chair of the Fonkoze Family Coordinating Committee—two governance bodies of the largest microfinance institution in Haiti. He served as Co-Chair of the Microfinance CEO Working Group and on the Truelift Steering Committee.
Before leading Grameen Foundation, Counts served as the legislative director of RESULTS and as a regional project manager for CARE-Bangladesh. He speaks Bengali and lives with his wife, Emily, and their cat, Seymour. He loves listening to and promoting live music in intimate venues, especially blues and bluegrass, as well as other genres.
Ajay Raju
Ajay Raju is the founder of the Philadelphia-based Pamela + Ajay Raju Foundation. Through the interplay of strategically selected philanthropic initiatives, the Raju Foundation employs an interdisciplinary approach to the greater development of Philadelphia and the surrounding region. Among the Raju Foundation’s principal enterprises is the Germination Project, a non-profit, catalytic incubator for Philadelphia’s next generation of business, political and civic leaders, drawn from the best and brightest of Philadelphia’s high school students. The Germination Project’s mission and curriculum, developed in partnership with some of the region’s leading educational and public service institutions, focus on a decades-long investment in the future leadership of our city. Under the aegis of the IntXchange, the Raju Foundation promotes Philadelphia’s robust and growing creative community while attracting leading artists and patrons from around the world. These efforts have opened new cultural and commercial trade routes, putting Philadelphia on the map as a truly cosmopolitan city and as a viable destination for global investment. The Raju Foundation is the founding publisher and patron of The Philadelphia Citizen, a non-profit, nonpartisan media organization whose dual mission is to provide deeply reported journalism that emphasizes solutions to move our region forward, and to actively reignite citizenship in and around Philadelphia by shining a light on the next generation of leadership—all while giving Philadelphians the interactive tools they need to become more involved, engaged citizens. In the spirit of global engagement, the Raju Foundation has endowed the Ajay Raju Millennial Membership of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. Students and professionals who join the World Affairs Council through the Raju Millennial Membership are granted the opportunity to engage with impact-makers from around the world, to find common cause with like-minded young professionals, and to develop a model for global citizenship that begins right here in Philadelphia.
Ajay is the Chairman and CEO of Dilworth Paxson, one of the leading law firms in the United States. His legal practice has a strong emphasis on structured finance and real estate capital markets transactions. Ajay also has a top reputation in a broad spectrum of other transactional areas, including mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, and cross-border strategic alliances. Recognized as one of the foremost authorities on issues arising from India’s emergence as a global power, Ajay is regularly called upon by leading multinational corporations to provide counsel on navigating the Indian market, and to act as a liaison and negotiator within India’s complex regulatory regime. Ajay was recently named by Lex Witness, a leading Indian journal of legal and corporate affairs, as one of India’s Top 50 power players shaping the country’s modern legal and business landscapes.
Ajay was appointed by Mayor Michael Nutter, in 2011, to the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Works, the region’s premier workforce development agency and the City’s fiscal agent for state and federal employment and training funds. Ajay also serves as chairman of The Center PAC, a federal and state non-partisan political action committee that supports policies and candidates who champion entrepreneurship, economic growth, and sustainable prosperity throughout the region. A sought-after thought leader, he appears as a regular on Inside Story, a Sunday-morning news and roundtable debate show which airs on ABC’s WPVI station serving the Greater Philadelphia market. Ajay also serves as a member of the Board of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, Southeastern Pennsylvania’s leading business advocacy organization; as a member of the Board for Comcast/NBCUniversal’s Joint Diversity Council; as a Board member of the World Affairs Council, the region’s preeminent leadership and educational forum on international affairs; as a member of the Corporate Executive Board for the Philadelphia Museum of Art; as a member of the Chairman’s Council for the Philadelphia Zoo; as a member of the Cultural Cabinet of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance; as Pennsylvania State Chair of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys; as a member of the Archbishop’s Cabinet for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia; as Chairman of the Friends of The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, head church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia; as a founding Board member of I-LEAD, a Philadelphia community-based college degree program; as a member of the Drexel University Leadership Council; and as an Executive Board member of Live Arts & Philly Fringe.
Sridharan “Sri” Ramakrishnan
Sridharan “Sri” Ramakrishnan is the Co-founder & Editor-in-Chief of NyusuDigital Media, India’s first, one-minute video news publisher in multiple Indian languages. Sri has more than 25 years of experience in journalism, spanning print, television and digital. Prior to launching Nyusu, Sri was the Managing Editor of ET NOW, India’s leading business news channel. He has also been the Managing Editor of Business Today and a Staff Writer at the Washington Post in Washington DC as the Alfred Friendly fellow of 1999. Sri currently also serves on the board of the Columbia, Missouri-based Alfred Friendly Press Partners. Sri lives in Bangalore with his wife and son.
N.Parthasarathi
Mr N Parthasarathi is a veteran diplomat with more than three decades of service in the Indian Foreign service. From September 2005 to September 2008, he served as Ambassador of India to the Republic of South Korea and
from October 2008 to September 2011, he served as Ambassador of India to Senegal. During that time he was also concurrently accredited as Ambassador of India to Mali, Mauritania, Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde islands, as well as High Commissioner of India to the Republic of The Gambia. He was also the Consul General of India in San Francisco from October 2011 till October 2014. He retired from the Foreign Service at the end of October 2014 and has moved back to Bangalore, his home town. He is busy with mentoring many start-ups and advising organisations on many issues of business interest.
He is currently serving as the Secretary General / CEO of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Bengaluru.
Mr.Parthasarathi brings with him a rich experience, stature, Integrity and Leadership. His engineering and Management background helps him to understand the industry/ Economy and commerce comfortably and his diplomatic skills in articulation and negotiation makes him a natural and able administrator. He has also served as the Head of the Administration Division of the Ministry of External affairs.His passion, commitment to work and hands on approach brings a new dynamism and easilyinspires the team that works with him. He has in-depth knowledge, is resourceful and has wide ranging experience.
Anand Sudarshan
Anand Sudarshan is the Founder & Director of Sylvant Advisors Private Limited. Anand is also an independent director at NIIT. Till June 2012, he was Vice-Chairman & Managing Director of MaGE, where he has had a distinguished career since May 2006.He currently advises companies & entities in the education sector, and is also a fund advisor with TVS Capital Funds. He is active in supporting Government of India in policy formulation, and is a member of select Committees & Task Forces of the Planning Commission of India as well as the Ministry of Human Resource Development.Prior to his stint at MaGE, he was President, Adea International (a wholly owned subsidiary of Adea Solutions, Inc, Dallas TX), responsible for all global businesses of the IT Services & Solutions company.In 1989 Anand co-founded The Microland Group and for almost 14 years he was part of the team that built it into one of the leading privately held Indian technology company’s chain.He has a Bachelor of Engineering degree (B.S Degree) in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Trichy, India, and a PGDM from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, India.
Amitabh Kant
Mr Amitabh Kant is presently CEO, NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India). NITI is a Government of India institution for catalysing the development process, nurturing an overall enabling environment by working in partnership with States, by being a Knowledge hub and a Think Tank by facilitating implementation. Its aim is to foster involvement and participation of State Governments in policy making and enhance cooperative federalism.
Amitabh Kant is a member of the Indian Administrative Service, IAS (Kerala Cadre: 1980 Batch). He is the author of “Branding India – An Incredible Story” and has been a key driver of “Make in India”, Startup India, “Incredible India” and “God’s Own Country” initiatives which positioned and branded India and Kerala State as leadingmanufacturing tourism destinations. These campaigns have won several international awards and embraced a host of activities – infrastructure development, product enhancement, private-public partnership and positioning and branding. He was responsible for developing Kerala as India’s leading tourism destination. Kant also conceptualized and executive the “AtithiDevoBhavah” – “Guest is God” campaign to train Taxi Drivers, Guides, immigration officials and make them stake holders in the tourism development process. Amitabh Kant was also the National Project Director of the Rural Tourism Project of UNDP which made a paradigm shift in spreading tourism to Indian villages which had core-competency in handicrafts, handloom and culture.
