Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan

Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan is the 23-year-old Managing Editor of India Currents, a 21-year-old monthly magazine. Throughout high school and college, Ragini wrote an award-winning column for India Currents and was the sole youth member of the inaugural board of contributors to the San Jose Mercury News. She studied bharatanatyam with Abhinaya Dance Company and performed her arangetram in 2000. She was also ranked 2nd in the state of California in high school Oratory. Ragini entered Duke University in 2003 as a recipient of the Angier B. Duke scholarship, the university’s premier merit award. At Duke, she majored in Literary Theory with minor concentrations in Cultural Anthropology and English. In 2007, Ragini graduated summa cum laude, with departmental distinction and as a Phi Beta Kappa member. Her academic work has been published in a number of Duke journals, as well as Women & Performance: a journal of feminist theory (New York University) and the Georgetown University Critical Theory Journal.
Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan
Managing Editor, India Currents
editor@indiacurrents.com
Phone: (408) 324-0488 ext 226                        
www.indiacurrents.com

Dilip G. Saraf - Executive/Career-Life Coach, Author-Speaker

Dilip brings over 40 years’ experience from the corporate and consulting worlds to his career and life coaching practice. Having successfully reinvented himself through four very different careers, Dilip brings a rich perspective and hands-on realism to his career and life coaching practice. Since his graduation from IIT-Bombay with a degree in engineering, and a master’s from Stanford, Dilip has pioneered many breakthroughs in technology (holds two patents), personal leadership (has authored five books on making successful transitions), and personal success (has helped over 4,000 clients globally through their reinvention during the high-tech’s toughest economic times). His corporate experience includes executive positions responsible for engineering and product development. His other career experiences include technology consulting, marketing, and leadership development. Dilip has authored dozens of articles on career management, which appear on various on-line and print outlets. Dilip is also published in the Chief Executive and the Harvard Business Review. He is an instructor at the University of California, Santa Cruz Extension, where he delivers two courses in transition and career management. Dilip is a sought-after speaker at public and private forums on jobs, careers, leadership challenges, and how to be an effective leader. He has been LinkedIn’s #1 Career Coach (from a global pool of over 500 coaches).
Please contact Dilip at DGSaraf@aol.com

Beth Wilson

Beth Wilson, best-selling author, speaker and Intuitive Life Coach has built a reputation on sound advice. Her innovative style has won her international acclaim. Beth has developed a multidimensional approach to accelerated personal growth  and creative life change. Her sessions have been described  as “electric with discovery, intent with focus and outrageously profound.” Beth helps people to connect and then apply their newly acquired knowledge in a concrete way. The results are transformative. Wilson’s client list includes politicians, celebrities, scholars, royals, Olympians, models, parents, journalists and financial executives. Beth also has formed an extensive international network of physicians, osteopaths, R.N.s, complimentary healthcare practitioners, therapists, and social workers that utilize her skills for individualized wellness programs. Wilson conducts sessions over the phone and travels extensively to meet with clients in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe Beth Wilson is the author of the best-selling book, Meditations For New Mothers, which was featured on the front page of The Wall Street Journal due to its volume sales in the first five months of publication. Currently, it has sold more than 800,000 copies and is translated into 15 different languages, sold worldwide. The success of Wilson’s first book prompted publication of Meditations For Mothers Of Toddlers (1995) and Meditations During Pregnancy (2001). These have sold more than 450,000 copies and can be purchased around the globe.
Wilson authored two more popular books, Restoring Balance to A Mother’s Busy Life (1996) and Creating Balance In Your Child’s Life (1999). Wilson is currently finishing her eagerly anticipated book He’s Just No Good For You: A Guide To Leaving a Destructive Relationship, expected in January 2009. Wilson is consistently sought after by print and broadcast media to provide comment on the issue of life balance and  has traveled extensively in support of her books, including two national tours and a Mother’s Day radio tour. Wilson earned her B.A. in International Relations from Oberlin College. Upon graduating, she worked as a Legislative Assistant for a prominent member of Congress who was the only woman on the prestigious and powerful Armed Services Committee.She drafted legislation, floor statements and speeches on the Congresswoman's behalf and “learned first-hand, how challenging it was to operate in a man's world and how misunderstood "woman’s issues" truly are." The mother of three wonderful children, Wilson’s active involvement with parenting and women’s issues, as well as personal growth and change, gives her a unique perspective on the challenges facing men, women and families today. Her work contributes to this end.

