WALTHAM, MA—As anticipation builds for the 2025 New England Choice Awards, the winners have already been carefully selected by a distinguished panel of 11 judges.
Chosen for their integrity, expertise, and diverse perspectives, these 11 jurors were tasked with reviewing nominations and identifying individuals and organizations that exemplify excellence across New England’s vibrant South Asian community.
The awards ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 1, 2025 at Burlington Marriott Hotel in Burlington, MA, the judging process—rigorous and thoughtful—is complete. Before the honorees take the stage, we’re proud to introduce the jury members who shaped this year’s outcomes.
Anu Chitrapu
Senior Executive, Bank of America
Former President, TiE-Boston
Advisory Board Member, Museum of Science & Asian Community Fund
Anu Chitrapu is a seasoned senior executive at Bank of America, with over 25 years of experience in Corporate America. She currently serves as the Global Technology Market Lead for Boston and is the Executive Sponsor of the Asian Leadership Network in the region. In these roles, she actively champions diversity, equity, and leadership development, and has moderated and participated in numerous industry and community panels.
Chitrapu is the former President of TiE-Boston, one of the oldest and largest chapters of the global entrepreneurship organization TiE. Her commitment to civic engagement continues through her current advisory roles at the Museum of Science, Boston, and the Asian Community Fund at The Boston Foundation, where she helps shape inclusive and forward-thinking initiatives.
Chitrapu holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Subrata Das
Founder, Machine Analytics
Co-Founder, SETU
Adjunct Faculty, Northeastern University
Subrata Das is a data scientist, entrepreneur, and educator whose work spans the fields of artificial intelligence, data fusion, and advanced analytics. He is the founder of Machine Analytics, a Boston-based consultancy providing cutting-edge business analytics solutions to clients in government and industry.
In addition to leading his company, Das serves as Consulting Chief Data Scientist at Alphaserve Technologies in New York and is an adjunct faculty member at Northeastern University. He is also a co-founder of SETU, a nonprofit organization focused on cultural and social outreach in the New England area, further reflecting his commitment to community and cross-cultural engagement.
A pioneer in computational intelligence, Das brings deep technical expertise in mathematical logic, probabilistic reasoning, and a broad spectrum of machine learning and deep learning methods. He has served as a technology consultant at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and has led numerous high-impact projects funded by DARPA, NASA, the U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR), and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
Nirmala Garimella
Nonprofit Professional, Community Catalyst
Co-Founder, Women’s Giving Circle, International Development Advocate
Nirmala Garimella is a seasoned nonprofit professional and passionate community leader with a strong commitment to social impact, gender equity, and global development. With extensive experience in community engagement, she believes that smart, holistic solutions to poverty and inequality—especially those centered around women and girls—can lead to lasting change.
Garimella currently serves on the Addressing Public Attitudes Team, bringing her thoughtful perspective to initiatives aimed at shifting perceptions and driving action. Her deep interest in gender issues and girls’ education inspired her to launch Circle of Hope, a women’s giving circle under the American India Foundation (AIF) in New England, which empowers women philanthropists to support transformative initiatives. She is also an active volunteer with DAWN Worldwide, an organization focused on addressing gender-based violence and women’s rights globally.
In addition to her nonprofit work, Garimella is the co-founder of Lokvani.com, a pioneering online platform that highlights news, events, and voices from the Indian American community in the Greater Boston area. She has served on the boards of the Indian Americans of Lexington and the Lexington Education Foundation, and was a key contributor to the Demographic Change Subcommittee in Lexington—an initiative recognized as a 2015 Harvard Ash Center Bright Idea in Government. Garimella holds a Core Certification in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from Boston University.
Anshul Mehra
Intellectual Property Counsel & Assistant General Counsel
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Anshul Mehra is a distinguished attorney whose personal journey and professional achievements converge in a powerful story of purpose, resilience, and service. He currently serves as Intellectual Property Counsel and Assistant General Counsel at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he plays a pivotal role in advancing the Institute’s groundbreaking research and innovation. From patent law to licensing and collaborative research agreements, Mehra’s legal work helps translate scientific discoveries into life-saving therapies.
As a child, Mehra was a patient at Dana-Farber — an experience that profoundly shaped his life. Rather than leaving that chapter behind, he chose to return, using his legal expertise to give back to the very place that once helped save him. His full-circle journey is a rare and inspiring example of professional excellence driven by personal purpose.
