BOSTON— Change, adaptation, and diversity & inclusion come naturally to Bala Venkat Muthukaruppan, who was born in Tamil Nadu, and grew up in Delhi, Calcutta, Andhra Pradesh and in several Gulf countries: Dubai, Muscat, Bahrain, and Qatar.
“Yes, I’ve lived through the first Gulf war in the 90s,” says Ms. Muthukaruppan.” This has truly enriched my life and taught me that the only thing that is constant is life is change and being adaptable is very important. The longest I’ve ever lived and called home is Boston: for about 21 years now.”
When Ms. Muthukaruppan moved to Needham, MA about a decade ago with her family, she did not see that diversity in her new hometown. She did not wait for things to change. She got directly involved and came up with several community initiatives.
She served as Co-Chair of Needham Arts and Culture Council for two years. She was appointed by the town Select Board to dispense public funding allocated by the Massachusetts Cultural Council to support community-based projects and activities in the performing and visual arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences to benefit the residents of Needham.
She also got engaged with various town activities, including Needham Resilience Network (board member); Indian Community of Needham (former president); Secular, non-profit organization aimed at celebrating and preserving the culture and heritage of India and surrounding South Asian countries; fostering friendships and unity among community members; advancing the educational, cultural, and charitable interests of the community; and representing the community to the people of Needham and beyond; and Needham Public School PTC (President for 2 years).
On April 26th, 2024, Ms. Muthukaruppan will be honored as the Outstanding Woman of the Year 2024 at the 21st Annual Woman of the Year Awards gala at the Burlington Marriott Hotel in Burlington, MA. The event will be attended by over 400 community leaders, social activists, entrepreneurs, academicians, and philanthropists.
To register for the gala, please click here.
The Purple Wings, which Ms. Muthukaruppan co-founded, this month made headlines for its contributions to the community. This non-profit is dedicated to empowering women through education, mentorship, and community building.
“Our mission is to provide women with the tools and resources they need to achieve their full potential and succeed in their personal and professional lives. We believe that by investing in women, we can create a more equitable and just society for all,” says Ms. Muthukaruppan.
Professionally, Ms. Muthukaruppan is a senior technology leader with a master’s in computer science and engineering from Boston University. She has 23 years of experience in all aspects of Software Development Life Cycle and Product delivery. Most recently, she served as the Senior Engineering & Product Delivery Leader at Symbotic, which provides an advanced automation solution to make the supply chain faster, more efficient, and more profitable for manufacturers, distributors and retailers of all sizes. She is also the founder of the DEI Council at Symbotic.
“With over 1000+ employees at Symbotic, I noticed the lack of diversity and inclusion initiatives and very few women in leadership roles,” says Ms. Muthukaruppan. “So, I reached out to executive leadership and HR and initiated the program to drive more belonging, hire more women (specifically in engineering where ratio was 1:10) and improve the overall company culture.”
Here is Q/A with Ms. Muthukaruppan:
INDIA New England News: Please tell our readers about your work and what you enjoy most about it?
Bala Venkat Muthukaruppan: I am an Engineering and Product Operations leader in the AI and Robotics domain currently and was previously in the Data Security and Privacy domain. What I enjoy the most about my roles in these diverse domains is that I get to see the big picture and be a key influencer and decision maker in delivering the product to our customers.
Specifically at Symbotic, with its A.I.-powered robotic technology platform, it is changing the way consumer goods move through the supply chain. Intelligent software orchestrates advanced robots in a high-density, end-to-end system – reinventing warehouse automation for increased efficiency, speed and flexibility. Being at the crux of creating the product delivery strategy, developing and implementing this technology to our customers is a very exciting opportunity.
Previously at Immuta, I had the privilege of working on a world class platform with the main goal of doing right by people and their data. With data being accessed by everyone and being misused by a lot of large organizations, taking a moral stance to protect and secure data as a company’s mission is commendable, and being part of this journey in building this software was indeed a great experience.
INE: If you’re engaged with any charity or non-profit, please tell us why this organization and what do you do for them?
BVM: I’d like to believe that one of our greatest assets as women is our ability to rise together, to celebrate our successes and failures as one community, and to lift one another up. In 2022, a year when the world was still recovering from Covid, I was on a quest to make some changes in my life as well as others, I co-founded the non-profit organization ‘The Purple Wings’ with few like-minded women, dedicated to empowering women through education, mentorship, and community building.
Our mission at The Purple Wings is to provide women with the tools and resources they need to achieve their full potential and succeed in their personal and professional lives. We believe that by investing in women, we can create a more equitable and just society for all.
Other non-profit organization that is close to my heart is the Indian Community of Needham where currently I am serving as the Social chair. We aim to celebrate and preserve the culture and heritage of India by spreading awareness in the community about bringing people together.
Finally, the Needham Resilience Network is a non-profit where I volunteer as a community leader, the mission is to anchor our community in the framing and language of belonging to build skills in communicating across differences, explore local issues from a range of lived experiences, and co-create community solutions.
INE: What are your hobbies and interests?
BVM: Anything that sparks my creativity and energizes me keeps me excited.
I have a multitude of hobbies, the list is long:
- Visual Arts: Growing up in a family of artists, drawing and painting came naturally to me. I have won many art awards in the elementary and middle schools but did not consider myself an artist per say until I won the International United Nations World Environment day art contest in High school in Bahrain and began to take my passion more seriously. I have been an active member in the artist community of Malden and Needham participating in various projects and more recently in also judging art contests. I continue to do art whenever time permits and enjoy the liberation it gives me, Art certainly takes me to another dimension.
