The following candidates have been elected for the IITMAANA Bay Area Chapter committee for 2018-2019:

PRESIDENT: Naren Nayak, ’79 EE VICE PRESIDENT: Mohan Kompella, ’97 Aero SECRETARY: Shobana Sivasankar, ’79 ME Spouse TREASURER: Niran Kundapur, ’98 ME

* The President, Secretary and Treasurer were unopposed. There were two contestants for Vice President: Mohan Kompella (41 votes, winner) and Radhika Venkatraman (7 votes).

On behalf of IITMAANA, we congratulate the new Chapter Committee and we look forward to their leadership in the future.

We also appreciate Radhika's interest in running for Vice President and encourage her to actively contribute towards events in the Bay Area, including working to win the Diwali Dhamaka (she and Anitha Dixit led the winning DD team in 2013).

 

        PRESIDENT

       VICE-PRESIDENT

SECRETARY

TREASURER

Naren Nayak

Shobana Sivasankar

Niran Kundapur

Naren Nayak / '79 EE

Prior to 2013 I volunteered extensively at my son’s school, and to a lesser extent with some non-profits. In 2013 I started helping the team running the IITMAANA Bay Area Chapter as a volunteer, working on  professional and social events. In the years that followed my involvement with the Chapter team increased steadily. About 2 years ago I was invited to take over as Chapter President.

The first big event the Chapter organized in 2016 was the Chennai Flood Relief Fundraiser Concert, where we raised a net of over $50,000 in a single event, thanks to the generosity of Chief Guest Sundar Pichai, and hundreds of IITM Alumni. Since then the Bay Area Chapter has organized many events. On the professional front we organized the Gajendra Circle Conference in 2016 and 2017, with a significant number of attendees who were drawn to a mix of professional and social panels. In each of those years other well-attended events include the “Alumni, Family, and Friends Picnic”, the Holiday Party, and the Director’s visit. At the PanIIT level, in both 2016 and 2017, the Chapter played a significant role in organizing the Bay Area Leadership Conference as well as the Diwali Dhamaka. These PanIIT events drew hundreds of attendees/participants from the IITM Alumni Community. Interspersed between the large-scale events we kept the Chapter humming with regular Happy Hour events, get-togethers for visiting IITM professors and Alumni, a Ski Trip, and a Hike.

In the past 2 years the Chapter has organized events addressing the needs of the more than 50-year spread of our Alumni, while ensuring spouses and children would also be heavily involved. I am deeply grateful to the Chapter team and the enthusiastic band of volunteers, many of whom returned to help with multiple events.

Why am I running for office now? The Alumni community has responded whole-heartedly to the Chapter’s activities and vibrancy, going by the significant increase in participation. But, there is a lot more that needs to be done, both professionally and socially for the Alumni and their Families. I’m energized by the tremendous support I’ve received from the Alumni community, and look forward to using this momentum in taking the Chapter to greater heights in the next term, should I get an opportunity to serve.

I request your support to help me do that.

I endorse Mohan Kompella, Shobana Sivasankar, and Niran Kundapur for the positions they  are contesting.

Nominated by: Vijay Raman  Seconded by: R. Sivasankar

Radhika Venkatraman

Radhika V is high –energy motivated individual who gets things done. She is leader with great communication skills and works extremely well with people. She is passionate about bringing people  together around shared causes both in her personal and professional life. In her personal life through cultural activities like dance and food and professionally in her role as a Project Manager helping to share vision and empower teams by bringing everyone along in the journey. She will be able to bring these skills into the community building as a IITMAANA office bearer.

Over the last decade or so, Radhika has been very active in the IITMAANA Bay Area events especially the Diwali Dhamaka. She is the spouse of IIT Madras alumnus R C Venkat who has also been active in the Bay Area chapter including as President of the Bay Area chapter. Radhika has been a Project Manager at Wells Fargo for the past 3 years. Prior to that she was a Project Manager with IBM in San Jose, CA.

Nominated by: Monishi Sanyal  Seconded by: R. C. Venkatraman

Nagamohan (Mohan) Kompella/ '97 Aero

Why am I running for office now? Since moving with my family to the Bay Area last year, in August, I was fortunate to the part of a few IITMAANA Bay Area Chapter activities including the Diwali Dhamaka, the 2017 Holiday Party and most recently, the Gajendra Circle event on Mar 31, 2018.

As I volunteer(ed) and participate(d) in these events, it has been quite impressive to see, first-hand, the passion and enthusiasm of the many IITM alumni and their families.  I believe there’s an opportunity to do more for, and with, the alumni and their families in the Bay Area - in terms of both professional and social events - so we can foster a greater sense of community, help members network better and help everyone advance professional and socially. In this role, I believe I can help the President and other office members do that, and I humbly request your support to do that.

Nominated by: Anitha Dixit Seconded by: Gaurav Bhaya

Shobana Sivasankar

Prior to 2012 I had volunteered extensively at my son's school and also at several other events in Texas. When my husband and I moved to the Bay Area in 2015 our core group of friends were Alumni families from my husband's college, IIT Madras. I started helping the Bay Area Chapter of IITMAANA team in small ways like assisting with costumes for the 2015 Diwali Dhamaka. In 2016 the Bay Area Chapter did their first big event which was the Chennai Flood Relief  Fundraiser Concert, where I was in charge of seating in the auditorium. I also volunteered at the Family Picnic in 2016  and 2017, the Director's visit in 2016, and at the Holiday Party in 2016 and 2017.

Why am I running for office? I enjoy the volunteer opportunities that come my way as well as the special camaraderie that arises from such team efforts as I look forward to working with TEAM IITMAANA. I seek your support to do so.

Nominated by: Kamesh B. Gargeya  Seconded by: Padma R. Gargeya

Niran Kundapur/'98 ME

I was at BloomReach recently heading the product for personalized search for ecommerce sites. After several years there I left to do something different: help startups launch and do volunteer work. Currently I’m volunteering in the Data team of Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization founded by Michael Bloomberg to promote common sense gun reform. Previously I was in the founding team of Pan IIT Southeast US chapter based in Atlanta and was excited to partner with amazing IIT alumni. My rol e was to drive membership overall and drive attendance at the first annual conference. I’ve also consulted for Legal Services of New York City as a consultant with Harvard Business School Community Partners. My role was to ​ evaluate the performance and structure of the organization’s legal delivery system in Brooklyn. Here’s more​.

Why am I running for Treasurer? I owe a lot to IITM, IIT alumni, and the Bay Area. The IIT family events and casual meetups have been a lot of fun, and professional events have been insightful. So I want to contribute more to the IITMAANA Bay Area. When I was  nominated for this role I was excited to have the opportunity and I plan to continue the strong tradition and also support the Bay Area team in achieving their goals. I look forward to your support. Thank you.

Nominated by: Praveen Patnala  Seconded by: Padmanabha Vedam