Global Visionary 2010 Award Recipients
The Global Visionaries award celebrates emerging leaders (ages 40 and under) throughout Kentucky and Southern Indiana who have exhibited leadership, vision and interest in the area of international affairs. Twenty-five emerging leaders were selected in honor of the 25th Anniversary of the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana (WAC). Their achievements were celebrated on December 9, 2010.
Below are profiles of the Global Visionaries 2010 Award recipients.
Muhammad Babar, M.D., did his residency training in Internal Medicine in Buffalo, New York after graduating from Allama Iqbal Medical college in Lahore, Pakistan. He moved to Louisville to pursue fellowship in Geriatric medicine and joined Jewish Hospital and St Mary's health care in 2005 where he is currently serving as Vice President of medical staff. Dr Babar has been actively involved in many charitable activities including gathering support for Haiti Earthquake and Pakistan flood relief in addition to various sociopolitical initiatives both locally and international. He credits his nomination as a visionary global leader to the generous support of Pakistani American community that has become a vibrant part of the brotherly city of Louisville.
Terena Bell is CEO of In Every Language, an LSP offering translation, interpretation, and localization in up to 175 languages. Her work with the company has been formally recognized by two Kentucky governors. Because of her thought leadership in the industry, the American Translators Association-Translation Company Division's director announced her as translation's most up-and-coming executive during the 2010 conference. She also sits on the national leadership council for the Association of Language Companies. Terena holds an MA in French from the University of Louisville and a BA in English from Centre College, where she studied in Strasbourg, France.
Penelope Komman Brisson Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Penny Brisson was exposed to international travel and languages at young age, travelling with her family to Germany when she was 9 years old. Her father had lived in Germany as an exchange student in 1959, and has kept in touch with his host family for over 50 years. Subsequent trips to Europe to visit the extended German family culminated in a chance to live in Germany for a year before going to college. Penny attended the Albert Einstein Gymnasium in Reutlingen, Germany . Prior to this trip, Ms. Brisson studied German and French.
Upon returning to the US, Penny enrolled at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY and graduated in 1999 with a double major in International Political Science and Asian Studies focusing on Japanese language and culture. During that time, she studied abroad in Rome, Italy and Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Wishing to continue her Japanese language instruction, Penny completed Cornell University’s prestigious ‘Full-Year Asian Language Concentration’ (FALCON) program in 2001, a highly intensive and anthropological approach to the study of Japanese Language and Culture.
After moving to Louisville in 2001 with her husband Philip, Penny has held various strategic research roles for the Brown-Forman Corporation. In 2006, she joined the Finlandia Vodka Global Marketing team as a Consumer Planner. Finlandia Vodka is unique within the Brown-Forman portfolio, as it has 90% of its volume outside the United States with a heavy focus in Central and Eastern Europe. Penny has been integral in furthering Finlandia’s growth through new flavor development, global creative communications and regional brand strategy which included many developing markets such as China, Mexico and Russia.
Ms. Brisson is active in the international and non-profit community of Louisville, having served on the Board of Directors of Crane House, The Asia Institute since 2004. She has been instrumental in developing the organization’s vision and currently chairs the Marketing Committee. Penny also is a Marketing Strategy Advisor for the Indian Professional Council, a newly formed group to strengthen the presence of professionals of Indian heritage in the civic life of Louisville. In 2008, she graduated with an MBA from the University of Louisville and in 2009, from the ‘Ignite’ program sponsored by Leadership Louisville and remains active in ECHO, the Exploited Children’s Help Organization.
Penny and her husband, Dr. Philip Brisson, reside in Old Louisville with their two cats. She sings in the Cathedral Choir at the Cathedral of the Assumption where her husband is Director of Music and Organist.
