This year’s Leadership Forum brought together Indian diaspora leaders from various backgrounds and professions, including business, finance, technology, law, healthcare, public policy and the arts, to participate in intellectually stimulating discussions on a variety of topics and issues that impact our communities. To see a list of our Board and members, please visit here.
Indiaspora Leadership Forum 2018
Thinkers, Doers, Givers
Agenda
Friday, September 7
12:30 pm Registration and Lunch
2:00 pm – 3:45 pm Roundtables Session 1
Women Changemakers
Chair: Shaloo Garg, Oracle Global Innovation and Startup Ecosystem | UN Women | Gates Foundation
Millennial Impact
Chair: Sheel Tyle, Amplo | Andela | World Economic Forum Global Shaper
3:45 pm Coffee Break
4:15 pm – 6 pm Roundtables Session 2
Philanthropy Roundtable: Developing an Action Agenda Based on Recent Surveys of Diaspora Giving
Chair: Alex Counts, Indiaspora | University of Maryland | Fulbright Scholar Ambassador
Politics Roundtable: Indian Americans are Running for Public Office–What’s Next?
Chair: Shekar Narasimhan, AAPI Victory Fund | Beekman Advisors | Economic Advisory Council, Center for American Progress
6:30 pm Welcome Cocktail Reception
Musical performances by EnActe Arts
8 pm Dinner Program
Speakers:
Vinny Gupta, CEO, InNow
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Co-chair, Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans
Vishal Sikka, tech visionary
Vikram Sathaye, comedian
Saturday, September 8
7 am Yoga
8 am Breakfast
9 am Morning Plenary Session: What’s Next for the Indian Diaspora?
Opening Remarks, MR Rangaswami, Founder, Indiaspora
Panel discussion with Indiaspora’s Board of Directors
Panel discussion with Indiaspora’s Founders Circle: Thoughts on the Future Direction of Indiaspora
Keynote: Seema Nanda, CEO, Democratic National Committee
Keynote: Preetha Reddy, Vice chairperson, Apollo Hospitals
10:30 am Coffee Break
11 am Breakout sessions
Meet the Candidates
Get introduced to the candidates running on the national, state and local stage.
Does the Cloud Generation Need Classrooms?
Explore new ways of learning, including online learning, MOOCs, and different business and tech models for the next generation of students.
India’s Next “Green” Revolution
Discuss India’s ambitious renewable energy commitments and how India can exceed its UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Story and Struggles of Entrepreneurs
Share in the heartfelt struggles of entrepreneurs who made it in America.
12:15 pm Lunch
Speakers
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois 8th district
Professor M. V. Rajeev Gowda, Indian Member of Parliament, representing Karnataka state and the Indian National Congress party in the upper house, the Rajya Sabha
1:30 pm Coffee Break
2 pm Afternoon Plenary Session: Philanthropy
Indiaspora-Dalberg Community Engagement Survey: Swetha Totapally, Dalberg
Romesh Wadhwani, philanthropist
V.R. Ferose, Senior Vice President at SAP
Sridar Iyengar: Experiencing India
Lata Krishnan, Co-founder, American India Foundation (AIF)
Geetha Murali, CEO, Room to Read
Indiaspora Monitor of University Giving: Gabrielle Trippe, Indiaspora Philanthropy Initiatives Manager
3:30 pm Coffee Break
4 pm Breakout sessions
Making Money and Doing Good
Is a focus on profits and achieving your full potential for social impact an oxymoron? Learn from some of the biggest investors in the space.
Are Immigrants at the Table or on the Menu?
Discuss the legal, policy, advocacy, economic and business side of H1B visas and H-4 EADs, the controversy around family-based “chain migration,” and the rise of more than 400,000 undocumented Indians in the US.
How to Enter a Corporate Boardroom
How can we increase our numbers in the top boardrooms of America? Chat with those who are serving on boards and those who are recruiting for their boards.
Can We Live to 100?
Hear from our community’s health experts on what we are doing about our most pressing health issues, including heart ailments, diabetes and addiction.
Is this the 4th Industrial Revolution?
Discuss how tech trends are fundamentally altering the ways we live and work and causing us to reimagine a radically different future.
5:30 pm Social Activities
Art workshop with renowned impressionist painter Kartik Trivedi
Learn how to paint in the impressionist style and recreate a classic with step-by-step instruction from a world-famous painter.