Till March, 2016 Amitabh Kant was posted as Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) – Government of India. He was responsible for formulation and implementation of industrial policy and strategies for industrial development, monitoring the industrial growth and performance of specific industrial sectors, formulation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy and Promotion and facilitation of FDI, Policies related to Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in the fields of Patents, Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications. He was also responsible for promotion of Productivity, Quality and Technical Cooperation.
He was also the Chairman of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) and National Productivity Council.
Amitabh Kant has also worked as CEO of the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC). The Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) is being developed by the Government of India as a global manufacturing and investment destination supported by world class infrastructure and enabling policy framework. The DMIC project is aimed at the development of futuristic, smart industrial cities in India which will converge and integrate next generation technologies across sectors. The DMIC cities will address not merely the urbanization requirements of India, but with manufacturing as the main economic base, will also contribute significantly to the economic growth of India.
Amitabh Kant has worked as CMD – ITDC, Joint Secretary – Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Secretary – Tourism, Government of Kerala, Managing Director, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, District Collector, Kozikhode and Managing Director, Matsyafed. During his tenure in Kerala he structured the Calicut Airport as a private sector project based on User’s Free and developed the BSES Power Project and Mattanchery Bridge under Private Public Partnership. He was also responsible for introducing new technology (fiberglass crafts and outboard motor) in the fisheries sector and launching beach level auctions which substantially enhanced returns to traditional fishermen. As District Collector, he implemented a major project of Urban Revival and Development through traditional Malabar architecture in creation of Mananchira City square in Kozhikode.
Amitabh Kant did his schooling from Modern School, Delhi, graduation in Economics (Hons) from St. Stephens, Delhi University and M.A from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is a Chevening Scholar. He has undertaken the Mid Career Programme of Harvard University, John F Kennedy School of Government and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
He has been the recipient of Economic Time Policy Change Agent of the Year Award, the Bloomberg TV Personality of the year Award, the NDTV Administrator of the year Award and the Distinguished Fellowship of the Institute of Directors. He is the recipient of One Globe Award-2016 for leadership in Transforming Governance for the 21st Century. He is a Member of the Steering Board of “Shaping the Future of Production Systems” of World Economic Forum.
Prashanth “PV” Boccasam
Prashanth “PV” Boccasam is a General Partner at NBVP. He has over 20 years of operational and executive management experience. PV is currently on the Boards of Appfluent Technologies (acquired by Attunity (NASDAQ: ATTU), Appian Corporation, Centrifuge Systems and Copiun (acquired by Good Technology). He was also an investor and co-founder of ClearStandards (acquired by SAP).
Presently, PV is the Chief Executive Officer of Novak Biddle portfolio company Orchestro (formerly Vision Chain) for which he sets the vision, strategy and governance for the evolving company. He is also on the Board of Directors, working with the management team to refocus and restructure the Company and to position it for high-growth.
PV was the founder and CEO of Approva Corporation (acquired by Infor-Lawson) and founder and president of Entevo Corporation (acquired by Bindview Corporation). Both of these enterprise software companies were invested in by Novak Biddle and other top-tier venture capitalists and were successfully acquired.
PV launched his career at Microsoft where he managed enterprise-class products and directed consulting services.
PV is President and a board member of TiE-DC. PV is also the Chairperson of Pratham-DC, India’s largest non-governmental educational non-profit group. He is an investor and advisor in Communikids, the Washington, DC, metro area’s only premier bilingual pre-school for children.
PV holds advanced degrees in Computer Science from the University of Pune in India and the University of Cincinnati. He is a graduate of the Executive Management Program at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and is a Fellow at the University of Maryland’s Smith Business School.
Vinson X. Palathingal
A Washington DC based IT entrepreneur, Vinson completed his education from University of Nevada, Reno, with a masters in civil engineering. Since then, Vinson has launched Amaram Technology (an IT infrastructure support and services company) and Amsco Global (an American Merchandise Supply Company). His latest venture is a new technological-solution innovation company called Accubits Technologies with its design and development center at Technopark in Kerala. Accubits designs some of the most innovative and sleek solutions for its global client base, which includes Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Accenture, KPMG and Genpact to list a few.
Vinson has always been an active member of the Indian American community. He regularly addresses community gatherings to encourage young leaders and members of the Indian American community to dream big and to participate in the American democratic system. Vinson launched the IndoAmerican Center, a non-profit, non-partisan political think tank, first of its kind, solely dedicated to bolstering the emerging Indo-American axis. By undertaking scientific research and providing constructive solutions to real-world problems and bringing together leaders from academics, businesses, media, politics, and the diaspora community, the IndoAmerican Center aspire to play a pivotal role in shaping a free, democratic, just and peaceful world.
Dr. Charan Singh
Dr. Charan Singh is a RBI Chair Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, India. Earlier, he was a Senior Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Washington DC from August 2009 to November 2012. . He was Director (Departments: Research; Debt Management) at the RBIfrom 1997–2009 where he had joined in 1984 as a Research officer in the Economic Department. Singh earned his doctorate in Economics from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia and was a visiting scholar (post-doctorate) for more than a year each at Department of Economics, Harvard University and the Stanford Center for International Development, Stanford University. Earlier, he had studied from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar; and Delhi University.
His research is published in different academic journals like Economic and Political weekly, Prajnan, RBI Occasional papers, Indian Journal of Economics and Business, Yojana, etc. He has also contributed articles in book volumes. He contributes in public debates thorough TV channels like Bloomberg, Rajya and Lok Sabha TV. He also regularly writesarticles for daily newspapers, both general like The Hindu, Indian Express, Hindustan Times, The Tribune, Deccan Herald andDeccan Chronicle; and economic papers like Economic Times,Business Standard, Business Line, The Financial Express, and MoneyControl.com
Neal Gupta
Neal is CFO & Co-Founder of KiwiTech. At KiwiTech, Neal oversees the company’s financial matters and leads KiwiTech’s early stage investment fund called Kiwi Venture Partners. A native of Marietta, Ohio, Neal holds a dual MBA (finance) from Columbia University and the University of London, and a bachelor’s in Economics.
In 1988, Neal co-founded Aptara which became the world’s largest publishing services company with over 5,000 employees in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Germany and India. Aptara was on the Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Companies list in 2000, 2001 and 2002, and acquired by iEnergizer in February 2012 for $144 million.
Neal also works closely with JCBLS, a nonprofit family foundation focused on providing education and nutrition assistance to children of low-income families in India.
Anita Gupta
Anita brings more than 20 years of marketing and sales experience in the rapidly changing world of digital technology services. At KiwiTech, Anita drives sales from a variety of industry segments. Prior to KiwiTech, Anita co-founded Aptara which became the world’s largest publishing services company with over 5,000 employees in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Germany and India. Aptara was on the Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Companies list in 2000, 2001 and 2002, and acquired by iEnergizer in February 2012 for $144 million.
Anita also works with JCBLS, a nonprofit foundation that runs a charitable school. JCBLS provides food, clothing, and education to 100 children in Meerut, India.
Mohan Rajasekar
Mohan Rajasekar is an entrepreneur, water resources engineer, and technologist. As founder and CEO of Syndeste, Mohan leads a talented team with a proven track record for rapid innovation and in disrupting challenging markets. Inspired by lean management principles, he has spearheaded the execution of several natural hazard risk management, geospatial analysis, and technology integration projects for federal, state, local government, and private sector clients. His contributions to the insurance and risk management industry have helped citizens in hundreds of communities across the US get access to actionable insights for mitigating natural hazard risks.
Dr. Ram Reddy
Dr. Ram Reddy is CommuniClique’s big deal – big impact rainmaker. He’s initiated a number of the group’s largest customer and investor relationships. He’s been a key component to the company’s increase in customer base and revenue growth.
