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Ashwin became involved with NetIP at the local chapter level in 2008. As President of one of our largest chapters, NetIP Chicago, he helped formulate and implement a series of initiatives and strategic goals designed to revitalize the chapter. The ensuing rebranding effort focused on the ideals and pillars on which NetIP was founded over two decades ago and helped transform the chapter into one of the preeminent professional networking organizations in Chicago.
Under Ashwin’s leadership, NetIP Chicago earned the prestigious “Best Large Chapter” and “Best Board” awards in 2010. NetIP Chicago also hosted the largest charitable fundraising campaign in NetIP history, raising over $100,000 for charity.
Ashwin now occupies the helm of NetIP-North America as 2011 President. Through his Executive Team and dedicated volunteers, along with over 250 chapter leaders all over the continent, he plans to continue to expand the reach of the NetIP brand across the U.S. and Canada, while focusing on the professional development, cultural and political awareness, and community needs of professionals with an interest in the South Asian diaspora.
His drive to establish NetIP as one of the preeminent non-profit, professional organizations in the U.S. and Canada is indicative of the organization’s broader ability and desire to leverage the talent and resources of past and present NetIP leaders and members to make an impact in the community.
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Amit Varia, Director of Operations, NetIP North America
amit@netip.org
Amit is in 2nd year as the Director of Operations for NetIP. He joined the NetIP Chicago Board in 2010 as Technology Chair. In less than a month, his passion and dedication for the organization led to his appointment as an Executive Committee member (VP of Technology) with the Chicago Chapter. Amit’s efforts helped NetIP Chicago earn the prestigious “Best Large Chapter” and “Best Board” awards in 2010. He also spear-headed the marketing effort behind the largest charitable fundraising campaign in NetIP history, helping raise over $100,000 for “Cancer is Colorblind.”
Joining NetIP North America in 2011, he helped bring the charity concept to North America and launched Charity is Colorblind. Chapters across the organization supported their local communities and global non-profits alike through Charity is Colorblind. In addition, he helped launch the first Chapter Grant program and allowed NetIP North America invest in the success of its chapters.
Outside of overseeing NetIP North America’s operations, Amit is employed as a Technical Account Manager for Google. In his spare time, he enjoys hand-crafting vegetarian pizzas from high-quality and creative ingredients. Make sure to ask him for a recipe and how you get actively involved with NetIP this year!
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Conference Chair - Kesha Parikh, VP of Events, NetIP North America
kesha.parikh@netip.org
Kesha joined the NetIP team in 2010 as a community outreach chair for NetIP Chicago. Personally witnessing NetIP’s strength in bringing the community together to make an impact, Kesha returned in 2011 to lead NetIP Chicago as chapter President.
Through her efforts as President, Kesha sustained the re-branding initiatives introduced in 2010 by continuing pillar focused events and leading another successful 2nd Annual Cancer is Colorblind campaign. She further expanded the chapter brand by spearheading one of the most acclaimed community service events of the year “Honoring Narayanan Krishnan.” Kesha also commissioned the overhaul of the chapter’s technology platform which has been the inspiration for NetIP North America’s 2012 technology platform for the organization. NetIP Chicago earned “Best Community Service Event,” “Best President” and “Best Initiative” for their efforts in 2011.
As VP of Events for NetIP North America, Kesha is eager to broaden NetIP’s impact nationally by leading our annual conference, Think Change. As the name implies, Kesha aspires to put a spotlight on NetIP’s rebranding effort that is now initiated throughout our chapters nationwide. Through Think Change, Kesha would like to inspire our attendees to think about the changes they can bring on to make an impact their personal and professionals lives as well as the community they work and live in.
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Nirav has been involved with NetIP since 2011, starting out as a volunteer for the Charitable Campaigns team. After taking on the role of VP of Strategic Development, he was elected as the Chicago chapter President and is currently serving in that role for 2012.
Nirav worked together with the NetIP Chicago CiC team to raise over $100,000 for its second year in 2011. Since taking over as President he is working to ensure that the pillar growth initiative started by his predecessors continues. Working in new types of programming that resonate with the Think Change theme for this year's conference, Nirav hopes to take NetIP Chicago to highest level yet.
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Priya joined NetIP Chicago in 2011 and has evolved her role from committee chair to Vice President Strategic Development in 2012. She is heavily involved with the Chicago chapter and bringing the community together through special events. She looks forward the National Conference coming back to Chicago and excited to be on a great team of individuals bringing some of the most influential South Asians together in one arena.
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Morlie joined NetIP Chicago this year as the VP of Political Awareness. She is passionate about empowering the South Asian community to become more active politically, and feels fortunate to be able to augment that passion by working on the national conference this year. Morlie put together the panels on Political Awareness and Community Outreach, and is thrilled with the caliber of speakers that will be participating this year. In addition to the conference, Morlie also works on local Chicago political events for NetIP Chicago. She can’t wait to attend the amazing conference everyone has worked so hard to organize!
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Archith Seshadri, Programming Lead, Professional Development & Continuing Eductation
Archith Seshadri serves as the VP of Communication and Logistics for NetIP Atlanta. He joined the board as the professional chair in 2011. He's actually covered the NetIP Atlanta conference back in 2005 for a South Asian magazine called Khabar.
As part of NetIP Atlanta's executive board, Archith has raised nearly $2,000 in sponsorship, proactively managed communications and logistics for several local events and also liaised with the national board to help with conference programming. Archith was instrumental in organizing the 2011 Diwali Gala banquet and managed every area of the planning process. From leading calls, to managing new board members, to planning events, Archith's passion for NetIP is manifested in his contributions and commitment to the organization. He also manages the local chapter's social media accounts.