Tibetan Singing Bowl: The Healing Power of Sound
Also known as Himalayan bowls, Tibetan singing bowls, Resting bowls, Standing bells, Prayer bowls, or Yoga bowls, these hollow instruments which were used for their holistic and healing powers in ancient times still have multiple health benefits. Learn how they are used today for different purposes such as meditation, relaxation, chakra healing, and reiki.
Lawn Games
Enjoy the beautiful grounds with some invigorating outdoor activities, including croquet, frisbee, and others.
Private Indiaspora members-only wine tasting
Partake in an exclusive wine tasting offered by Mark Bright, partner and wine director at Michelin three star restaurant Saison in San Francisco, curated and facilitated by Gary Gauba, serial tech entrepreneur and major investor and Chairman of Saison. Note: this event is reserved for Indiaspora Board, Founders Circle, Ambassadors and Patrons.
6:30 pm Reception
Kashish: a musical ensemble for social change
8 pm Dinner program
Speakers
Amb. Venkatesan Ashok, Consul General of India
Jyoti Bansal, entrepreneur, dreamer, builder
Ricky Kej, Grammy award-winning music composer
Showstoppers of Tomorrow: musical theatre presented by EnActe Arts
Sunday, September 9
7:00 am Sunrise with Sree: Walk and Instagram
Walk the grounds with digital guru Sree Sreenivasan as he shows you how to capture the beauty around you using phone photography and Instagram. Your followers will thank you!
7:45 am Breakfast
8:45 am Morning Plenary Session: Taking US-India Relations to the Next Level
Keynote: Former US Ambassador to India Rich Verma, The Asia Group
US-India Relations: A Panel Discussion with the Think Tank Experts
Keynote: Ruchira Gupta, Founder and CEO, Apne Aap
Global Connect: Connecting 3 Million Indian Americans to 30 Million Diaspora
10:15 am Coffee break
10:30 am Sunday Breakout Sessions
Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling
Get mentored on how to position yourself to be a CXO role with trailblazers in those roles at Fortune 500 companies.
How to Make Money Without Losing Your Shirt
Meet leaders who are investing in India and discuss some of the obstacles and opportunities in the world’s fastest growing economy.
Eradicating Diseases: Go High-tech or Low-tech
Hear from the experts on the intersection of health and innovation on what’s needed to eradicate global diseases.
The Art of Storytelling
Whether you represent an organization or yourself, everyone has a story. Learn how to tell yours best.
12 pm Lunch
1 pm Leadership Forum concludes
1:30 pm Shuttle buses depart for San Jose and San Francisco Airports
Photo Galleries of Indiaspora Leadership Forum 2018
Photos by Preston Merchant of Indiaspora Leadership Forum 2018
The link above is publicly viewable. Downloading the images requires a password, which is dolcehayes.
Special thanks to Preston Merchant for the photos above.
PRESTON MERCHANT lives in the Bay Area, California. He teaches photography as an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York. He is at work on INDIAWORLD, a photography book about the Indian diaspora communities of North America, the Caribbean, Britain, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific. A selection of his images was featured in an exhibit by the Smithsonian Institute’s Indian American Heritage Project called, “Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation” (2014-15). See more of his work on his website at archive.prestonmerchant.com and on Instagram at @PrestonMerchantPhoto.
Additional Photos of Indiaspora Leadership Forum 2018
More photos coming soon!
Swetha Totapally, Associate Partner at Dalberg, presents the Indiaspora-Dalberg Survey Results on Indian-American Giving
Sunil Wadhwani, founder-donor of WISH Foundation, discusses a new venture, Wadhwani AI, in which he has partnered with his brother Romesh Wadhwani’s foundation to use AI for social good.
VR Ferose, Senior Vice President at SAP, talks about givers and a completely different perspective on the act of giving.
Philanthropist Sridar Iyengar talks about an India Immersion Program to India for second-generation Indian Americans.
Lata Krishnan, Co-founder of American India Foundation, shares the germination for one of the largest US-based NGOs for aid to India, and her philanthropic journey.
Geetha Murali, CEO of Room to Read, talks about her work as a woman CEO of a global nonprofit that has reached more than 12.4 million children worldwide.
Ricky Kej talks about his commitment to sustainability after winning a Grammy Music Award and his recent advocacy efforts.
Sree Sreenivasan, Chair of the Convening Committee at Indiaspora Leadership Forum 2018, interviews Indiaspora Patron Member, philanthropist, entrepreneur and investor Sridar Iyengar at the Hayes Mansion in San Jose.