R. Sean Deskins is an attorney at the Oldfather Law Firm where he represents plaintiffs in complex civil litigation. Following law school, Sean spent a year serving as a Fulbright Scholar in the Slovak Republic where he taught courses on the American legal system and human rights law. Upon returning to Kentucky, Sean worked as a law clerk to the Honorable Jennifer B. Coffman, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky. Sean serves as chair of the newly-established Recent Graduates Council for the University of Louisville and is the law school's representative on the Council. He received the Recent Alumnus Award from the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law in 2010. Sean is also active in the Young Professionals Association of Louisville (YPAL) and currently serves as secretary of its Diversity Committee. YPAL named Sean one of its "Outstanding Young Professionals" in 2010. In addition, he was selected to participate in NeXt!, the prestigious leadership development program of the Fund for the Arts. Sean is a volunteer and founding member of the board of directors of Adelante Hispanic Achievers, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that provides mentoring, tutoring, and enrichment activities to Hispanic youth in Louisville. Along with his community involvement, Sean is an active member of the bar. He is a member of the American, Kentucky, and Louisville Bar Associations and the American Association for Justice and was recently elected to the Board of Governors of the Kentucky Justice Association.
Luis D. Fuentes was born in Cuba where he received a Mechanical Engineer degree from the University of Havana. At the age of 26 he moved to Chile, where as a Quality Engineer. In January 2000, Luis and his wife moved to Kentucky without any connections and little knowledge of the English language. Luis began working for the Bekaert Corporation in Shelbyville cleaning the machines and sweeping the heavily dusted floor of the factory. After four months, he was hired as Process Engineer and Environmental Coordinator of this facility. During the nights, Luis studied tirelessly in order to get his American engineer certification. In 2004, he passed the Engineer in Training exam, and four years later became an Environmental Professional Engineer. In 2006, he started working for the Department of Environmental Protection, Division for Air Quality, where he still works as Environmental Engineer Assistant. In August of 2009, Luis started publishing a Hispanic newspaper for the Cuban and Latin Community of Kentucky. “El Kentubano” is a monthly publication of 36 pages and 4,000 copies distributed around Kentucky including Louisville, Lexington and Bowiling Green, where the Cuban population has increased from a couple of hundreds to more than 12,000 in the last 10 years. Luis and his wife live in Frankfort, Kentucky with their two children, Fernanda and Luis Manuel.
Monica Garaitonandia is a Global Brand Director, and founding Co-Lead of COPA, the Latino Employee Resource Group at Brown-Forman. In her role as Co-Lead, and as Diversity Operations Team member, she has actively guided Brown-Forman’s incorporation of Diversity and Inclusion as a priority initiative. Prior to joining Brown-Forman, Monica Garaitonandia was a Marketing Director at Bacardi U.S.A. Monica graduated with a Master of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. She is an avid world traveler and has lived and worked in Latin America and Europe.
Vikas Gupta was born in New Delhi, India, and has over 15 years of professional experience as a technology and business consultant. Currently working as an IT Manager at Service Net Warranty - Leads a great multicultural team which is delivering solutions as value added business partner. He is passionate about technology and its effective use in making business more productive and competitive. He has received numerous awards/commendations during his professional career for his outstanding work, most notable among them is the “Hall of Fame” award he received in 2007 for his contributions in helping drive revenue growth and productivity for his current organization, Service Net Warranty.
Vikas came to USA as an immigrant, spent few years in Virginia and then came to Louisville in 1999 and since then has been staying in Louisville. His strong belief that every culture has a lot to offer in making a community better led him to join the Indian Community Foundation (ICF) - ICF is a non-profit organization, established in 1968, with a mission to promote cultural, religious and educational knowledge about India and its significance to all communities in Kentucky. Through ICF, he got the opportunity to promote Indian culture and knowledge within other communities in Kentucky and in return learning about their culture, thus creating an open environment and harnessing the power of global community.His continuous dedication and hard work in this area earned him the opportunity to lead the ICF executive team as ICF President in 2007. He later got nominated in the ICF board and is currently serving as Chairperson of ICF, leading a diverse group of board members representing different states of India and with diverse professional background.
Earlier in 2010, ICF partnered with WACA, GLIP & UofL invited the 11th president of India, Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam to Louisville. He is one of the most distinguished scientists of India, his visit to Louisville was a historic international event. Vikas played a key role in making this possible and regards this as a breakthrough event for ICF, opening new doors for the Indian Community in Louisville to partner with other international communities and share their culture and values and work together in creating a better world for us and more importantly our next generations.
Personal Life: Vikas is married to Nilambari Gupta, who besides taking care of their home and two beautiful daughters Arushi & Mehek, plays her part in showcasing Indian culture by bringing Indian movies and musical events to Louisville through her company Primus Entertainment LLC.