Dr. Reddy was the founder and CEO of APEX Technology Inc., a defense contractor, which specialized in compliance for military systems with the United States Army. The company partnered with Raytheon to fulfill a number of multimillion-dollar projects and in 2004 he successfully exited the company through a deal with its largest partner.
He’s a member of TIE (ww.tie.org) and an active participant in a number of other networking communities in and around the DC area and across the United States.
Dr Reddy graduated from Rutgers University with a PhD in Electrical Engineering and holds degrees from other internationally recognized universities including The Indian Institute of Technology.
Richard M. Rossow
Richard Rossow is a senior fellow and holds the Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In this role he helps frame and shape policies to promote greater business and economic engagement between the two countries. He joined CSIS in 2014, having spent the previous 16 years working in a variety of capacities to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India.
Prior to CSIS, he served as director for South Asia at McLarty Associates, leading the firm’s work for clients in India and the neighboring region. From 2008 to 2012, Mr. Rossow was with New York Life Insurance company, most recently as head of International Governmental Affairs, where he developed strategic plans for the company’s public policy and global mergers and acquisitions work.
From 1998 to 2008, Mr. Rossow served as deputy director of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC), the world’s leading advocacy group on behalf of strengthening economic ties between the United States and India. While at USIBC, he managed the Council’s policy groups in the energy, information technology, insurance, media and entertainment, and telecommunications sectors.
Mr. Rossow received his B.A. from Grand Valley State University in Michigan.
Zia Rana
Zia Rana, an “Industrial Solutions Designer,” has been a self-made entrepreneur since 1999. After achieving financial independence at the age of 14, he quickly established himself as a technology designer and business intellectual in multiple countries and languages. He carries diverse range of professional experiences while having worked with over 5,000 corporations in global clientele. His intelligence and ability to understand a set of very complex issues, articulate a micro or macro strategies and design a pragmatic solution was pivotal in achieving TextBehind® dream.
Dr. Pradeep Ganguly
Dr. Pradeep Ganguly is currently Executive Vice President at the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation (March 2011-present), and oversees all domestic and international business operations – from retention to expansion and acquisition, and manages the Accelerator/business incubator program.
Prior to joining PGC-EDC, Dr. Ganguly served as Director of the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development, and Chief Economist and Director of Research at the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development, and an international business consultant. His previous stints in Prince George’s County included Deputy Director of Environment, and Deputy Director of Public Works and Transportation.
Dr. Ganguly has led and organized business missions to India, China, Switzerland and the Philippines. He works closely with Indian, Chinese, Korean and Continental African chambers of commerce, embassies and government agencies. He has spoken at several international business forums and industry groups.
In 2013, Dr. Ganguly created the India Business Center at EDC, which now has four Indian companies. In 2015, following the China mission, he created the China Business Center, and is actively scouting 19 potential firms from China. These centers, a partnership with the State of Maryland, provide a “soft-landing” for international companies that want to enter the U.S. market, grow and create local jobs.
Dr. Ganguly holds a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from Clemson University. In India, he received an MA in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics where, as a merit scholar, he studied under Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, as well as Jagdish Bhagwati and A.M. Khusro. He also has an M.Phil. in Regional Development from JNU.
Sri Peddu
Sri Peddu is the founder and Managing Director of Powerhouse Ventures, a US venture capital firm with an investment focus in India. Powerhouse is an alternative investment vehicle operating within a limited number of specialized and niche markets where it believes the potential for reward outweighs the risk entailed.
He leads the Investment Advisory Team, tasked to source innovation, conduct deep market and company specific due diligence and execute investments. He is on the board of Sports365 and is a board observer with Whatfix. He is a member of the Business Advisory Council – essentially its board – of the Woxsen School of Business.
Before starting Powerhouse, Mr. Peddu worked for the World Bank in Washington, DC, most recently in its Governance and Anti-Corruption Practice. He also served as a Portfolio Manager for the East Asia Region of the Bank. Additionally, he has seven years of private sector experience in the areas of strategy and management at various companies in the United States.
Mr. Peddu graduated with honors from The New School, New York City with a Masters degree in International Affairs and received a Bachelor’s degree from Loyola University, Chicago.
He has served as an entrepreneurship and business strategy mentor to the Startup Leadership Program, Startup Weekend, Lean Startup Machine, Founder’s Institute and TiE-DC’s The Young Entrepreneurs program.
Mohsin Syed
Mohsin Syed is an Executive VP at KiwiTech, an end-to-end digital technology solutions provider that has gained recognition as an innovator by investing in numerous early-stage startups and partnering with large enterprises.
He is a transformational business and sales leader with 15 years of executive level strategic sales and business development experience. He is recognized for being a collaborative hands-on leader who is driven, passionate, energetic, results oriented, and highly impactful; particularly in high growth and fast paced environments.
Mr. Syed is adept in business assessment, sales strategy & execution, organizational management, partnerships, business development, customer engagement, and leadership development.
His expertise in client strategy, inside and outside sales operations, strategic partnership development, and business development operations globally has led to significant revenue and profit growth for the organizations he has served.
Mr. Syed specializes in complex strategic partnering, solution sales, direct sales, inside sales management, field sales management, business development, and client engagement and retention methodologies.
Dr. Eugene Flood, Jr.
Eugene Flood, Jr., also known as Gene, serves as a Managing Partner at Next Sector Capital. Previously, he was an Executive Vice President of Diversified Financial Services at TIAA-CREF. Mr. Flood joined TIAA-CREF in May 2011.
He served as the President and Chief Executive Officer at Amundi Smith Breeden (previously Smith Breeden Associates Inc.) since 2000 and served as its Director.
Prior to joining Smith Breeden Associates Inc., he served as a Portfolio Manager at Morgan Stanley Asset Management. Dr. Flood was a Consultant for a variety of private sector companies and government agencies. He has been an Independent Director of Janus Capital Group, Inc. since January 23, 2014.
Dr. Flood served as an Executive Vice President at Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association College Retirement Equities Fund and served as its Trustee for seven years. He serves on the Board of Visitors of the Fuqua School of Business of Duke University, Board of Visitors of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Board of Directors of the Society of Quantitative Analysts.
Dr. Flood served as the Chairman of TIAA-CREF Life Insurance Company. He served as a Trustee of various portfolios in the fund complex of TIAA-CREF Funds since 2005.
He serves on the Visiting Committee for the Economics Department and the Dean’s Advisory Committee of MIT’s Sloan School of Management. He a contributor to CNBC’s Squawk Box and Bloomberg TV, relied on his experiences as both an academic and Wall Street trader to guide Smith Breeden. Dr. Flood has a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University
Vishal Verma
Vishal Verma is a Senior General Partner at Edgewood Ventures, LLC. Edgewood is an investment fund focusing on investing in the United States and India. He is on the board of directors of Edgewood Networks, Edgewood CureAire, Gamma Security, HAL- Edgewood and HSMC.
Edgewood Networks is a venture with Juniper Networks and Edgewood Ventures. Edgewood is developing a secure and trusted networking products for the global market.
HAL – Edgewood (HETL) is a joint venture with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (India’s largest Defense Company). HETL has developed cutting edge avionics technologies in India.
HSMC intends to be a leading independent semiconductor products provider. Vishal is responsible for HSMC’s finance and day-to-day-operations. The company has recently been awarded a $2.2B package from the Government of India.
Vishal is a Senior Adviser to Dick Gephardt and Secretary Michael Chertoff on their International Strategy. He is also an adviser Darwin Ventures, LLC.
Vishal is a member of the US India Cyber-security Track 1.5 Dialogue hosted by the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
Vishal is passionate on building strong education systems for our future. Vishal is an active member on the non-profit boards of Trustees and Directors for the University of California at Merced (Merced, California) and One Economy (Washington DC).
While pursing his MBA at Chicago Booth, Vishal co-founded the Hyde Park Angels to promote entrepreneurship in the Chicago land area. He continues to be an active member of The Chicago Club, The Indus Entrepreneurs and Chicago Private Equity Networks.
Vishal holds a B.S. degree in Marketing from Santa Clara University and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from the University Of Chicago Booth School Of Business.