Monica Kumar
SENIOR DIRECTOR PRODUCT MARKETING
LINUX, VIRTUALIZATION AND OPEN SOURCE
ORACLE CORPORATION

As senior director of product marketing at Oracle Corporation, Ms. Kumar is responsible for driving the product marketing, business development, customer and sales programs for Linux, Virtualization, and Open Source at Oracle. She is also responsible for Linux and virtualization related marketing strategy and programs with industry partners. As a recognized leader and evangelist for Linux and open source, Ms. Kumar often represents Oracle in customer, partner and industry events. Prior to joining Oracle eleven years ago, Ms. Kumar spent five years in Product Marketing at Informix Corp. Ms. Kumar has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a master’s degree in Business Administration from San Jose State University. A proud mother of two kids, Ms. Kumar, actively volunteers in her kids’ school and also for the Indian Business and Professional Women (IBPW) organization for many years, most recently as Co-Executive Director.

Anu Mahal

Anu Mahal has an entrepreneurial background.  She is CEO and cofounder of The Platinum Group (http://www.theplatinumorganics.com/).  She has also been cofounder of Basic Instinct (Retail and web based sales and marketing company) and Cofounder of Suissa (cosmetics company).  She has also worked in US banking industry and has successfully raised funding for business ventures and charities. She is also an advisor to one of the India’s leading development Alternative Group, which is a non-profit organization established in 1983 creating large scale sustainable livelihoods ( http://www.devalt.org/ ). 
Tel: 1-408-781-2300
Email: amahal@aol.com

Annie Dandavati-Chandra

Annie Dandavati-Chandra has a long history as a successful professional, businesswoman, community leader, mother and wife. Five years ago, when her youngest child went to college, Annie decided to pursue her primary passion and she commenced the study of law, concurrent to her counseling practice. She graduated from law school with her Juris doctorate degree, cleared the California Bar exam and is now a practicing attorney in San Jose , CA .  She has a general law practice and is also an associate with the Law Firm of Brown and Ramirez, with a focus on commercial and business litigation.  Prior to that, she owned and operated Dandavati Rehabilitation Services for over 18 years, where they worked with workers with industrial injuries providing Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling services. While maintaining her business, whether it was Counseling or the practice of Law, she has also been a community leader in the South Bay, with an extensive background including having served as the two term chair of the SC County Commission on the Status of Women, founder of an Indo-American Senior Program, Founding President of the Allied Health Professionals of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, and an American Leadership Forum Senior Fellow. In 1996 she was a candidate for the 15th Congressional District, gaining accolades from community leaders, but chose to withdraw from the race due to her children being too young at the time. The Mercury News, described her candidacy as follows: "Democrats familiar with the interviews said both Dandavati and Estruth are credible candidates. But they said Dandavati, a vocational rehabilitation counselor struck more chords with the group in an appearance Tuesday. 'Jerry didn’t discredit himself,' said one person in the room, 'but he hit a single. Annie hit a home run." Today Ms. Dandavati-Chandra's goal is to take her proven track record to the practice of law, bringing the same enthusiasm and passion, and to use her new found skills to contribute to community in a different capacity. She is married to Dinesh Chandra, a TiE Charter member and founder of Global Citizenship Inc. and DNA Global. They have four children, Neelum who earner her Masters degree from Columbia university and now works in London, Sonia who is working on her Masters program at the New College, NY, and the younger two both or whom graduated from UC Berkely, Natasha who works as a Business Analyst and is getting ready for Law school and Neil who after working as a economic analyst decided to follow his passion, education, and is currently enrolled in the Teach for America program.