Before joining Dana-Farber, Mehra practiced at Wolf Greenfield, one of the nation’s leading intellectual property law firms, where he earned high regard for his technical insight, strategic thinking, and thoughtful leadership. Today, his work continues to have lasting impact — not only on the legal and research community, but on the lives of countless patients and families.
Dr. Shikha Merchia, MD
President, Indian Medical Association of New England (IMANE)
Primary Care & Lifestyle Medicine Physician
Dr. Shikha Merchia is a board-certified physician specializing in primary care, lifestyle medicine, obesity management, and non-invasive skin procedures, including laser treatments and CoolSculpting. Based in North Easton, Massachusetts, she brings a holistic and patient-centered approach to wellness, emphasizing preventive care and sustainable lifestyle changes.
Dr. Merchia currently serves as the President of the Indian Medical Association of New England (IMANE), one of the oldest and most respected Indian-American medical organizations in the United States.
Founded in 1978, IMANE provides a platform for physicians of Indian origin in New England to network, engage in community service, support medical education, and promote public health initiatives. Under Dr. Merchia’s leadership, IMANE continues to expand its outreach, foster mentorship, and advocate for health equity across diverse communities.
Upendra Mishra
Author
After the Fall: How Owen Lost Everything and Found What Truly Matters
Precise Marketing: The Proven System for Growing Revenue in a Noisy World
Upendra Mishra is an author, storyteller, and marketing strategist whose work bridges the worlds of literature, media, film, and business communication. He is the managing partner of The Mishra Group and founder of Precise Marketing, a firm known for crafting high-impact, personalized marketing strategies that drive results in a crowded digital landscape.
An accomplished writer, Mishra is the author of After the Fall: How Owen Lost Everything and Found What Really Matters—a reflective novel on loss, transformation, and personal growth—and Precise Marketing: The Proven System for Growing Revenue in a Noisy World, a practical guide for business leaders navigating the complexities of modern marketing.
A former journalist and longtime publisher, Mishra has also established himself as a documentary filmmaker. His recent films include The Untold Story of Indian Music in America and Enabling Vision, which explore cultural history and nonprofit impact with a human-centered lens. He is the creator and host of Face-to-Face, a widely viewed interview series featuring entrepreneurs, physicians, scholars, artists, and changemakers from around the world.
Shirish Nimgaonkar
Founder & CEO, eBlissAI
Shirish Nimgaonkar is an entrepreneur, investor, and advisor with deep expertise in software and artificial intelligence. He is the Founder and CEO of eBlissAI, a predictive automation software company powered by AI. Over the years, Nimgaonkar has been part of the senior leadership teams at several venture-backed tech companies, helping drive growth, innovation, and successful exits.
Previously, he served as a Managing Director at a global investment bank, where he advised high-growth technology companies across the U.S., Europe, and Asia on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, and strategic development. As an active advisor and angel investor, Nimgaonkar works with startups in SaaS, B2B software, and AI—guiding them on product strategy, go-to-market planning, team building, fundraising, and scaling.
Nimgaonkar holds a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology–Bombay, an M.S. from Stanford University (as an ITC Scholar), and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Outside of the tech world, he is a classically trained musician and the founder and lead singer of a music band focused on social impact.
Gaugarin Oliver
Entrepreneur and Investor
Founder and CEO, CapeStart,
Gaugarin Oliver is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist with a track record of founding and scaling successful ventures across technology, media intelligence, and AI. With over three decades of experience and involvement in more than 30 early-stage companies, OLiver brings a unique blend of business acumen, innovation, and community leadership.
He is the Founder and CEO of CapeStart, a 450+ person company delivering AI-powered solutions and data services to clients worldwide. He also co-founded Fullintel, a media intelligence platform offering real-time analytics and insights. His previous startup, MyMediaInfo (RedEgg Solutions), was acquired by Thomson Reuters, where Oliver led efforts that culminated in a $390 million divestiture of the business unit to NASDAQ OMX.
Oliver’s entrepreneurial journey includes pivotal roles in ventures such as Mobixell (wireless multimedia), Cymfony (NLP-based business intelligence), Lojalis (mobile loyalty), UltiVerse (mobile messaging), and Voice Control System (speech recognition). Early in his career, he also worked with Indian Telephone Industries and Pragati Computer in India.
A champion of entrepreneurship and innovation, Oliver served as President of TiE-Boston from 2014 to 2016 and remains an active charter member. He is also the Chairman of the OliverG Foundation, supporting philanthropic initiatives focused on education and community empowerment.