Ethel Hazard is a social entrepreneur who grew up in the Shawnee, Fern Creek, and Okolona neighborhoods. Ethel's professional and academic accomplishments combine philanthropic/ humanitarian activities with applied economic development and social innovations practices. Her principal regional expertise includes Latin America, Spain, the United States and the African Diaspora. Her secondary expertise includes the United Kingdom and South Asia with an emphasis on transcultural group dynamics and economic development. Ethel graduated with honors from the University of Louisville’s department of cultural anthropology where she minored in Pan-African Studies and Spanish. After she completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of Louisville, she received a full fellowship to attend the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Ethel was one of four candidates selected from an international applicant pool admitted to the university’s cultural anthropology program which was staffed by scholars who founded the Atlantic World history and culture school of intellectual thought. Ethel received a masters degree from Johns Hopkins in cultural anthropology with an emphasis in agricultural commodity production (tobacco), commodity chain development, and international trade. Ethel will deposit her doctoral thesis in early 2011, that will garner her a joint Ph.D. in cultural anthropology and gender relations and economic development from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). At UIUC, Ethel worked with Drs. Arlene Torres (Chair), Andy Orta, Nils Jacobsen, and Martin Manalansan since 2003. Ms. Hazard was twice a recipient of the National Endowment for the Humanities Awards for University Professors and Scholars, specifically 1) Las Americas de Jose Marti at the University of South Florida, and at the Center for Jose' Marti' Studies in Havana; and 2) The American Lyceum and Public Culture at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Ethel looks forward to new projects as she builds her home in Kentuckiana.
Evan Hollander is a freshman in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where his intended major is International Politics. He graduated from duPont Manual High School where he was on the team that won an unprecedented two National Championships in Academic World Quest, a competition sponsored the World Affairs Councils of America. While at Manual he was an intern at the Mayor's Office of International Affairs, where he assisted in organizing WorldFest. He was also a volunteer at the Americana Community Center.
Thomas C. Hutchison is currently the Channel & Customer Planning Manager at Brown-Forman; leading the company’s understanding of how and why people make decisions in retail, bars and restaurants within North America, and with the aim of improving Brown-Forman’s effectiveness at this point of purchase. In his short tenure with the company, he has also worked as a marketer on both the Southern Comfort and Tequilas brand teams. Before his new life in marketing, Tom served 5 years as an active duty officer in the U.S. Navy. He spent most of that time living and working in both Europe and east Africa, where his work included repairing nuclear submarines, building logistical networks throughout the Mediterranean & North Africa, and working on multi-national teams to improve the lives of people across the Horn of Africa. He is currently a Lieutenant Commander in the inactive reserves. His penchant for travel has taken him across the globe, including to Mt. Everest in 2008, and he looks forward to years ahead of travel and international roles.
Tom earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering in the honors program from Purdue University in May 2000 and an MBA in Marketing and Corporate Strategy from Purdue University in May 2008, graduating as a Krannert Scholar. He is a member of both the Alpha Pi Mu and Beta Gamma Sigma honor societies. Additionally, Tom is a graduate of the Washington Campus program for educating business leaders on the public policy process. Tom and his wife, Jessica Starost, live in Louisville with their daughter, Hazel Faye.
Michael Iacovazzi-Pau is Manager of International Programs at Greater Louisville Inc. – the Metro Chamber of Commerce, the region’s primary economic development, workforce development and business leadership organization. Michael joined GLI in June 2009 to launch a new talent attraction initiative called Greater Louisville International professionals (G.L.I.P.) to welcome, engage, and connect international professionals with the local community. Prior to becoming Program Manager, he served as Director of Operations at Unique Management Services, a material recovery service in Southern Indiana that serves public libraries around the world, and had responsibility for managing a production department and an outbound Call Center. Michael graduated from Sullivan University with a BA in Hospitality Management, and obtained a MBA at Indiana University Southeast.
Prior to living in Louisville, Michael resided in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (Europe), where he lived for 16 years. He attended high school in Belgium and his native language is French and Italian.
His multicultural background and expertise working for international businesses bring a wealth of global perspectives for Greater Louisville Inc. However, his international background goes beyond his professional career. Michael has traveled to over 25 countries and has volunteered for WACA and Kentucky Refugee Ministries in the past. He currently serves on the Crane House Outreach Committee, is on the founding committee of the Inclusion Alliance, and on the board of DRIVE Louisville, a young professional engagement Initiative founded by Bingham Fellows which serves as an advisory council for the Mayor’s Office.