Diana Rohini LaVigne

As a professional journalist for 10+ years, Diana Rohini LaVigne has contributed a wide variety of articles and reviews that have been published in magazines, newspapers, online and offline newsletters, corporate marketing materials, and for broadcast news. Her credits include; Couture Asia, India-West, South Asian Insider, Indian Insider, indianlifeandstyle.com, Rivaaj Magazine, India New England, Marwar Magazine, BNN TV-9, BNN TV-23, Back Bay Guide, Brookline Business Report, Lokvani Newsletter, BizLand.com, Newbury Street News and Maverick Magazine.  Currently, she is a contributing writer for India-West and Indian Life & Style Magazine. Drawing from her degree in Humanities and Journalism at Harvard University combined with her extensive world travel including time spent living in the Middle East, Africa and significant travel throughout Australia, North & South America, Europe, Asia, and Antarctica, she is passionate about being globally-minded. After graduating from Harvard, Diana Rohini studied Theology and Journalism at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Her position that followed was in non-profit executive management in her hometown of Boston, MA. Ms. LaVigne has held several highly profile positions including Executive Director of the Newbury Street League, where she was key in bringing the renowned Boston Globe Jazz & Blues Festival to Newbury Street for the first time, Publicist for a high technology company BizLand, Inc and then C.E.O. of the Brookline Chamber of Commerce, one of the top 20 chambers in Massachusetts where she received an award for her efforts launching an international internship program. Additionally, Diana Rohini worked as a freelance journalist most frequently for the Back Bay Guide contributing feature stories and fashion columns. She also was the Executive Producer and Co-Host of a weekly 1-hour Boston Cable show “It’s All About Arts” for nearly 5 years. She then launched her own public relations agency, FireRock Productions which focused on International companies needing PR representation in the United States. Wanting to return to journalism, Diana Rohini became the Associate Editor of Indian Life & Style Magazine and Online Editor for award-winning India-West.  Recently, Diana Rohini joined an international firm, Nair & Co as head of Global Communications which combines her love of writing and communications with an international landscape.
Diana Rohini has never been one to shy from getting involved with the community and still has many pet projects today.  She’s worked in the past with the Red Cross’ Disaster Relief Efforts, American Cancer Society, America India Foundation, TiE and the Indian Association of Greater Boston.  She was a founding member of SAMTA International which helped new teenage Indian immigrants adjust to America socially, academically and professionally. Her current projects are as the Bay area chair of the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA), Co-Chair of India Community Center’s Community Partners’ Program, and as a film reviewer for the South AsianAmerican Films and. Arts Association(SAAFA). Diana Rohini lives in the Ardenwood area of Fremont with her husband, Vikramaditya Gupta.

Nithya A. Ruff

Nithya A. Ruff is a High Technology Executive with over 20 years of experience in marketing, business development, and product and services management. She has demonstrated proven results in strategy, positioning, partnering and execution of product plans at companies large and small.   She has created and led high performance teams, and is an innovative problem-solver with excellent communication and relationship-building skills. Nithya has an MBA with concentrations in Finance, Accounting and Entrepreneurship from the University of Rochester, NY, an MS in Computer Science from North Dakota State University and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Bangalore University, Bangalore, India. She lives in the bay area with her husband and two daughters and is passionate about woman’s success in business and life. 
Nithya has spoken on presence, IMS and FMC, unified messaging and unified communications at international industry conferences including IP Telephony, keynoting at the International Association of Messaging Professionals conference, IBM’s Lotusphere, 21st Century Communications Conference, VON Europe and the Information System Security Association. She has also written articles for several professional journals including AFSM and the International Conference on Supercomputing.

Ellen Grace Henson

Ellen Grace Henson is a strategic product management, marketing, and technology consultant who has worked with companies, from start-ups to $2B in revenues, in diverse markets including manufacturing, energy, enterprise applications and services, interactive and streaming media, database, personalization, interactive training, networking, communications, and collaboration.
Ellen Grace drove product and marketing communications activities as VP Marketing for WorkSpot, an open source business services start-up. Before this executive position, Ellen Gra ce spent over nine years at Silicon Graphics, where she proved her management, leadership and influencing skills across both hardware and software products. Ellen Grace brings skills in managing all aspects of a product's lifecycle to MARKETING MECHANICS clients.
Early in her career, after graduation from MIT, Ellen Grace spent five years as a graphics software engineer and technical manager. This experience added technical depth to her creative and strategic skills and helped build her unique ability to translate between technical capabilities and market requirements.

Leon Beauchman

Leon Beauchman is Area Manager in the External Affairs organization at AT&T and is a 23-year veteran of the company. In his current capacity he manages governmental and community relations in Santa Clara County. Previously, Leon worked in the company’s marketing organization in the areas of advertising, product marketing and market management. Leon Beauchman is involved in several education and community programs. He is currently serving on the Santa Clara County Board of Education, the governing Board for the Mexican Heritage Corporation and as president of the Santa Clara County Alliance of Black Educators.

Suchitra Narayen

Suchitra Narayen is a Senior Legal Director with the Global Sales and Services legal group of Sun Microsystems, Inc. She joined Sun in 1999, initially supporting a number of product groups with respect to inbound licensing and product release issues. In her current role, she oversees outbound sales, services and licensing transactions and general governance matters for the Emerging Markets region, which includes Mexico, Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, India, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
She also manages the Sun Business Governance system, and support global marketing and sales programs. In addition to her legal role, Suchitra is a Certified Sigma Black Belt and the Master Black Belt for the Sun Legal and Compliance department. She has also pioneered the use of offshore legal resources to enhance productivity and improve cost effectiveness.
Suchitra is a Gold Medalist who received her LL.B from the University of Calgary and is admitted to practice in Alberta, Canada and California. Prior to joining Sun, Suchitra was a senior litigation associate at Pettit & Martin and Coudert Brothers and the Managing Litigation Attorney at Acer America, where she handled complex M&A/restructuring matters in addition to IP, employment and commercial litigation.