- Classical & Non-classical dance: I am a classical Bharatanatyam dancer, continuing to learn under Guru Mari Shakti Muthuswamy in Newton. Whenever I get the opportunity, I try to showcase India’s most ancient art forms in our local community and perform so we can share our Indian culture with others. I am also a certified BollyX instructor, and love to teach dance. Dance energizes me and brings joy and allows me to destress. Lately with the instagram reels trend, I’ve jumped on that wagon along with my sister Priya who is also a Kathak dancer, and we enjoy making dance videos, which has been a bonding activity for us. (You can follow us on insta – @create.cheer.cherish)
- Sports: Badminton – My husband and I both are Badminton players, we love to stay active and fit. During covid, badminton was one of the things that really kept us going. We made a makeshift court in our neighbor’s parking lot and played pretty much every single day unless it was raining, snowing or too cold to play outside.
Other hobbies include Throwball, outdoor adventures, Food & Travel, Music, Cooking and print marking.
INE: In what way do you feel you have most positively influenced or served the local community and your company/organization and professional field?
BVM: I am a social person, and really passionate about helping to enhance, empower, and enrich others lives. I go out of my way to reach out to people, listen to them, and try to problem solve. I try to soak in the stuff around me, keep my eyes open and seize opportunities when I see it. In my community and at work, I have positively influenced the organizations by bringing in diversity, my unique perspectives, and striving to create a sense of belonging for one and all through various initiatives I’ve led and helped co-create.
INE: What is your rare talent?
BVM: I’ve thought about this for a while now and was struggling to put it in words. Few years ago, I was introduced to a concept of Multipotentialite – defined as the possession of high levels of both ability and interest in multiple areas.
I realized I am a multipotentialite as it is hard to describe my passions, because I have several. Multipotentialities are known to excel in more than one area or passion or have many skills, even if they are not at all related. I absolutely enjoy transferring my skills and applying them to other realms. I truly believe this is my superpower.
INE: Your favorite books?
BVM: This one is special because it was gifted to me by my brother (Chandran) – The God of small things by Arundhathi Roy
Being a techie, I am required to stay abreast of the latest and greatest in technology and processes, so I typically end up reading more technical books. I also enjoy self-help books a lot. Some of my favorites are – Ikigai, Atomic Habits, The 5 love languages
INE: Your favorite quotes?
BVM: This too shall pass – unknown
“A girl should be two things, who and what she wants” – Coco Chanel
“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” -Shirley Chisholm
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” -Alice Walker
In Tamil – அளவுக்கு மிஞ்சினால் அமிர்தமும் நஞ்சு
(Read – Alavukku minjinaal, amirthamum nanju)
Meaning – Too much of anything is good for nothing, as in we need to take everything in moderation, if not, it becomes poison.
INE: Who inspires you the most?
BVM: I find inspiration in people I meet every day, everyone has something to offer, whenever I see someone with a smile on their face and juggling all their responsibilities, that is inspiration, they may be going through some major challenges, but they keep marching forward.
Primarily, I see inspiration in my own family:
- My parents – Dad (Muthukaruppan) for his strong personality, boldness and resilience – from being born in a small village in Tamil Nadu to traveling all over India and the Middle East as an engineer , retiring as a VP of a Power and Energy, Mom (Deivanayagi) – from being a homemaker to pursuing her higher studies in her early 40s during my high school years and retiring as Vice Principal with many teaching accolades. They bring constant inspiration, in continuing to pursue one’s dreams and never giving up no matter what! I think I get the ‘can do’ attitude from them along with being a go-getter and constantly exploring everything that life has to offer and living life to its fullest.
- My Husband Venkat for embodying ‘Hardwork and perseverance’ – he is a self made man. He came from a very humble beginnings to working his way up to becoming an executive leader – CTO of one of the reputed Harvard teaching hospitals in MA (Beth Israel Deaconess medical center BIDMC, now serving as VP of Technology and innovation at BIHL) at a very young age. If there is one thing I strive to emulate is his self discipline and hardwork.
- My late grandmother – I was very close to her, my parents had left me for a year with her when my brother was born, so I used to call her mom. I later spent 4 years with her during my engineering graduate years. She was a talented woman, who was creative, wrote amazing Tamil poetry, a natural singer and an amazing cook, she taught me how to cook the traditional Tamil recipes. She lived a fulfilling life till 88, she was an example of how a woman can be bold, straight forward, and how one should live life for oneself and not worry about pleasing others.
INE: Your core value you try to live by?
BVM: Empathy, compassion, kindness and Humility. Always putting yourself in other shoes first, is something I’ve lived by. I am not quick to judge, and I always give people the benefit of the doubt.
INE: If you get a chance to meet, who is the one person you would like to meet and why?
BVM:
- Living: Sudha Moorthy – is a true inspiration for all women. She is a fierce yet simple leader, known for her humility, kindness, her philanthropy and contributions to society, making her a role model. I’d love to have an opportunity to meet and learn from her.
- Not living: Princess Diana – There was just something about her, her kindness, the spark in her eyes, the love she had for people, she embodied humility and grace, a beautiful soul in every sense.