Désirée P. Jones works on Member Relations and New Media for the Center for Nonprofit Excellence. In this position she has initiated and developed online marketing, web 2.0, and social media projects for CNPE and its nearly 400 member organizations. With a background in radio journalism, Désirée has long been interested in the intersection between media and civic engagement. She has been indulging that interest in the international arena since her sophomore year in high school when she studied at the Field study School Programe for Belize. Désirée earned her degree in Agricultural Communications, Education and Leadership at the University of Kentucky (cum laude) and went on to complete course work with the School for International Training in Cape Town, South Africa on Multiculturalism and Social change. In 2009, she represented CNPE and Kentucky Rotary as a Group Study Exchange team member in Sao Paulo Brazil. While back in Louisville, Désirée has been committed to serving her hometown through volunteer and board Service. She currently serves on the board of the Society of Professional Journalists, the 2009 Bingham Fellows- DRIVE YP Mayoral Advisory Initiative, and the Create Louisville: Your Big Idea Project Team.
Nirupama Kulkarni was born in India and came to the U.S. in 1986. She was an International Baccalaureate student at Atherton High School, graduated with a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Louisville, and moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue a law degree. After receiving her JD, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia and began a career as an immigration attorney. Deciding to start her own law practice, Nirupama moved back to Louisville during the summer of 2010 and is now the Managing Attorney for Indus Law Firm, a practice specializing in immigration law. Her focus at this time is business immigration and foreign investor visas. She has recently been involved with the EB5 visa program for foreign investors, a job creation and economic development vehicle which has the great potential to revitalize our community. She is also pursuing an Entrepreneurship MBA at the University of Louisville and plans to continue promoting the facilitation of economic development in Louisville and throughout Kentucky by maximizing the potential of this program through the use of foreign investment capital.
Joanne Lloyd-Triplett is the Executive Director of Sister Cities of Louisville. Originally from Manchester, England she earned her Bachelors degree with honors at The University of Sheffield in Hispanic Studies and Literature with a minor in Portuguese. As part of her studies she spent a year at the University of Santiago, Spain. She moved to Louisville in 2004 and took a position in Louisville Metro Department of Neighborhoods, working for the Office for International Affairs before moving to Sister Cities. Joanne also serves on several boards and committees such as Interfaith Paths to Peace, Alliance Francaise and volunteers as the United Kingdom Ambassador for GLIP. She recently served on the final selection committee for the Grawemeyer Awards for World Order.
Dexter Mahaffey is the Director of Diversity and Global Studies at Kentucky Country Day School. Through his work, he has built institutional partnerships with various Louisville, national, and international organizations, including Sister Cities International, Healing the Children, the Gates Foundation, Supplies Overseas, Fons Vitae Press, the Festival of Faiths, and the World Affairs Council, among others. The last four years have seen the launch of three ten-year sister school relationships in Tamale, Ghana, La Plata, Argentina, and Jiujiang, China,, bringing dozens of high school students back and forth between the schools, as well as online and cultural exchanges and service activities. Recent outreach efforts have also expanded to Haiti and Pakistan. A nearly two-decade teaching veteran and more than a decade as a journalist, Dexter Mahaffey is currently a doctoral student in Rhetoric at the University of Louisville, with his prior education at Middlebury.
Sophie Maier, librarian, works as a Community Outreach Coordinator at the Iroquois branch of the Louisville Free Public Library. Sophie earned a Library foundation scholarship to obtain her Masters in Library Science. For the past eight years she has worked on programming and outreach to the immigrant and refugee population of Louisville. While working on a Masters in Political Science she focused her studies on the Middle East and has continued to have an interest in the politics of that region of the world. Sophie earned The Cambridge CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at Kanagawa University and taught extracurricular English to students of Tokyo Kogei University. A year in England as a student at Harlaxton College raised awareness of global activism through work on animal rights issues. A year in Spain included study of the Spanish Civil War at the University of Alicante and exposure to the plight of African migrants in the coastal cities of Spain. Sophie lived four years in NYC working with children in state care – including first generation youth from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the West Indies. This interest has led to research of cities in the U.S which provide refugee resettlement foster homes for unaccompanied minors.