Balagan Arumugaswamy
Balagan Arumugaswamy is a licensed CPA located in Ashburn, VA 20147. Balagan Arumugaswamy has been issued a Virginia license number 31364. All CPAs, including Balagan Arumugaswamy, have at the minimum an undergraduate degree in accounting, passed a rigorous national exam and adhere to mandated continuing education requirements of their states in which they are licensed. CPAs can work in private industry, education or government but most people think of CPAs during tax season as the experts in tax preparation.
Their overall training in business and knowledge in principles of general law and taxation provide CPAs with the skills to help individuals with both personal and business financial decisions.
Geeta Anand
Geeta Anand has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, mainly focusing on business clients and taking care of their banking needs as a trusted advisor and partner.
Her responsibilities include forming new relationships and developing existing relationships with large corporate or small business clients. As a business banker, she tries to understand her clients’ goals and make banking easy for them. She helps them manage their finances in the most successful way possible and help them navigate the numerous services, procedures and products available including lending. I like to maintain consistent communication with my clients and try to be available to them for any service or need they have at anytime.
Sanjeev Joshipura
Sanjeev Joshipura works with Indiaspora, where they endeavor to transform the success of Indian-Americans into meaningful impact worldwide. He has a varied background at senior levels in private sector companies, non-profits, and in the public policy and political arena. He has lived, studied and worked in India, the US and Canada. He holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Engineer, an MBA and a Certification in Financial Risk Management. He serves as an Advisor to iSPIRT, the Indian Software Product Industry Round Table. He resides with his wife and twins in Fairfax, Virginia. He tweets @SanjeevJoshipur.
Suri Sehgal
Suri Sehgal holds a Ph.D in Plant Genetics from Harvard University, and a diploma in business management from Harvard Business School.
He is the founder and chairman of Misr Hytech Seed, Egypt; and Hytech Seed, India. He is the founder and chairman of the Sehgal Foundation, USA, and S. M. Sehgal Foundation, India. He is the former President of Pioneer Overseas Corporation and vice president Pioneer Hi-Bred International, now owned by DuPont. He is the former Chief Operating Officer and Member Board of Directors of Plant Genetic Systems, Belgium, now a Bayer CropBioscience Company. He is the founder and former chairman of Proagro Group of companies, India, which were acquired by AgrEvo-Hoechst Schering in 1998, and are now owned by Bayer of Germany. He served on the board of Crop Design, a Belgian biotech company, now owned by BASF, and on the board of Great Lakes Hybrids as a representative of KWS before its merger with Limagrain seed operations in the US to form AgReliant Genetics.
He served as a trustee of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, a CGIAR international center located in Ibadan, Nigeria, & served on the board of Diversity, a news journal for the International Plant Genetic Resources Community. He is the founder of the William L.Brown Center for Economic Botany at the Missouri Botanical Garden at St Louis, Missouri and an Emeritus Trustee of the Garden. He is the recipient of many awards and honors in agriculture and philonthropy.
Dr. Mahesh Joshi
Dr. Mahesh Joshi, Director of Research & Practice, Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Associate Professor of Global Strategy and Entrepreneurship.
A teacher, researcher and consultant, he has received numerous awards for his academic and professional achievements. His teaching interests include innovation and entrepreneurship, strategic management, global strategies business model analysis, among other things. As a researcher, he has published in journals like Strategic Management Journal, Decision Sciences Journal et cetera. As a consultant, he works on various corporate aspects including formulation and implementation of global strategy, competitive intelligence analysis, practice of corporate entrepreneurship and management of startup ventures
Suzanne L. Rotbert
A Rockville, MD -based business attorney, she represents business clients of all sizes, startups to industry leaders. Her forte includes business counseling, corporate finance, emerging business, mergers and acquisitions, technology transactions and licensing, among other related corporate areas.
Shukoor Ahmed
As the founder and CEO of a small business, V-Empower, Inc, which specializes in Information Technology, he led the company efficiently to become ranked #1 as the fastest growing private company by Deloitte in 2007 in Maryland and was top 500 by Inc. Magazine (ranked #263) in 2007 nationwide.
Nadia Ayoubi
Nadia Ayoubi is a successful entrepreneur with experience and expertise in the field of management. Ms. Ayoubi is an Afghan descendant and immigrated to US since 1997.
In her early career, she worked for name brands retail stores with the goal to understand the process of successful retail advertisement marketing of high-end clothing. She was invited to join the growing home mortgage and refinancing boom in early 2000. Ayoubi mastered various aspects of the home loan process. In 2005, she became COO of a leading mortgage company with over 170 employees. She was responsible for overseeing the various departments of loan & mortgages from sales, processing, compliance, accounting, human resources and technology. She was instrumental in overseeing all areas of the company.
In 2008, Ayoubi became a partner in a small IT company, Ace Technology Services until 2012. The company focused on the area of software development and innovative solutions for reducing operating costs for governments and companies. Education and workforce development of young women in the field of science and technology was an important focus for her.
Rokas Beresniovas
Rokas Beresniovas is a leader in the DC business community. Presently, he works as a Vice President and head of expansion at the State Bank of India in Washington, DC.
Born in Lithuania, Rokas emigrated to the U.S. with a marketing degree from Kaunas College. He began his career in the retail industry as Southwest Regional Distribution Manager with Whole Foods Market in Dallas and then became Specialty Operations Manager in Washington, DC. At Whole Foods, Rokas received two Regional Awards for Excellence. He also won several awards and boosted revenue working as head of one of the largest DC stores in the CVS Caremark Corporation from 2004 to 2006.
In 2006, Rokas began his work in the financial services sector with Bank of America. In August 2007, Eagle Bank hired Rokas as a Vice President of Business Development for the Washington DC market where he helped grow the bank by double digits. He also brought in key banking relationships with entertainment professionals, politicians, local schools and hospitals. Following this success, Rokas was recruited by HSBC Bank USA, one of the largest banking and financial services organizations in the world. As Vice President of Global Business Banking, Rokas helped grow and sustain their international presence in the Washington DC market. In 2013, Rokas was recruited by the State Bank of India USA to head its east coast business expansion.
Giving back to the community is also important to Rokas. In 2007, he joined the GBA and was named VP in 2011 and President in 2012. In the past, Rokas served on the Board of Directors for the CSAAC, the GMC, Young Executive Society of DC, and the NJH. Currently, Rokas is a founding board member of Pebbles of Hope, Global Tassels and the Perisphere Theater. He is also board member of Joy of Motion and an honorary board member of The Embassy Series. Rokas is the founder of the Lithuanian nonprofit organization Global Lithuanian Leaders (GLL).
Sumit Bhatnagar
Sumit Bhatnagar, Founder and Managing Partner of GreenBrilliance. GreenBrilliance is a vertically integrated solar turnkey energy services provider. An entrepreneur with extensive experience in running global operations, Sumit has grown GreenBrilliance into a global brand with offices and presence in over 10 countries and employing more than 250 people worldwide. Establishing long term relationships, building strong supply chain and effective peoples management are his strong forte and key reasons for his growth and success.
Sumit is very strong technically and prefers to be hands on with his technical management in the manufacturing facility as well as EPC project teams from delivering utility scale solar power plants to small rooftop plants across the world.
Sumit Bhatnagar is an engineering graduate from IIT, India and holds a Master’s degree from Michigan, USA
Kanika Dewan
The Kolkata-born entrepreneur was responsible for all the stone works of the two largest airport projects in India: the Terminal 3 at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, which was completed in 2010, and the new Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. Her other major works include the Leela Palace Hotels in Chennai and Delhi; the Philippe Stark building in SoHo, New York, and the Bridgewater Hindu Temple in New Jersey.
Javad K. Hassan
Javad K. Hassan is the founder and chairman of NeST Group, a global conglomerate of more than 25 companies spread across several continents. Under the leadership of Mr. Hassan, NeST Group has become a worldwide leader in technology, with operations in India, the Middle East, Japan, Europe and the Americas.
