As a bi-racial (South Asian and white) girl growing up in a pre-tech (and pre-Indian!) Silicon Valley, I learned early on how to find common ground with those who called out my difference. As the Valley grew wealthier, I noticed how many others less fortunate were – and are – being rendered invisible. I have dedicated my life to try to create a community where everybody is seen and heard.

In 1990, I founded the consulting nonprofit organization Community Focus to facilitate more effective implementation of public policies by increasing community participation. I also served as a program officer for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, developing and managing grants in the areas of conflict resolution and civic engagement. I was the founding managing director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society at Stanford University, and I am currently a senior mediator/facilitator with the Program on Consensus and Collaboration at California State University, Sacramento, where I work to facilitate stakeholder engagement to develop sustainable groundwater management in California’s Central Valley. I hold a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University.

Other things I like to do: sing with other people, eat great food with other people, and talk with other people. When I am alone I do crossword puzzles to relax.

Things I’d like to do: get better at Spanish and meditate regularly … beyond crossword puzzles.