KEYNOTES
Cindy Chavez, Vice Mayor, San Jose

Arlene Kaiser, Motivational Speaker

SPEAKERS AND MENTORS
Radha Basu, Chairman of the Board, SupportSoft

Anuradha Basu, Director, Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship

Aradhana Bali, Sr. Associate, Google

Brenna Bolger, Founder, President and CEO, PRx Communication Strategists

Priya David, Reporter, KTVU Channel 2

Carrie Ellett, National Program Director, Girls for a Change

Alo Ghosh, Entrepreneur, Ex-Wharton Professor

Saima Hasan, Junior, Stanford University

Talat Hasan, Chairperson and Trustee Founder, India Community Center

Shami Khorana, President, HCL America

Lata Krishnan, President, American India Foundation

Julie Patel, Reporter, Mercury News

Kalapana Peddibhotla, Attorney

Judge Rise Jones Pichon, Superior Court, Santa Clara County

Dilip Saraf, Author and Career Coach

Inderpreet Sawhney, Attorney-at-Law, Chugh Law Firm

Shruti Sheth, Cisco/Sankara Eye Foundation

Anu Shukla, Founder, President and CEO, RubiconSoft

Karyn Sinunu, Chief Assistant District Attorney, Santa Clara Count

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SPEAKER BIOS

Radha Basu, Chairman of the Board, SupportSoft

Ms. Basu served a 20-year tenure as general manager for Hewlett Packard’s international software division before she joined SupportSoft as CEO in July 1999. She is considered a pioneer of the support automation market having built SupportSoft into a global market leader in support automation software, with customers, including GE, Cisco Systems, Bank of America, BellSouth, Procter & Gamble, IBM and Siebel Systems.

Radha makes an effort to mentor young girls in science as well as lend her expertise to other woman professionals in the technology industry.

She recently retired from her role as CEO and along with her husband Dipak; founded the Anudip Foundation to fund humanitarian projects. The goal of their first project - the Linkage Rural Entrepreneur Development Center of the Anudip Society- is to create livelihood for the unemployed and marginalized poor through a chain of resource centers for the development of rural entrepreneurs and their empowerment with access to markets and capital.

Radha has a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California and she subsequently obtained her MBA through the Stanford Executive program.

Anuradha Basu, Director of the Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship and Associate Professor, Department of Organization & Management at SJSU

Ms. Basu is an internationally recognized scholar in the area of ethnic minority immigrant entrepreneurship. Her current research interests include studying the nature and challenges of managing global start-ups and she teaches courses in Entrepreneurship and Global Entrepreneurship at SJSU.

Prior to joining SJSU in 2003, Dr. Basu was Founder-Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Reading Business School, UK and a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the Department of Management. During 2002-03, she was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Research on Economic Development and Policy Reform, Stanford University. Before joining academia, she was on the International Management staff of the Bank of America, NT& SA. Professor Basu holds MPhil and PhD degrees in Economics from King’s College, University of Cambridge, England, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, India, and a BA (Honors) degree in Economics from St. Stephens’ College, University of Delhi, India.

Aradhana Bali, Sr. Associate, Google
Aradhana was born and raised in the bay area. She pursued an education at the University of California, Davis, where she received a double degree in Mathematics and Managerial Economics. After graduation and some time off, she started her career at Google, Inc in early 2003. She has extensive experience with Google AdWords and has traveled to India on assignment to set up a Technical Team there. She has recently returned and is now working on Google Checkout as a Sr. Associate. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends. She also enjoys watching musicals, movies, reading books, and travelling to other countries.

Brenna Bolger, APR, President & CEO
Ms. Bolger is a veteran of 35 years in the marketing communications industry. She is the founder of PRx Communication Strategists, one of the most-honored public relations firms in Silicon Valley, and has successfully led it for more than 30 years. Her range of experience spans communications in high tech from semiconductors to Internet startups, medicine and health services, government agencies, public transportation, the arts and philanthropy. She is recognized as a strategist, trend-spotter and trendsetter. She is the visionary who has conceived of major initiatives such as Joint Venture: Silicon Valley, The Synopsys Science and Technology Championship and the Silicon Valley Technology and Homeland Security Summit and Expo. She also helped create the VMC Foundation, one of the first nonprofit foundations for a public hospital. Bolger’s special strengths include recognizing, attracting, and nurturing talent; and matching people, corporations and community needs into winning partnerships.

Brenna graduated from Santa Clara University, where she was a member of the university’s first class to include women.