It has more than 4,000 employees, and has products and technologies in a whole range of areas, including health care, green energy and wireless and fiber optics communication systems. Its global customers include GE, Toshiba, Hitachi, ABB, Verizon, Honey Well, France telecom and Etisalat.
Javad K. Hassan is the founder and chairman of NeST Group, a global conglomerate of more than 25 companies spread across several continents. He started his career with IBM, in 1968, as an engineer in its semi-conductor development and manufacturing division at East Fishkill
Mr Hassan came to the United States after receiving his BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Kerala, India. After completing his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a master’s in material science and engineering from the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1968, he passed an opportunity to pursue a PhD at MIT, and instead joined IBM.
Zia Islam
Zia Islam is President & CEO of Zantech IT Services. Headquartered in Virginia, Zantech provides IT, engineering and program management services to federal government and industry clients. The company was founded in 2007 and has won several awards for its quality performance. In 2015 Zantech was announced as one of the 50 fastest growing companies for 2015 by Washington Technology.
Rodney E. Lake
Rodney Lake is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of The Benval Group LLC. The Benval Group provides consulting services to family offices, corporations, and institutions regarding asset allocation, investment manager research, due diligence, selection, and monitoring, as well as direct investing, research, and strategy.
Mr. Lake utilizes value-oriented opportunistic investment approach that integrates global top-down endowment style research with intensive bottom-up quantitative and qualitative investment analysis. He has more than 12 years of broad investment experience across multiple asset classes, geographies, strategies and market cycles.
Mr. Lake reviews 100+ investment manager/investment per year and has performed comprehensive due diligence on 80+ opportunities as well as conducted on-the-ground due diligence in 23 countries globally. Mr. Lake has built, maintains, and continues to grow a global network: North America, Latin America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Additionally, Mr. Lake reviews and evaluates 40+ single security company pitches per year from MBA and undergraduate students at GW.
Prior to forming Benval in 2012, Mr. Lake worked as a Senior Investment Officer in The George Washington University Investment Office. The GW Investment Office is responsible for managing the University’s $1.5 billion endowment fund. Beginning in 2005, Mr. Lake researched opportunities, identified investments and recommended implementation strategies/managers.
Mr. Lake is an Adjunct Professor in Finance at the GW School of Business, serving as an instructor for Applied Portfolio Management in the MBA program and Applied Security Analysis in the undergraduate program. Both courses are focused on student-managed funds within GW’s Endowment. The MBA course manages the $2.4 million Ramsey Student Investment Fund, and the undergraduate course manages the $1.4 million Phillips Student Investment Fund.
Prior to the GW Investment Office, Mr. Lake was a Senior Financial Analyst in the Executive Vice President and Treasurer’s Office at GW, served as an internal consultant for projects ranging from financial and optimization modeling to developing spin-out strategies and valuations for internal businesses. Prior to joining GW, he was a Financial Analyst in portfolio management at a mortgage banking subsidiary of California Federal Bank.
Mr. Lake graduated cum laude, from West Virginia Wesleyan College with a B.S. degree in business. He received his MBA from The George Washington University.
Praba Murugaiah
Praba Murugaiah is the Founder & CEO of TechFetch, an exclusive job portal that helps IT companies to find the best fitting resumes open for a job, position or a project. He is the inventor of QFETCH, a resume analysis algorithm that matches the relevant jobs with qualified candidates within 30 seconds of posting a resume. Corp-Corp reaches over 2 million job candidates in a year, receives over 40,000 tech jobs every month and has reached over 6,000 US companies
Praba has been a friend for a long time and we have worked together on many interesting projects. Two words come to my mind when I think of Praba and they are speed and tenacity. In other words, Praba moves fast and does not stop
Venky Raghavendra
Venkatesh (Venky) Raghavendra is a social entrepreneur with nearly three decades of philanthropy and development experience. He has successfully built global partnerships and mobilized significant resources for a number of international and national organizations.
Venky is a consultant in the areas of philanthropy, fundraising, and social entrepreneurship. Some of his recent and current clients include the UK-based Common Purpose, New York–based American India Foundation, and Washington, DC–based Ashoka: Innovators for the Public.
Formerly chief philanthropy officer at the American India Foundation (AIF), Venky strengthened the US-India philanthropic and ideas exchange by promoting major giving and investments from corporations, high net-worth individuals, diaspora communities, and others. Prior to joining AIF, Venky was managing director of global partnerships at Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, in Washington, DC. At Ashoka, Venky promoted social entrepreneurship around the world by collaborating with business entrepreneurs and foundations. He was also involved in supporting social entrepreneurs in achieving scale and in the creation of communities of social entrepreneurs.
Venky’s career as a social entrepreneur began in his late teens, when he co-founded The Adventurers — an organization that creates livelihood opportunities for indigenous communities in the rainforests of South India through eco- and adventure-tourism.
Venky is a trustee of Ashoka India and is on the board of several not-for-profits and is an advisor to several others. He writes frequently on social issues for a variety of media, including the Wharton Journal, Khaleej Times, Times of India, Indian Express, and The Hindu, among others. He speaks regularly at a number of universities around the world on the topics of social entrepreneurship and innovation, cross-sectoral partnerships for community change, and philanthropy. He has taught social entrepreneurship to graduate-level students in the United States and in India.
Kamini Ramdeen
Strengths in editing, team building, AP style, interpersonal skills and graphic creation. Reputation as a self-starter who performs well individually or as part of a team gets along well with both staff and clients. Proficient in social media, SEO, Google Analytics and associated software such as Microsoft Office, WordPress, Drupal, GIMP and Photoshop. Knowledgeable of basic HTML coding.
Rey Ramsey
Ramsey will assume his new leadership role with TechNet in January, succeeding
Lezlee Westine who left the organization in May to head the Personal Care
Products Council. Ramsey currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of
One Economy Corporation, a global nonprofit that leverages the power of
technology to improve the lives of low-income people, which he co-founded in
2000. One Economy brings unserved and underserved communities into the
economic mainstream through facilitating affordable at-home broadband access,
producing public-purpose media, and training and employing “Digital
Connectors,” youth aged 14-21, to enhance their communities’ technology
capacity.
As TechNet President and CEO, Ramsey will be based in Washington, DC and will
oversee the organization’s day-to-day operations, strategic planning and
implementation of TechNet’s public policy and political agenda.
Ramsey will continue as Chairman of the Board for One Economy and serve in the
newly established One Economy Office of the Chair. Moustafa Mourad, current
President of One Global Economy, will serve as Acting President of One Economy
during the transition.
“Rey Ramsey is a proven and visionary technology leader and we are honored to
have him take the helm at TechNet,” said John Doerr, TechNet co-founder and
partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. “Rey’s spectacular work at One
Economy has helped thousands of Americans gain greater economic opportunities
through the power of technology. His energy, leadership and entrepreneurial
spirit are a wonderful addition to our TechNet team. We look forward to
working with him day in and day out to accelerate innovation and improve
America’s education and economic future. We are also very excited to have two
of the world’s finest business innovators — Paul Otellini and Eric Schmidt —
joining TechNet’s Executive Committee to provide even more strong and dynamic
leadership for the organization.”
Trisha Sakhuja
Trisha Sakhuja, raised in Queens, New York is a senior at Stony Brook University, and will continue her studies by pursuing a Masters in Public Policy. She is a Political Science major, with a double minor in Journalism and Gender and Women Studies. After graduation, she aspires to go to law school, and hopes to work as lawyer in a media company.
It has been a growing passion to intertwine her Indian heritage into her American-way of life, and what better way to implement it than to write for vibrant South Asian women all over the nation. Growing up in India for the first five years of life and later moving to the states has instilled her with true ‘desi’ flavor, but it has also given her the power to mold herself into a strong and independent young South Asian American woman. She went from speaking English with a thick accent to conversing fluently; and then tracing back to her mother tongue roots in Hindi, but this time to perfect it. Her favorite past-times ranges from watching movies, listening to hip-hop music and shopping for shoes and makeup. Becoming an Indian classical dancer will always be a dream till she finds the time to pursue it seriously, but tapping to Bollywood beats comes natural.
