Chief Guest and Key Note Speaker
Dr. Daggubati Purandareswari is the Minister of State for HRD (Higher Education) with the Government of India. She is a member of the Indian National Congress where she represents the Visakhapatnam constituency of Andhra Pradesh in 15th Lok Sabha of India. She has a Bachelor of Arts from the South Indian Educational Trust and Women College (Chennai) (renamed as the Bashir Ahmed Sayeed College for Women). Purandeswari is married to Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, an Ex-Minister, Ex-Member of Cabinet and Current Member of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly representing Parchoor constituency in Prakasham District. She is the daughter of Late N.T. Ramarao and sister of Telugu film actor Balakrishna
Guest of Honor
Nandamuru Balakrishna is one of the most prominent Telugu film actors. He is the son of the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao. Balakrishna is popularly known as Balayya, NBK by his fans and admirers. He entered the film Industry at the age of 14 as a child artist in his father's movie Tatammakala. Through his film career, Balakrishna delivered several blockbusters and has successfully carved a niche for himself in a variety of roles. As chairman of the Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital & Research Institute trust board, Balakrishna’s mission is to fulfill his parent's vision to create a world class cancer facility providing affordable cancer care to all cancer patients. Today, the Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital & Research Institute, a non-profit making organization, bestows care and treatment on par with world standards of excellence available to everyone at an affordable price to prove that world class treatment and facilities are as much the right of the less privileged as it is the right of those who can afford to cross the seas for reliable and modern treatment.
Bob Pattillo is an entrepreneur. He began his work in microfinance in 1998 and subsequently sold his 54-year-old business (eighth largest industrial developer in the US) in 2003 to focus solely on impact investment and enterprise development.
He is the founder of Gray Ghost Ventures (GGV), a social impact firm with investments in:
Bellwether Microfinance Fund, India’s first microfinance equity fund in the private sector, and India Financial Inclusion Fund, the follow-on fund to Bellwether, provide capital to microfinance institutions across the country.
The Indian School Finance Company, a Non-Banking Finance Company that lends exclusively to affordable private schools, or schools that charge modest fees and serve as a preferential alternative to public schools for low-income families. 250 of these schools are located in Hyderabad.
IDEX, The IDEX Fellowship in Social Enterprise is an early entry professional development program for recent college graduates interested in the field of social enterprise. Fellows generate ideas under the mentorship of a social enterprise leader serving low income communities and develop a blue print for change; the Fellows then execute on that practical plan within the enterprise. The combination of ideas and execution is transformational, for the enterprise and for the fellow, and through these two words the name IDEX is born.
VOICE, (see video Clip http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27556702/My%20First%20Project%20-%20Large.m4v) Project VOICE is a summer camp and mentoring program that teaches marketable, life skills through an English immersion, activity-based curriculum, to increase the education and employment opportunities of girls living in developing countries.
Literary Speakers
Sri Medasani Mohan
He started avadhanam as 10th class student and is appreciated by many as child prodigy. He performed more than 700 ashtavadhanams as well as dvigunikrita, chatrurgunitha, dasgunitha, shodasagunitha, sathagunitha avadhanams. He performed APURVA PANCHA SAHASRAVADHANAM in 2007 for the first time in the history of Telugu and Sanskrit literature composing spontaneously 5184 verses. He is given the title apoorva pancha sahasravadhana sarvabhouma on this s occasion. He is at present Director of Annamacharya project of TTD at Tirupathi.
Sri Vaddiparti Padmakar
He is from Powerpet, Eluru. He has performed avadhanams in three languages-Telugu, Hindi and Sanskrit. He completed 654 ashtavadhanams, 10 satavadhanams and 6 duet avadhanams. He has received several awards such as Avadhana Kokila and Dharana Vedavadhana Nidhi He appears regularly in ETV2 and Bhakti TV giving pravachanams (lectures). His published works include Sri Satya Sai Saptasati, and Kalakinkinulu.
Sri Akella Venkata Suryanarayana
Popularly known as Akella, he is a versatile creative artist. He is from Kakinada. As a novelist he received many awards. His Andhra Patrika serial, Dharmo rakshathi rakshataha, received praise from all literary circles. As a TV serial writer, he received the prestigious Nandi award. As of today he has written for 80 Telugu films including national award winning films. He has written many stage plays and his play Kaki Yengili received Sahitya Academy award.
Political Speakers
Narender Reddy’s political activism has been running for more than 2 decades. As Chairman, Indian American Forum for Political Education, (Georgia Chapter), since 1995, he has been working tirelessly to get Indian Americans participate in the mainstream political arena by getting involved in the election campaigns and casting their votes.
In the Republican Party, Narender has been recognized as an important leader at the State and National level. He has been invited to speak at Georgia Republican Party’s State conventions on several occasions where he stressed upon the party leadership to take initiative to have ethnic groups like Indian Americans join the Republican Party.
Narender’s friendship with Congressmen & Senators was very useful in his successful lobbying for the passage of US – India Civil Nuclear Bill in the Congress. Due to his relentless efforts, Congressmen, who were used to adapting anti-India stance in Congress have been turned into great Friends of India and Indian-American community.