Cindy Chavez, Vice Mayor, San Jose
Vice Mayor Chavez maintains a sterling reputation as an advocate for improving the quality of life in neighborhoods throughout San Jose. She is a leader in developing innovative community based programs to address crime, education, small business development and neighborhood revitalization. Elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2002, Vice Mayor Chavez's tenure is distinguished by visionary leadership. Chavez helped establish the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative, enhance community safety, strengthen local neighborhood associations, and expand community services. She currently Chairs the Rules Committee and serves on the Downtown Parking Board, Guadalupe River Park Task Force, Police and Fire Retirement Board, San Jose Beautiful, and the SJ/SC Treatment Plant Advisory Committee and serves many other local and regional bodies. Prior to her election as a City Council member, Chavez served as the Staff Director of Working Partnerships USA and as the Director of Education and Outreach for the South Bay Labor Council. She also served for three years as budget and policy aide to then Supervisor Ron Gonzales.

Vice Mayor Chavez is a 1987 graduate of San Jose State University and lives with her husband and son in downtown San Jose.

Priya David, Reporter, KTVU Channel 2
Ms. David joined the KTVU Channel 2 News team in February 2005. She works as a reporter for both morning and evening newscasts.
Before her current tenure with KTVU, Priya was an embedded campaign reporter for MSNBC, where she covered both Vice President Dick Cheney and Congressman Dick Gephardt. She has also made appearances on NBC Weekend Nightly News.
Previously, she held positions as an assistant producer/researcher with Dateline, The Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, The News with Brian Williams, and as a general assignment reporter at WVTM in Birmingham, AL. Priya worked earlier in her career on the West Coast, in Santa Barbara and Orange County.

Priya has a BA in Anthropology from Westmont College, and an MA in Journalism from USC. During her graduate studies she landed internships at CNN in London and ABC News where she worked for Peter Jennings Reporting. She was also one of three Americans chosen to participate in the Foreign Correspondents Program in Finland.

She was born in southern India, but grew up in both Europe and America.

Carrie Ellett, National Program Director, "Girls For A Change"
Prior to her current position, Ms. Ellett has served three years as the Silicon Valley Program Director for "Girls For A Change". She has recruited girls, collaborated with schools and delivered coach trainings in GFC’s Phoenix site. Carrie has delivered the message of "Girls For A Change" in classrooms throughout the area and also at local organizations including Girls Day and the Young Women’s Health Conference. Carrie completed a fellowship with the Youth Leadership Institute’s Rising Leaders Fellowship in 2006 and served on the Advisory Board of Young Nonprofits Professionals Network in 2004. She began working in girl programming at the Girl Scouts of Santa Clara County and also provided support and guidance to teenage girls for the Girl Scout Gold Award. Carrie spent two years in national service as part of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps. She has worked as an instructor with the Princeton Review and has also helped coordinating the annual "Walk for Hunger" event and in recruiting for the "Ride for Hunger" in Boston, MA. She has also worked as a sports writer for newspapers, magazines and online services such as the Daily Oklahoman, USA Today Online and Hockey Magazine.

Alo Ghosh, Entrepreneur, Ex-Wharton Professor
Alo has previously worked as a McKinsey strategy consultant, Wharton finance professor, Silicon Valley technology entrepreneur and has over 15-years in-depth experience creating innovative strategies & capital structures for the Global 1000 CXO’s. In addition, Alo has over 10-years hands-on experience as founder-CEO of global technology outsourcer, saving clients $$-millions. With his strong experience & network in India to start/source/acquire high-growth businesses & teams for investors, he works as a strategist/Risk-Analyst/Technologist to startups, private capital GP’s & LP’s, & portfolio co. CXO’s-Boards.

Saima Hasan, Junior, Stanford University
As Director of Grassroots Fundraising for Steve Westly's gubernatorial campaign, Saima Hasan organized several fundraising events accross the state, single-handedly raising over $600,000 and getting the endorsements of key community leaders. This summer she interned at Sterling Stamos, a private investment firm, and has previously worked for both the San Jose Mercury News and TV Asia. Saima graduated from Castilleja High School in 2004 where she was the Student Body President and President of the Tutoring Club. She is currently a Junior at Stanford where she is majoring in Political Science.

Talat Hasan, Chairperson and Trustee Founder, India Community Center
Talat Hasan is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of India Community Center. The Center opened its 20,000 sq.ft. facility in 2003 and already serves over 6000 people a month, has 2000 members, and offers 120 classes to over 800 students each quarter.

Talat has been a technologist and an entrepreneur for over two decades. She was CEO and founder of Sensys Instruments and co-founder of Prometrix Corporation. She holds a B.A. /M.A. in Physics from Oxford University and a B.Sc. in Physics from Aligarh Muslim University.