Trisha has played an active role in the South Asian Student Alliance since her freshman year at SBU, and held the chair of vice presidency her junior year. They not only brought light to their culture, dance, movies, food, and charity organizations, but also collaborated with many other non-South Asian alliances on campus. She is also very proud to break cultural barriers to become the first Indian-Hindu sister of Sigma Delta Tau, a distinguished Jewish sorority, at the Beta Phi chapter.
In the future, Trisha sees herself backpacking amongst the valleys of India, exploring the hidden temples, and chanting to the Gods as the sun rises along the horizon. Her zeal for learning about her country will always be one of the reasons she will never stop striving to be a better writer and student.
As for now, she is living up her last year as an undergraduate with her good friends and family, studying for the LSATs, interning for the school newspaper, and most of all, thrilled to become the newest staff member of Brown Girl Magazine.
Smita Siddhanti
Dr. Siddhanti founded EnDyna in 1999 following a successful 15-year career with leading consulting firms. A nationally recognized expert in risk assessment and management, Dr. Siddhanti has supported the US Environmental Protection Agency’s radiation, waste management, Superfund, drinking water, and pesticide programs. She has also worked extensively with the states, other federal agencies, and multilateral organizations to develop regulations, policy, guidance, market-based approaches to environmental protection, and training. Dr. Siddhanti authored the book Multiple Perspectives on Risk and Regulation: The Case of Deliberate Release of Genetically Engineered Organisms into the Environment, published in 1991. She has served on the Virginia Governor’s Air Quality Board. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy, an M.S. in Technology Policy, and a B.S. in Biology and Physiology.
Venkat Subramanian
Venkat Subramanian, a US citizen, is the founder, President & CEO of ANGARAI, named after his native village in Southern India. ANGARAI is a professional management consulting firm established in 2003 and headquartered in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Venkat has developed Holistic Organization Change Management Solution models and an effective Engagement Management Model and Methodology which are signature products of Angarai International, Inc. Under his stewardship, ANGARAI has successfully implemented these models and methodologies for its clients in the United States of America and outside. With his leadership, the level of quality services provided to ANGARAI clientele in each Center Of Excellence has precipitated an 800% increase in gross revenues since its inception and has also translated into numerous national and regional business awards including but not limited to the 2011 – Diversity MBA Top 100 Under 50 Diversity Executive & Emerging Leader; 2011 & 2009 – Inc 500/5000; 2010 – Top 100 MBE; and 2010 – Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce – Small Business of the Year.
Rais Bhuiyan
Rais Bhuiyan is a peace activist and an IT professional. After graduating from Sylhet Cadet College, a military School in Bangladesh, he joined the Bangladesh Air Force and was commissioned as a pilot officer following two and a half years of vigorous training. He received a BS in Aeronautics from the National University in Dhaka and completed numerous information technology courses in New York and Dallas where he continued his education, taking courses in computer system engineering, programming, and database administration. In 2001, he was shot in the face by Mark Stroman, a white supremacist seeking vengeance for the 9/11 tragedy. Bhuiyan responded to this by forgiving his attacker and attempting unsuccessfully to prevent his execution. Bhuiyan currently holds a position with Sabre Holdings, a global technology company, in Southlake, Texas. His time is divided between managing a team of system engineers and data centers in Europe and touring the globe giving talks about the regenerative power of forgiveness.
Lata Krishnan
Lata Krishnan is the Chair of AIF and the CFO of Shah Capital Partners. Previously, she co-founded SMART Modular Technologies and served as its CFO. Mrs. Krishnan also serves on the board of Silicon Valley Bank, Commonwealth Club, Fellow of the American Leadership Forum and Advisory Board positions for Narika and the WAC Global Philanthropy Forum.
Sachin Malhan
Sachin Malhan is the Executive Partner of Changemakers. He leads the program in its efforts to search, convene and catalyse high-potential changemakers and their ideas and resources, through the power of collaborative competitions and partner networks.
Before Changemakers Sachin was an entrepreneur based in India where he co-founded three ventures – Inclusive Planet, a venture working to enable online collaboration amongst the world’s visually impaired; Law School Tutorials, the leading law test prep outfit that became an Indian School of Business case study in 2009, and Rainmaker, the leading talent advisory firm for the legal industry and manager of India’s Bar examination. Sachin is an INK Fellow (2010).
In his ventures Sachin has worked intimately with design, technology and learning, and been repeatedly amazed by the power of young people to make change. Sachin is a graduate of the National Law School in Bangalore.
Gulab Bhavnani
Gulab Bhavnani serves on the board of WHEELS Global Foundation (WGF), a 501
c-3 non-profit social entrepreneurship program initiated by Capital IIT
Alumni Association, as Secretary and Program Director. WGF promotes social
entrepreneurship through application of technology-enabled solutions to
solve common problems in rural Indian communities and in USA. WGF supports
partnerships with NGOs and foundations to spawn projects that benefit
under-served communities.
Mr. Bhavnani actively participates in activities of WGF and the Capital IIT
Alumni Association, providing time and talent to promote the message and
brand of WGF and the Indian Institutes of Technology.
Mr. Bhavnani’s career spans commercial as well as entrepreneurial ventures.
He has years of varied experience at IBM in marketing and development of
outsourcing solutions for large and medium sized businesses globally, and
received four 100% club awards. Mr. Bhavnani also was the Director of IT
Delivery for the American Red Cross, which awarded him two pins of
Excellence for designing and delivering a virtual call center. As an
entrepreneur, he launched and ran a successful call center products company
delivering technology and consulting services to commercial and government
clients.
In addition to his volunteer activities at WGF, Gulab is the CEO of Anchor
Systems Corporation, a contact center consulting firm based in Northern VA.
He is a graduate of IIT Kharagpur, India, where he graduated in 1966 with a
Bachelors (Hons) degree in Electrical Engineering and studied at the Wharton
School of Business in Philadelphia, PA. Mr. Bhavnani serves on the board of
the Capital IIT Alumni Association, and is a past member of the PanIIT USA
Leadership Council.
Nish Acharya
Nish Acharya is CEO of Citizence, a firm that consults with leading universities, governments, foundations and companies to assist them with innovation, entrepreneurship and philanthropic strategies. Mr. Acharya is also a Senior Fellow with the Center for American Progress, a contributor to Forbes and the author of the “The India-US Partnership: $1 Trillion By 2030” by Oxford University Press.
Nish previously served as Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce for the Obama Administration, and as Executive Director of the Deshpande Foundation, a prominent American philanthropy focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and scalability around the world.
Frank Islam
Frank Islam is a successful entrepreneur, philanthropist, civic leader and thought leader with a special commitment to civic, educational and artistic causes. He currently heads the FI Invest Group a firm that he established after he sold his information technology firm, the QSS Group in 2007.
Frank serves on number boards and advisory councils including the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Woodrow Wilson Center, and the Brookings Institution. He also serves on various boards and councils at more than half-dozen universities including Johns Hopkins, University, American University, and George Mason University.
Frank has written two well regarded books on the American condition, Working the Pivot Points: To Make America Work Again (2013). Renewing the American Dream: A Citizen’s Guide for Restoring Our Competitive Advantage (2010).
Ben Sehgal
Ben Sehgal is a trustee of the Sehgal Foundation, Des Moines, Iowa / Gurgaon, India, and is also a member of the board of directors of Hytech Seed Co., Egypt, and the advisory board of the William L. Brown Center at Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, USA. He holds a PhD in chemistry from Northwestern University.