Owing to his help in election campaigns and friendship, President George W. Bush invited Narender to the State Dinner hosted in honor of Prime Minister of India Dr. Man Mohan Singh at the White House, a rare honor that he cherishes immensely.
Recognizing that huge majority of Indian Americans are friends of Democratic Party, Narender founded Georgia Indian American Republican Council (GIARC) in 2003 to propagate the ideals of Republican Party among Indian Americans and enroll them as friends of Republican Party.
Board Member, Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA): Since2003…..
Appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue, Narender has been serving on the Board of tGeorgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) since October 2003 .
Member: Atlanta Regional Commission’s Environment & Land Use Committee (ELUC) since April 2004
In addition to his political activism, Narender has served many Indian-American Associations viz., TAMA, IACA, ATA, Hindu Temple of Atlanta and several other organizations in various capacities.
Inspirational Speakers
Shyam Reddy (Regional Administrato, U.S. General Services Administration, Southeast Sunbelt Region.)
Shyam K. Reddy is the Regional Administrator of the Southeast Sunbelt Region of the U.S. General Services Administration. As the Regional Administrator, Shyam is responsible for the real estate, fleet and procurement operations of the federal government in eight southeastern states, which encompasses 43M square feet of owned and leased real estate, a 40,000 vehicle fleet operation and several billion dollars of federal government procurement.
Prior to accepting this Presidential Appointment, Shyam practiced corporate law as a partner in the Atlanta office of the large and prestigious international law firm known as Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton. As an attorney, Shyam assisted a number of public and private clients with their mergers and acquisitions, procurement and technology transactions, and venture capital and private equity deals.
Shyam has served on the Boards of Directors of the University of Georgia College of Public Health, the University of Georgia Alumni Association, and Common Cause of Georgia. Shyam is also a member of the 2010 Class of Leadership Atlanta and 2005 L.E.A.D. Atlanta Class of Leadership Atlanta.
In addition, he has received a number of awards, including: 2005 Georgia Trend Magazine Top 40 Under 40 Georgians; 2005 Atlanta Business Chronicle Top 40 Under 40 (Up and Comers); 2005 - 2010 Atlanta Magazine Georgia Rising Stars; and 2005 Multicultural Law Mover and Shaker.
Shyam obtained his Bachelor’s Degree and his Masters in Public Health from Emory University and his law degree from The University of Georgia.
Dr. Sri Krishna Chandaka
Dr. Sri Krishna Chandaka is traditionally trained in the Himalayan Tradition of H.H Ramlal Prabhuji under the direct guidance of Yogacharya H.H Raparthi Rama Rao of Yogachaitanyaramam, Vijinigiri. He is the MD in Alternative Medicine and a Ph.D in Kundalini Yoga. He is the State and National Champion in Yoga. He has over 20 years of teaching experience in yoga and in treating several ailments. Dr. Sri Krishna has been training, doing therapy and conducting numerous workshops throughout India and USA. He is the recipient of the prestigious Ugadi Puraskar from the State Govt of Andhra Pradesh, 2006. He has several research publications to his credit and presented papers in both National and International Conferences.
Kava K Manyapu
Born in a small town called Kamareddy in India, Kavya K Manyapu is currently working as a Structural Analysis Engineer for Boeing in Everett. Her interest in space research grew when she heard stories about space from her father. She had cultivated a deep interest in Space Systems Engineering, and dedicated herself to Space Sciences, with the ultimate goal of becoming an Astronaut. Her future visions are to work on behalf of the whole family of Space Explorers – right from Designers, to Systems engineers, to Mission control – in channeling the creative energy of Space research into peaceful applications for the betterment of the planet. . She earned a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Apart from being a Space geek, she is an Indian Classical Dancer. She had received the Highest Honor; National President Award titled 'BalaShree' from the President of India in 1999 for excellence in dance. Her hobbies also include Skating, Riding Sports Bikes, Philately, Dance Choreography, gyming, rock climbing and many more.
Business IT Seminar Speaker
C.N. (Madhu) Madhusudan (Founder & CEO – VectorSpan Inc.)
C.N. (Madhu) Madhusudan is an accomplished executive with over 25 years experience in setting up, acquiring and operating businesses in Europe, India and the United States.
As a member of the team that built NIIT in India, he played key roles in setting up NIIT’s operations in Bangalore and Mumbai and establishing NIIT’s HR, IS and Corporate Planning functions. In the U.S.A, he built NIIT’s software, training and knowledge process outsourcing businesses. Starting out as a one-man branch operation, he established and managed NIIT’s US operations as President and Chief Operating Officer. Under his leadership, NIIT USA became NIIT’s largest overseas operation. He led several new venture investment initiatives and acquisitions in the US and Europe.
Currently, he is the founder and CEO of VectorSpan Inc., an enterprise focused on enabling companies to plan their growth/exit strategy, engineer inorganic growth and make cross border transactions and integration successful. His core competencies include strategic analysis, business evaluation, cross border issues management, transaction management and complex negotiations.