She serves on the Boards of three start-up companies. In addition, she is on the advisory boards of IBPW and Maitri, is a charter member of TiE, a trustee of AIF, and a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum. She and her husband also actively invest in start-up companies through Hitek Venture Partners.

With her husband Kamil, Talat has established the "Nurul Hasan Educational Foundation" in India and the "Hasan Family Foundation" in the US through which they have endowed a chair in Indian classical music at UC Santa Cruz.

Arlene Kaiser, Keynote Speaker
Dr. Arlene Kaiser, keynote speaker, educator, and author, uses a unique blend of humor, expertise, and experiential wisdom to inspire audiences to reach new levels of success. Her brand of wearing two different colored shoes adds to her unforgettable message.

As an educator she was selected Teacher of the Year for her county and district. In the year 2000 she received National recognition as an outstanding educator. Dr. Kaiser is Past President of the National Speakers Association of Northern California and has keynoted for school districts, business organizations, and associations throughout the United States. She has also keynoted in Canada, El Salvador, and Greece.

Her training as a professional actress and comedian is evident in her spirited presentation style. Through story telling, investigation, and real-live examples participants leave her keynote entertained, inspired, and enlightened.

Shami Khorana, President, HCL America
Shami Khorana is president of HCL Technologies America, Inc., the global services arm of $3 billion HCL Enterprise. Mr. Khorana is responsible for managing U.S. operations and accelerating HCL’s growth in the U.S. Since taking the helm of HCL America 5 years ago, the division has doubled in growth and represents 60% of HCL Technologies overall revenue.

A recognized leader in business strategy and technology implementation, Khorana is responsible for customer engagements across verticals, including life sciences, high-technology, retail, auto, financial services, and in such domains as enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, content management and other services.

Khorana earned a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at Bombay University, a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Notre Dame, and an MBA from Indiana University. Dr. Khorana taught at Indiana University, George Washington University and the University of Maryland at College Park.

Lata Krishnan, President, American India Foundation
Lata Krishnan has been founding President of AIF since 2001. Lata is also CFO of Shah Management, a private investment company that manages over $300 million in assets. In 1989 Lata co-founded SMART Modular Technologies and served as CFO. In 1999, SMART merged with Solectron Corporation in a transaction valued at over $2 billion. Previous to SMART, Lata held corporate accounting and finance positions in Montgomery Securities, Arthur Anderson & Company LLP, and Hill Vellacott & Company.

Ms. Krishnan's community activities include: Board Member of the American India Foundation, The Commonwealth Club, The Community Foundation, Silicon Valley, Fellow of the American Leadership Forum, Advisory Board positions for Narika (Shelter for Abused Women in the Asian Community) and for the Global Philanthropy Forum (World Affairs Council).

Julie Patel, Reporter, Mercury News
San Jose Mercury News reporter Julie Patel covers Sunnyvale and Santa Clara. Since joining the paper three years ago, she has covered race and demographics, education and local government. Julie was born in Ahmedabad and raised in Chicago, attending University of Chicago and Stanford University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Kalpana Peddibhotla, Attorney
Kalpana Peddibhotla is a solo attorney in Santa Clara, where she practices immigration and family law. Her immigration practice mainly involves representing individuals and families seeking asylum or defending against deportation proceedings. Prior to launching her own law practice she worked as a civil litigation attorney representing companies in complex business disputes. Kalpana is actively engaged in community issues through volunteer and pro bono legal representation. Her community contributions have ranged from serving as a volunteer attorney with Catholic Charities, the Pro Bono Project, Lawyers in the Library, the ACLU, advising non-profits, to establishing the India Community Center’s volunteer program as its first Volunteer Services Director.

Judge Rise Jones Pichon, Superior Court, Santa Clara County
Judge Risë Jones Pichon has been a Superior Court Judge of the County of Santa Clara, State of California since 1998. She previously served as a Judge on the Municipal Court from 1984 to 1998 and also as a Court Commissioner from 1983 to 1984. She received a Juris Doctor Degree from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1976 and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics in 1973 from Santa Clara University after having transferred from Xavier University in New Orleans in 1971.

Judge Pichon is a member of the following organizations: The California Judges Association, The American Bar Association, Class XVIII of the American Leadership Forum, and The St. Thomas More Society Board of Directors. She is currently serving her second term on the California Commission On Judicial Performance having been appointed to the Commission by the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. She served as Chairperson for two years from 2002-2004.

Judge Pichon served on the Judicial Council of California from 1994-1997 and the Archbishop Mitty High School Board of Regents from September, 2000 to May, 2006. Judge Pichon has taught in the California Judicial College, the National Judicial College, and has served as a panelist and as a speaker on a variety of topics in Judicial education.