Sophie has an ongoing interest in international librarianship and possible future exchanges with libraries abroad, refugee resettlement policy, and ethnic conflict theory.
JK McKnight is a writer, musician, environmental activist, and the founder and manager of The Forecastle Festival. JK McKnight was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on February 18, 1981 to Ellen and Kelly McKnight. JK is a graduate of St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky, class of 1995. JK attended the College of Charleston, Bellarmine University, and University of Louisville. Most widely known for his creation of the annual Forecastle Festival, JK McKnight is an accomplished songwriter, musician, and environmental activist. JK has grown The Forecastle Festival from a small community event into one of the largest gatherings of musicians, artists, and activists in the Midwest. The latest event attracted nearly 30,000 attendees from throughout the country. Nine-years of grassroots brand building have garnered a loyal regional following, national sponsors, community partners, and the opportunity for future expansion.
Anne Marie Miller As a public school teacher and private tutor, Anne Marie Miller has been educating English Language Learners of Southern Indiana and Louisville for six years. Holding a BA and TESOL/TEFL license, she is now completing her masters in mathematics education at the University of Louisville.
Rajeev Mudumba is a man of many interests. Rajeev has over 16 years of leadership experience in the Human Resource Services and Technology Consulting industries. His distinguished record of accomplishment and innovation includes high level strategy and ideation, precise execution and enhanced focus on efficiencies through the use technology in business across various verticals. Entrepreneurial by nature, Rajeev has previously built successful marketing and technology consulting businesses. He has led successful service operations, relationship management and business development functions both locally and internationally. One of his passions is teaching and he has served as a faculty at several colleges teaching management subjects.
Rajeev earned his MBA from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA with dual majors in management information systems and e-commerce. He was nominated to Beta Gamma Sigma, honor society for academic excellence, top 5% of US MBA graduates. He also holds a Masters in Personnel Management/HR and an MBA in Marketing from Pune University, India. Rajeev is an active member of Project Management Institute (PMI), American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and Society of Human Resource Professionals (SHRM). He currently serves on the board of Homeland Security Foundation of America (HSFA), a non-profit, non-Federal public entity for Public Safety, Energy, Security and Health and Human Services. Rajeev also works with Grow Movement as a volunteer consultant for businesses in Africa. Grow is a non-profit organization providing free business consulting to micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) in developing countries over the internet and by mobile phone with part time volunteers.
Recently, Rajeev has joined the Program Leadership Committee for Indian Professional Council, KY, a non-profit focusing on providing a platform for Indians in the area as well as for local citizens to reach out to India and Indians for business, culture, art and education among other things.
Rajeev had moved to Louisville, KY in Feb, 2005 to work with SHPS and has since settled here. Rajeev nurtures a secular outlook towards the betterment of our community through religious tolerance, equal opportunity for the basics of food, clothing, shelter, education and jobs.
Through Indian Professional Council, Rajeev would like to help create a platform for Indian Professionals to participate in socio-economic, cultural and political avenues in the region and at the same time expand it to other avenues as well. IPC will also serve as an exchange platform and catalyst for other local citizens to reach out to India or Indians for business, education or cultural know-how. Rajeev has a vision to bring HSFA's programs to the Louisville region and provide a better community focus on homeland security programs for our citizens. Rajeev also hopes to motivate our citizens to contribute in avenues they can; not only to our community but to others in need as well so that we may all share the wealth equally, thus eradicating the dearth ; making it worthwhile for one and all.
Dennis A. Ogbe, a survivor of polio, is a member of the US Paralympic team. Currently Dennis is ranked #1 in the world in F58 discus and #3 in the world in F58 shot-put and is the US record holder in both events. This January Dennis will represent the Commonwealth and the United States at the World Championship Games in Christchurch, New Zealand. The World Championship is the preliminary to the Paralympic Games in London 2012. Dennis began his journey to the Paralympic Games in his native country of Nigeria and continued as a student at Bellarmine University. Dennis earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration in 2006 and his MBA in 2007. In addition to his athletic and academic accomplishments Dennis is thoroughly enjoying his role at Brown-Forman as the Corporate HR Specialist for the North America Region and as a motivational speaker. Dennis is married to his college sweetheart, Dyan, and together they have a two year-old daughter, MaryLou.