Ramesh Mahalingam
Ramesh Mahalingam was the President of Pratham USA during 2007-2008. Under his leadership, the organization’s revenue base increased from $3 million to over $10 million. He has been part of the Pratham National Executive Leadership Team since 2007 and sits on the Board of Pratham’s vocational training program. He is the founder President of the Pratham DC chapter, which was formed in 2011. Prior to that, he founded Pratham’s Raleigh Chapter in 2005. He has travelled extensively to observe various Pratham programs in India
Ramesh’s day job is as Chief Accounting Officer of Sodexo’s $9 billion North American operations. He moved from Raleigh to Northern Virginia in 2010.
Dr. Sanjay Rai
Dr. Sanjay Rai is a senior vice president for Academic Affairs at Montgomery College. He provided leadership and vision for the 500 full-time and 1,200 part-time faculty in the Academic Affairs division, resulting in a successful reorganization. He has provided leadership for the redesign of the general education and general studies programs, for curriculum alignment with K-12 and 4-year colleges and universities, ensuring that Montgomery College’s programs reflect the impact of technology, globalization, and workforce alignment – critical factors in student success, today. He has developed innovative partnerships with local businesses that have resulted in Montgomery College becoming a center for continuing education and training for already skilled workers, as well as an on ramp for people starting or changing careers. Through a State Department funded grant initiative, he has led the College to explore global opportunities.
Dr. Rai completed a PhD in mathematics from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, an MS in mathematics from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, and an MS in mathematics and a BS in statistics, physics, and mathematics from the University of Allahabad in India. Dr. Rai’s most recent book, Pathways to Real Analysis, was published in April 2009.
Arun M. Kumar
Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service and Assistant Secretary for Global Markets, U.S. Department of Commerce
As Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of the US and Foreign Commercial Service, Arun M. Kumar leads the trade and investment promotion efforts for the U.S. Government. With offices in over 100 U.S. cities and in 72 world markets, he also serves as the International Trade Administration’s lead official advocating for better market access for U.S. exporters.
Kumar has extensive global experience in the business world. Prior to his nomination by President Obama, he was a partner and member of the Board of Directors at KPMG, LLP. He led the firm’s West Coast Management Consulting practice serving major global clients as well as emerging Silicon Valley ventures while creating thought leadership to advance business practices in finance management. He also founded and led KPMG’s US-India Practice.
Previously, Kumar was a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, as founding CEO and CFO of three technology ventures in Silicon Valley, near his home in California. Over the years, he has been a mentor and advisor to a number of new ventures in Silicon Valley and India.
Kumar served on advisory councils at Stanford University and the University of California, Santa Cruz. An early Charter Member of TiE Silicon Valley, he served on its Board. He also served on the Board of Directors of the US India Business Council.
Kumar is the author of a book of poetry, Plain Truths, published by Current Books, 2010, and co-editor of Kerala’s Economy: Crouching Tiger, Sacred Cows, published by DC Books, 2007.
Kumar received his master’s in management from the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Kerala, India. He started his career in India as a member of TAS, the central management cadre of the Tata Group.
Jessica Carso
Jessica Carso, independent consultant and Administrator for World without Hate, has dedicated her career to the non-profit social sector. With 15 years of leadership, administration and philanthropic experience in the arts, culture, humanities, social justice, higher education and social services, Jessica is focused on supporting these and other important causes through her non-profit, social entrepreneurial consulting work.
Jessica offers comprehensive, short and long-term, professional and volunteer consulting services for organizations of all sizes in the areas of organizational health and nonprofit management, board development and recruitment, fund development, marketing and communications, executive coaching, support staff and emerging leader mentoring, strategic planning, program, department and organization creation and development, as well as retreat facilitation, board and staff presentations and workshops.
As Managing Director for Wesleyan University’s Green Street Arts Center, Jessica designed and implemented the organization’s fundraising and marketing programs from the ground up. Under her leadership, Green Street’s programming, earned revenue, advisory board participation and community engagement grew steadily over her 5 ½ year tenure. In addition, used as a robust training ground for Wesleyan students, Jessica and her staff developed and implemented a highly impactful internship, fellowship and work-study program for students and emerging leaders interested in non-profit, youth development and arts education work.
Since 2006, Jessica has been an active member of the international Association of Fundraising Professionals, most recently completing her 2-year term as President of the Connecticut Chapter. In addition, Jessica’s expansive community leadership and volunteer work includes serving as Chair of her localCommunity Foundation’s Fund for Women and Girls, as well as Founding Co-Chair of the Foundation’s Live Local, Give Local 365 initiative, promoting impact through $1 a day donations.
In 2010, Jessica was named Huffington Post’s Greatest Person of the Day. She was also named to Hartford Business Journal’s 40 under 40, Connecticut Magazine’s 40 under 40, and was most recently recognized by the National Association of Professional Women as one of their Women of the Year Circle recipients. Jessica received her Bachelor’s Degree from Marymount Manhattan College and her Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Wesleyan University.
Sanjay Puri
Sanjay, a thought leader on U.S.-India relations, an active entrepreneur and mentor, is the Founder of AutoNebula, an accelerator focused on Connected Transport.
He heads the non-partisan United States India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) and Alliance for U.S.-India Business (AUSIB). Both organizations motivate productive relations and beneficial outcomes for the two nations.
Sanjay has spent much of his career as an entrepreneur across multiple business sectors. His entrepreneurship began with a grant from National Institute of Health where he led a team that encompassed artificial intelligence techniques to diagnose patients with Alzheimer’s disease. He then moved on to ventures that included retraining technology workers who lost their jobs and and an IT Services company, Optimos. His clients have included the Library of Congress, Federal Reserve Bank, U.S. Mint and the National Labor Relations Board. Optimos was sold in 2014 at a point when Sanjay’s focus turned to a new technology-driven sector known as ‘connected transport’, a critical component of ‘Smart City’ technology initiatives taking shape around the globe.
He founded AUTONEBULA as an accelerator for top-level entrepreneurs who develop technologies for connected transport in the U.S. and India. Sanjay also is Chairman of Kaloupi, a firm specializing in back office outsourced services and Wellisen, a nutraceutical company.
Prior to launching AutoNebula, Sanjay founded Optimos, a strategy and enterprise information technology provider based in Reston, VA.
Sanjay holds an M.B.A. in Finance & Investments from George Washington University. He’s been a recipient of several industry awards and is a frequent public speaker and media contributor.
Najam Syed Hussain
Najam Hussain is a director at Ecell Healthcare, Inc., a turnkey health information technology (HIT) organization with one of the most innovative, modular, user-friendly, flexible and cost effective HMS (Hospital Management System) solutions in the market. He is also the Director of Strategic Projects at Opterna, a US-based global fiber optic product/solutions company, which has fully owned world class manufacturing facilities with sales and support offices in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Mexico.
He successfully launched Ecell Healthcare with its primary HMS product and worked with an excellent development team to customize the solutions for the US markets. He further worked on this customized solution to get it fully certified and then successfully secure several large hospital contracts.
His goal oriented professionalism with progressive management experience, combined managerial and technical expertise in the implementation of turnkey information technology solutions, is what has helped in taking this company from a startup, to the securing of said contracts. He has effective project management, process improvement, team facilitation, total quality management and client relation skills in supporting government, educational as well as enterprise projects with organizations across the world. He has the skills to successfully manage and interact with people and teams from various regions with different cultural values and practices in business.
Throughout his career he has demonstrated the ability of successfully launching several startups, while securing revenue streams, staffing and managing of various projects according to a business plan within preset budgets and deadlines. Furthermore, he is also thoroughly experienced in conducting full-scale business evaluations, negotiating contracts, leading large and medium-size developments and managing system design and implementation for large multi-national organizations.
Jill Martin
Jill Martin, serving as UoNA’s President, oversees the overall operation and communication strategies. As a media professional, Jill has extensive experience in global affairs working in various media outlets including newspaper, radio and TV. Her programs received multiple honors and awards. An hour-long TV documentary she hosted and produced was broadcast on PBS affiliated channels nationwide.
She has been professionally involved in various educational endeavors between US and international institutions. She is also a dedicated business woman and an innovative entrepreneur. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Master’s degree in Computer Science. She is a candidate of Doctor of Business Administration. She also completed additional graduate studies in Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota.