Dilip Saraf, Author, Career Coach
Mr. Saraf is an author, speaker, career, and life coach and has himself gone through four reinventions. Starting as an engineer and technologist, Dilip became a marketing consultant, working with Fortune-500 clients showing them how to dramatically improve their global accounts. Later on, he became a leadership effectiveness consultant showing major corporations such as Boeing and HP how to increase their leadership effectiveness through personal power. His most recent experience has been as a career counselor and life coach, where he leveraged his own learning to help over 3,000 clients reinvent themselves globally. He has published five books on career management based on that experience. He frequently appears on CNN Headline News/Comcast Local Edition and other media and is published in the Harvard Business Review, Chief Executive, and San Francisco Chronicle and Marquis Who’s Who. Dilip resides is in the Silicon Valley and serves clients globally. He also teaches at the University of California, Santa Cruz Extension. For more information visit www.7keys.org

Inderpreet Sawhney, Attorney-at-Law, Chugh Law Firm
Ms. Sawhney is a Managing Partner of the Santa Clara office of The Chugh Firm and the Chair of their immigration practice. Inderpreet also practices in the area of corporate and transactional law including working on cross border deals between India and US.

She is actively involved in community issues. She has been a founding member of the board of NASABA (North American South Asian Bar Association) and currently serves as on the executive committee as the VP National Convention. She was the President of SABA (South Asian Bar Association of Southern California) 2001-02 and is the immediate past president of SABA Northern California and has also served as a board member of APABA (Asian Pacific American Bar Association) 2001-02.

Ms. Sawhney received her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Delhi. She received her Bachelors of Law degree also from the University of Delhi. She received her degree in Masters of Law (International Law) from Kingston University, Canada.

Shruti Sheth, Cisco/Sankara Eye Foundation
Ms. Shruti Sheth has been in the hi-tech industry for the last 13 years. During the 8 years of her career at HP she had variety of jobs such as BIOS engineer, program manager for netServers, Desktop PCs, Living Room PC, SW Quality Program manager for Digital TVs and Digital entertainment products. She also worked at Siemens, NOKIA and Allen Bradley prior to Hewlett Packard. Currently she is Program Manager at Cisco Systems for the Desktop Switches.
Ms. Shruti has mentored people through different work and personal life situations in the past 6 years. She is an active volunteer at Sankara Eye Foundation since last 4 years and provides her services in various ways from marketing to event co-ordination for raising funds. Outside of work Shruti enjoys being a mother, likes to read, hike/trek, goes for meditation, dancing and listens to music.

Anu Shukla, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of RubiconSoft
Ms. Shukla has provided the vision and strategy for several successful Silicon Valley software companies. Most recently, she was the founder and CEO of Rubric, a pioneer in Enterprise Marketing Automation, which was acquired for $366M. Prior to Rubric Ms. Shukla held a variety of positions, including VP of Product Strategy and Marketing at Versata, COO at mFactory, and VP of Marketing at Uniface, which was acquired for $433M by Compuware. She also held senior marketing positions at Unify and California Micro Devices. Ms. Shukla received a BA from St. Stephens College and an MBA from Youngstown State University. She serves on the Board of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE), the Advisory Board for the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University and was recently named to the Technology Industry's "Dream Team" by Business 2.0 magazine.

Karyn Sinunu, Chief Assistant District Attorney, Santa Clara County
Ms. Sinunu has 20 years of experience as Assistant District Attorney, as Supervising Deputy District Attorney, as Team Leader of general felony and sexual crimes and has also served the Board of Directors, California District Attorneys Association (1999-2001). She has been awarded the prestigious Napoleon Menard Trial Advocacy Attorney award after conducting 50 jury trials. Karyn has successfully handled jury trials, authored various articles and handbooks and has coordinated the creation of Child Abuse Protocol for Santa Clara County Law Enforcement (1999), Line-up Protocol for Law Enforcement (2002) and Recording of Violent Suspect Statement Protocol (2003).

Karyn is known to be the toughest on crime and is yet very fair and compassionate. She has created the Victims’ Rights manual and has received Victim Support Network Unsung Hero award. Ms. Sinunu is an active community leader and has served various committees like the San Jose Rotary, Habitat for Humanity; Santa Clara County Domestic Violence Council member (2001-2003); Bioethics Committee, O’Connor Hospital (1999-2004) and Rosegarden Neighborhood Preservation Association (1996-1998). She is also a guest lecturer at the Stanford University, Santa Clara University and Hastings College of Law.

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