Mandy Pant
Lead Technologist in the Design Engineering Group
Intel
Mandy Pant is a Lead Technologist in the Design Engineering Group at Intel. Prior to this, she was the Director of Intel’s Corporate Research Council, a body that works with leading academic researchers worldwide and senior technical leaders at Intel to seed and drive research efforts in areas of strategic importance to Intel in particular and the computing industry in general. Before this, as Intel’s lead technologist in the area of power delivery and power management, she investigated and drove several issues in the power space, particularly on-chip power delivery issues, power management and power reduction on the Intel next generation high volume server microprocessors. She has led Intel’s die power delivery company wide synergy efforts and recently driven Intel’s power delivery Roadmap program. Further, she has also been a key player in driving and deploying Intel’s internal innovation programs.
She has published 20+ technical papers in prestigious VLSI conferences and journals, has 3 issued patents and 5 pending patents.
Pant received her Bachelors (B.Tech) in Computer Science and Engineering from I.I.T Kharagpur, India, a Masters (MS) in Electrical Engineering and a Doctorate (PhD) in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA. She joined Intel in 2001 as part of the Alpha team acquisition from Compaq Computer Corporation where she worked since graduating in 2000.
Dr. Manju Sheth, MD
Internist at Beth Israel Lahey Health
President & Co—Founder, INE MultiMedia, Inc.
President, Women Who Win
A Physician at Beth Israel Lahey Health with a passion for women empowerment, community service and media, Dr. Manju Sheth is the President of India New England Multimedia, the New England Choice Awards, and the director of the Woman of the Year Gala.
Her Chai with Manju series has featured esteemed guests including Congressman Joe Kennedy, Senator Elizabeth Warren, John Sculley, Sudha Murthy, Sadhguru, Dean Srikant Datar of HBS, Ro Khanna, and Sonu Nigam to name a few and has become a top talk show series for the South Asian community.
She has a passion for womens’ causes and was co-chair of the Women’s Forum at the Indian Medical Association of New England (IMANE) She is the community ambassador of Akshaya Patra USA. She is the co-founder of the New England Choice Awards, a prestigious award show celebrating the successes and trailblazers in our community. She has been a physician and strong advocate of Women’s health, with experience at Beth Israel Lahey Health, Partners, and Atrius/Harvard Vanguard. She also served on the hospital’s diversity & inclusion steering committee . She was also the Chairperson on the Advisory board of Saheli and has served on the Board of ATASK .
Dr Sheth has also Co- Produced and led Women’s conferences in Massachusetts .
She is the president of Women Who Win. She has received numerous awards for her work including from Leadership in Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity from Commonwealth of Massachusetts by Asian and Pacific Islanders Commission. She is the Co- author of two books – Women Who Win and Girls Who Win.
She has been named in 150 Influential Women in Massachusetts list by YWCA and named in 50 most influential Indian Americans in Massachusetts. She is also a TEDx speaker.
Aditi Taylor
Executive Vice President, Head of Operations
MFS Investment Management
Aditi Taylor is EVP, Head of Operations at MFS Investment Management. In this role, she oversees the firm’s global investment operations, client reporting, performance, attribution, independent risk management and transfer agency services. She is a member of the firm’s Enterprise Leadership Team.
Previously, she served as the Chief Enterprise Risk Officer of the organization providing oversight of enterprise risk management.
Prior to that, Taylor served as the Partner/Principal in Deloitte Advisory LLP where she spent almost 19 years working on various consulting engagements across multiple global companies. Aditi holds an MBA from Bentley University, MA and a bachelor’s in economics from the University of Mumbai, India.
Taylor has been active in the New England community serving in leadership roles for various community organizations, including as President of the New England Marathi Mandal and the India Association of Greater Boston.
In 2014, she was inducted in the Boston Business Journal’s class of ‘40 Under 40’ Leaders to watch for as well as recognized as Boston Business Journal’s ‘Leaders in Diversity’. In 2015, she was honored by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce as one of the ‘Ten Outstanding Young Leaders’. She was also recognized by the India New England News as the ‘Most Versatile Leader’ in 2017.
Until recently, Taylor sat on the board of Tech Goes Home (TGH) a non-profit organization working towards bridging the digital divide. Taylor also served as an Adjunct Professor at Boston University MET and teaches Advanced Enterprise Risk Management.