Marty Martin
Claude “Marty” Martin has over 40 years of combined experience in providing global solutions for the Information Technology, Telecommunications, Satellite Communications and Television and Radio Broadcasting markets for both the U.S. Government and Commercial Organizations.
Marty has also facilitated successful technology company acquisitions and assisting companies to bring their new technologies to the proper partners, clients and to various markets.
Over the last few years Marty has moved his focus to educational enterprises and specializes in management and operations of postsecondary institutions of higher education for both domestic US and International markets.
Amod N. Desai
Amod Desai is an entrepreneur and a leading practitioner and thought leader in the use of Lean and Agile methods for organizational transformation. As an early adopter of Extreme Programming (XP), Scrum and most recently SAFe, he has worked exclusively as a Lean+Agile transformation leader. He brings a pragmatic approach to the use of best-fit approaches from across the spectrum of Lean+Agile practices and processes. He believes that the most important piece of any transformation is to build the skills in the teams and continuously improve the process.
As an engineer and management consultant, specializing in information technology management and business transformation, Amod, has, over the past 17 years, successfully led and managed the implementation of multiple highly-visible, mission-critical software systems through the pragmatic adoption of Scrum and XP practices such incremental software delivery, customer collaboration, transparency, TDD, and continuous integration. In recent years, he has provided thought leadership to the Department of Homeland Security in transformation towards Agile.
With years of Lean+Agile experience, He has conducted public training in Agile, given lectures to open forums, and written technology papers about futuristic science and technology. He brings a unique blend of technical excellence and customer service to bear on his projects and training.
Shameem C. Hameed
Founder and Chairman of the ZH Group which includes ZH Healthcare and VectorShades.
ZH Healthcare Pioneered Health IT as a Service(HITaaS) with its product,BlueEHS: HITaaS.
BlueEHS: HITaaS is a Freemium, SaaS, platform that empowers healthcare service providers and innovators to quickly build and deploy their Health IT solutions at minimal time and cost, using a set of tools and modules available onasecureandregulatorycompliantscalable cloud.
BlueEHS components covers patient engagement, telemedicine, outpatient and inpatient care setting needs.
BlueEHS is an ONC Certified completed ambulatory EHR.
Components include Electronic Health Records(HER), critical care & emergency Medicine, ward & bed management, admissions& registrations, doctors & nurses desk, integrated PMS, e-Rx, lab interfaces, radiology and Pacs, a telemedicine-enabled comprehensive patient portal and more.
Combined with its RCM services and its EMR consultancy services it is a truly holistic solution that addresses the complex needs of medical providers around the world.
BlueEHS: HITaaS serves over 10,000 practices in over 75 countries
ZH Healthcare is also the foremost developer of the most popular open source EMR solution, OpenEMR, that is used in over 300,000 locations in 180 countries in 36 languages serving a potential 600 million patients.
VectorShades provides structural steel detailing services and rebar detailing services for the construction and engineering industry. With over 60 specialized engineers and detailers VectorShades has successfully completed and delivered industrial, commercial, institutional and infrastructure projects to fabricators all over the United States.
Previously:
Lawyer, enrolled in the Bar Council of Delhi and practicing in the High Court of Kerala.
Member of the Cochin Stock Exchange, Ltd.
Co-founderof Peninsular Capital Markets Ltd. a brokerage company, operating in over 300 locations in India. The company was a member of NSE, BSE, NSDL, and the OTCEI.
Co-founder of Datamate Software and Exports Pvt., Ltd., SoftScribe, LLC and Software Fusions.
Degrees in Law and Commerce from the Mahatma Gandhi University.
Diploma in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management.
Specialties: construction industry, structural engineering, healthcare industry, outsourcing, electronic health records, patient portal, HIPAA, cloud-based SaaS, hospital management systems
Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy
Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy is Chief Data Scientist at Halliburton (NYSE: HAL). He is also Senior Fellow of International Cyber Security Center at George Mason University. He is a veteran of Big Data and Data Science. He is a global leader often referred as Venture Idealist, who transform businesses by leveraging Big Data, Data Science, and Emerging Technologies.
Sheela Murthy
Sheela Murthy spent her formative years moving all over India with her family, since her father was in the Armed Forces. This gave her an appreciation and understanding of the subtle differences of the varied cultures within India. She learned to adapt quickly and make friends easily. The discipline so inherent in the military prevailed at home, also. Sheela and her two sisters were constantly motivated to excel academically; a grounding that proved immensely important in subsequent years.
While her siblings pursued the field of medicine, the traditional benchmark for Indian success stories, Sheela remained loyal to the humanities. She attended the prestigious Stella Maris College in Chennai (Madras) and completed her major in history, with a minor in political science, graduated with winning the Proficiency Prize (First Rank) in her class, and was selected the Best Outgoing Student of the entire college. She felt that the practice of law would be the ideal profession for her, with her strong sense of justice and fair play, and would provide an opportunity for her to interact with people and make a difference in their lives. She enrolled for the LLB program at the University Law College in Bangalore, and graduated with the First Rank from over 1,500 students at the entire Bangalore University. While still studying law, Sheela stood first in the Jessup Moot Court competition for law students from all over India. The Jessup Moot Court was organized by the American Society of International Law. She then was selected to represent India at the world level competition where she stood among the top three individual oralists and her team stood second in the written memorials at the international division.
Despite all the accolades and successes as a student, Sheela felt that she was the least accomplished of her siblings, since she was not inclined towards the sciences. Only upon gaining admission to Harvard Law School did her father share his pride in her accomplishments. With a dedication and commitment that, by now, had become a part of her, Sheela excelled at Harvard University.
Graduating with flying colors, Attorney Murthy began her career in corporate and real estate law, working twelve- to eighteen-hour days, often seven day weeks, at a large and prestigious firm in New York City. She moved to Baltimore, working for well-known firms there to escape the concrete jungle and build her immigration law practice. Continuing to work long hours, Ms. Murthy credits her attention to detail with the work ethos she has come to so admire in her adopted country. It was almost inevitable that she would build her own firm, to best achieve her ideals and goals, to providing a one-stop office for immigration law matters, with empathy and understanding from the perspective of fellow immigrants. She had been there and personally gone through the process.
The Law Office of Sheela Murthy came into existence in May 1994, thanks in no small measure to the consistent support and encouragement of her husband, Vasant Nayak. Ms. Murthy credits him with being her teammate and support system. It was Mr. Nayak who convinced her that the internet was the wave of the future. He has designed and built MurthyDotCom, dedicated to providing free services through a regular chat, online bulletin board, weekly eNewsletter, and numerous online services. Located in the more pristine environs of Owings Mills, Maryland, surrounded by woods and nature, the firm’s physical location in the Baltimore-Washington corridor serves only as a base for the worldwide operations of her firm’s immigration law practice.
Operating as the Murthy Law Firm since 2005, the firm has been the couple’s brainchild since its beginning, nurtured and cherished. Every client is a new milestone and every case is deserving of the attention it receives. After all, who would understand better that an immigration case is not just a case? Each file embodies the lives and dreams of a family like her own – a family that wants to participate and share in the American dream – adding to the dreams and aspirations of the immigrants who built this great nation.
The Murthy Law Firm has grown by leaps and bounds, supported by carefully selected professionals, passionate about being the best and giving nothing less to those who seek its services. To Ms. Murthy, every individual with whom she has come in contact has given her a new perspective and the inspiration to keep improving upon what has already been achieved – be it the amazing American dedication to work and results or the innate Indian ability to triumph over difficult odds. Today, Ms. Murthy, herself, makes an excellent ideal for those wishing to realize the great American dream. While cherishing her roots, which taught her to make the most rewarding use of each and every blessed opportunity, she also feels deeply attached to her adopted country, which respects perseverance over inheritance and limits an individual only by her dreams. In an act of giving back, Sheela Murthy and Vasant Nayak dedicate themselves to community service efforts in the United States and in India through the MurthyNAYAK Foundation.