He is the President of TiE Atlanta and has served as Chairman of the Board of the Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (GIACC). He is a member of the Board of ThinkSoft Global Services Ltd. He also served as a Board member of several investments and subsidiaries of the NIIT group in the US, Germany, UK and South East Asia.
He received the 2007 "Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Award" for innovation, leadership and vision in business.
As a philatelist specializing in the Second World War, he has won several awards in national and international exhibitions and was recognized by the Government of India for his services to Indian Philately.
He studied at the St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore, and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. His professional education includes Business Evaluation at the Harvard Business School.
Sreeratna Kancherla (Director of the IDEX Fellowship in Social Enterprise at Oglethorpe University.)
Sreeratna Kancherla is the Director of the IDEX Fellowship in Social Enterprise at Oglethorpe University having over ten years of experience in international development.
Sreeratna recently returned to the US after having worked in Hyderabad, India for four years in the field of social enterprise, where she served as Director for Social-Impact International. While at Social-Impact, Sreeratna worked closely with social entrepreneurs in India to assist them in implementing their social mission in a sustainable and scalable way.
She was also responsible for evaluating social enterprises and connecting them to impact investors, as well as building the venture philanthropy sector in India. During her time in India, Sreeratna also started her own social business, which provided leadership and life enhancement skills for victims of child labor trafficking and for orphaned girls.
Prior to entering the field of social entrepreneurship, Sreeratna worked for the International Bar Association-Human Rights Institute in London, the Security and Development Program for the UN-International Peace Institute in New York, and Global Strategies Group in Washington, D.C as in house legal manager.
A 1998 graduate of Emory University, Sreeratna received her BA in English. She received her JD from New England Law School with a focus in international law and is published for her support to the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda.
Prof. Naveen Donthu (The Katherine S. Bernhardt Research Professor and Head of the Marketing Department at Georgia State University.)
Prof. Naveen Donthu is the Katherine S. Bernhardt Research Professor and Head of the Marketing Department at Georgia State University. Dr. Donthu received his Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin. His expertise are in marketing research, consumer research, advertising, cross-cultural issues, and electronic commerce.
Prof. Donthu published over 75 research papers in leading marketing and advertising journals. He has also published over 60 papers in national and international conference proceedings. Professor Donthu has consulted for several national and international companies such as Apple Computers, Marriott Corporation, Southern Company, BellSouth, UPS, Chick-fil-A, and ServiceMaster and presented executive seminars to managers from many countries. He received industry support and several academic grants to conduct research.
Prof. Donthu received the Georgia State University Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award (university-wide award for extraordinary achievement in teaching, research and service). Over the years he has also received several GSU Robinson College of Business Faculty Recognition Awards for Research, Teaching and Service.
Prof. Donthu was the doctoral program coordinator for the Marketing Department at Georgia State University till he became the department chair. He has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Interactive Marketing and Journal of Business Research. He is an active member of the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS).
Prof. Donthu’s parents are from Bangalore (with family roots in Andhra). He grew up in Ahmedabad and has been a resident of Atlanta since 1986. He now lives in Lawrenceville with wife Roopa and children Suraj and Sonia.
Harshavardhan V. Agadi (Chairman & CEO of GHS Holdings, LLC)
Harshavardhan V. Agadi has more than 25 years of executive experience across several food service & franchise companies including Domino’s Pizza, Pepsi, Kraft General Foods, Little Caesars Enterprises, Church’s Chicken & Friendly's Ice Cream Corp. He has been highly successful in introducing global brands to several overseas markets through direct investment and master franchising. Mr. Agadi was responsible for opening over 2,000 stores for four competing brands in the last 20 years, in over 50 countries.
As President & CEO of Church’s Chicken, he engineered a 40 percent increase in its franchise base in three years and a spike of 60% in cash flow and profits since its acquisition in 2004. He tripled the value of the company in the first 5 years of his leadership and set the company on track for limitless growth as one of the largest chicken concepts in the world with over 1,900 stores in 25 countries, employing 35,000 people.
Mr. Agadi’s current role as a major investor, is that of Chairman of the Board & CEO of Friendly's Ice Cream Corp in Wilbraham, MA. It is a 75 year old company with revenues in excess of $750Million. It is the leader in Ice-Cream category in the restaurant and retail business. It currently employs 22,000 people on the east coast of the US and manufactures and distributes to 500 of its own restaurants and 4000 super-markets in the US.
He is the first NRI, to be Chairman and Managing Trustee of a large rural Karnataka engineering college, the Smt. Kamala & Sri. Venkappa M. Agadi College of Engineering and also the Chairman of Agadi Sunrise Hospitals both in Laxmeshwar, Karnataka.
He currently serves on the boards of Friendly's Ice Cream Corp, Bijoux Terner, Sbarro’s Pizza Inc, Crawford Insurance Co (NYSE listed), Orient Express Hotels & Resorts (NYSE listed) and non-profits like the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, SKSVMA College of Engineering. He also serves on the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Restructuring Committee of some of these boards.
Mr. Agadi received an MBA from Duke University and a B. Com from the University of Bombay.