Elizabeth Painter has an Economics degree from Centre College, an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management, and a CFA from the CFA Institute Global Association of Investment Professionals. She spent 7 years working, studying and living overseas in England, France, Hungary, Hong Kong and Ukraine. Her work experience includes a senior finance analyst position in advancing markets at Brown Forman, a management consultant in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine and a financial consultant in Louisville. Currently she works as a consultant for the Oxford Financial Group and teaches salsa through Simmonds Dance Studio.
Elizabeth serves as President of the Alulmni Board of Centre College. She is a permanent member of the Centre College Global Citzenship Planning committee and served an active role in helping form the college's Strategic Plan. She frequently speaks to student groups about international opportunities as well as working with faculty members and administrative staff to incorporate global perspectives into Centre's curriculum. She continues to travel as frequently as possible.
Courtney Sandora, founder of Go Social, a Louisville-based social media and public relations firm, first had her interests peaked in international affairs during her study abroad experience at the University of Adelaide in South Australia. Courtney later went on to work with Brown-Forman where she handled global responsibilities for several of Brown-Forman brands in the areas of public relations and interactive marketing. Prior to Go Social and Brown-Forman, Courtney worked at global PR firms Burson-Marsteller and Hill & Knowlton in New York and Chicago. Courtney is a Chicago native but has thoroughly enjoyed the culture and international dining offerings she has experienced during her 5 + years in Louisville. She resides with her husband in downtown Louisville.
Thomas Sauer is currently the World Language Specialist for Jefferson County Public Schools after having taught German face-to-face at the University of Kentucky and Georgetown College as well as in a distance learning setting at Kentucky Educational Television. Always looking for new ways to learning with and from teachers, Thomas has worked for the Kentucky Department of Education Foreign Language Teachers Academies, directed the Kentucky World Language Teacher Network, and presents frequently at state, regional and national conferences. He has directed a variety of state and federal grants, most recently as program consultant for a highly successful StarTalk program. Thomas has served as President of the Kentucky World Language Association as well as on the Board of the National Association of District Supervisors of Foreign Languages and was elected as a Director of the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (CSCTFL) in 2007. Lately he has turned his attention to using his global professional learning network (PLN) to work on his new passions: technology integration, making the shift from teaching to learning, 21st Century skills and literacies and bringing transparency to educational institutions.
Darren Srebnick is an International Trade Specialist for the Louisville Office of the Kentucky World Trade Center. His main responsibilities include consulting on best practices for import/export operations, researching applicable US trade regulations and organizing educational seminars on international trade tropics for his client base. Prior to the World Trade Center, Darren worked for four years with the Nissan North America Trade Compliance Department in Nashville, TN as a Customs and Trade Analyst. Before joining Nissan, he was a licensed US Customs broker with Nippon Express where he acted as an intermediary between US Customs and automotive suppliers located in the southeast US.
Darren majored in Japanese studies with a concentration in Japanese language at Connecticut College in New London, CT. He studied abroad for one year at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan and upon graduation completed a 3-year contract as a translator for the Japanese government in Hiroshima, Japan.
Sundar Sridharagopal holds a MBA degree in Entrepreneurship from University of Louisville and MS in Computer Applications from Indian University. Sundar has been involved with various community organizations in town. He is one of the 128 Leadership Louisville Connectors, one of the Business First’s “Forty Under 40 - 2010“honorees and Kentucky Colonel honorees. He currently servers as a board member of Young Professional Association of Louisville (YPAL), Leadership Louisville Diversity Committee and University of Louisville Business School’s National Alumni Council. He is also in the NeXt! - Funds for the Arts Leadership Class 2012. He is one of the founder of Kentucky Tamil Sangam, a Indian language based cultural non-profit organization to promote Tamil language and culture in Kentucky. He was also in the Hindu Temple of Kentucky management team. Sundar is a Founding Partner of Techneek.Biz, IT consulting company specialized in database optimization and business performance tuning. He also works for SHPS as a Information Technology professional.
Sundar lives in the Louisville’s East End with his wife Bama daughter Amritha and son Kalaanidhi. He loves to play with his son and daughter in his spare time. In addition, Sundar enjoys connecting, volunteering, traveling, music, arts, sports and predicting astrology & numerology.