Outside his NetIP duties, Archith is an anchor/reporter for the ABC affiliate in Augusta, Ga. Archith graduated from Georgia Tech with a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering and a Masters degree in Industrial Engineering. He is a former CNN intern and used to work as an IT consultant at Accenture before switching careers to journalism. He also serves on the board for the Asian American Journalists Association and runs a music school where he trains students in western classical piano and voice.
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Nayan Patel, Programming Lead, Professional Development
Nayan joined NetIP in 2010 as the Community Pillar Chair, San Francisco Bay Area. This year, Nayan leads a great team as President of the Bay Area NetIP chapter. With the time she has served on NetIP, she has come to believe that there is a huge need to bring the South Asian community together. Professionally, Nayan has been working in public health as a Dietitian for the Women Infants and Children Program and obtained her Master in Maternal and Child Nutrition from UC Davis last December. For fun, she enjoys running, baking yummy desserts, traveling, and keeping a smile on her face. She’s excited to be a part of the conference planning team and hopes to meet you in Chicago!
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Saloni Desai, Programming Lead, Professional Development
Saloni joined NetIP in 2011 as the Director of Public Relations for the San Francisco Bay Area chapter. As Director of Public
Relations, her goal to enhance the South Asian community by strengthening our network and developing a powerful impact in society. Professionally, she works for a Pharmaceutical/Healthcare firm as a business strategist. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, dancing, reading, watching films, just to name a few. She is excited to be part of the Chicago Conference team and bring the idea of ThinkChange into action.
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Ajay Gohil is a Health Care attorney, who has handled regulatory and administrative work with various federal, state, and city agencies, including the Office of Counsel to the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, the Georgia State Attorney General's Office (where he represented the Georgia State Medical Board), and the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia (where he currently represents the D.C. Department of Health).
He has assisted with developing Programming for the 2007 NetIP Conference in Miami, the 2008 Conference in Boston, and the 2011 Conference in Washington, D.C.
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Charitable Campaigns Committee - Hima Dasika
hima.dasika@netip.org
This is Hima's fourth year volunteering with NetIP and has found it to be a rewarding experience to give back to the South Asian community. Previous roles include serving as the Special Events Director for NetSAP DC in 2009, VP of Social Events for NetIP-NY in 2010, and Special Events Chair and Fundraising Lead for the 20th Annual NetIP Conference, which took place in Washington DC. Hima is the Founder and President of Dewdrop Special Events, and event planning firm specializing in the design, planning, and implementation of all social events, including weddings. Hima obtained her undergraduate degree in Accountancy from The George Washington University and her MBA from the Smith School of Business at University of Maryland. Hima will eat anything and everything, and comes prepared with a fork and spoon on hand. She writes about her cooking experiments in a food blog called Dewdrop Recipes. She also enjoys traveling, skiing, running, and participating in book clubs.
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Purvi Patel joined NetIP in 2009 as the Director of Events, San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA) with a desire to re-establish the NetIP chapter. Purvi continued as President for the local chapter in 2010 and 2011 to see through her goals of making it as the largest South Asian organization in the Bay Area. As a member of the San Francisco Bay Area community for a few years, she saw the need and great potential for a networking organization that reaches out to South Asian professionals. She finds great satisfaction in networking and meeting new people, has a drive for professional development and is passionate about the South Asian culture. Professionally, she has an M.S. in Immunology and works in Clinical Operations in the pharmaceutical/medical device industry managing clinical trials. Outside of work and NetIP, she enjoys working out, running, cooking/baking, reading and traveling, among many other things! She’s excited to be a part of the Chicago Conference team in 2012 to help bring you a conference that will empower you to Think Change!
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Marketing & Technology Committee - Priti Kapadia
priti.kapadia@netip.org
Priti has just recently joined the NetIP team, and is very excited to be joining the Marketing and Sales team for the NetIP annual conference. She is thrilled that conference will be coming to her home city of Chicago, and can't wait to show off what an amazing city it is for young professionals of all backgrounds. She hopes that her passion and expertise for design assist the marketing team in taking NetIP and the annual conference to the next level in developing a successful and creative organization for young, eager South Asian professionals. Priti is currently pursuing a master's of fine arts degree in graphic design while working as a freelance designer.
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Marketing & Technology Committee - Pooja Dhawan
pooja@netip.org
Pooja has served in various capacities for NetIP for the last 5 years. Most recently as the Vice President of External Affairs for North America, her role since 2009 on the national team has been to solidify the brand and make it a household name. Her passion for clear consistant communication, branding and public relations has magnified the reach of NetIP as an organization. NetIP's radio show, Prime Time with NetIP has been her brain-child and she continues to host the show on HumDesi Radio every first Monday at 6pm local time all cities. For the 2012 conference, Pooja is the marketing chair and brings a wealth of experience to the table.
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Marketing & Technology Committee - Sunny Pandit
sunny.pandit@netip.org
Sunny joined NetIP in order to connect and network with South Asian professionals in the Bay Area. Sunny was previously the Director of IT/Communications for the NetIP SFBA board. Professionally, Sunny is a Computer Engineer for a defense contractor. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling, music and taking part in outdoor activities. Sunny was excited to see NetIP back in the Bay Area, finds it very rewarding interacting with others in our community and is looking forward to joining the Think Change conference team to continue connecting!
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Anand has been involved with NetIP Chicago for the past two years, as cultural chair, membership chair, and assisting with sponsorship for NetIP Chicago’s Cancer Is Colorblind campaign. He is looking forward to an exciting conference in his hometown of Chicago. Anand received his undergraduate and law degrees from Northwestern University and is currently an attorney at Schopf & Weiss LLP practicing business litigation.
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