BOSTON—Saheli Boston, a community-based non-profit organization in Massachusetts with the mission to empower South Asian women to lead safe and healthy lives, announced the co-chairs of its biennial fundraising event “Nirbhaya” which will be held on Dec 1, 2024 at Crowne Plaza hotel in Woburn MA.
The Co-chairs are the brother-and-sister team of Aruna Krishnamurthy and Anand Krishnamurthy.
While addressing the issue of domestic violence in the South Asian community, the event will be a fun evening filled with food, friends, and music.
“This is the first time a fundraising event of this scale will be chaired by a brother-sister team,” said Saheli Boston President Neelam Wali. “We’re very grateful to Aruna and Anand to have agreed to chair this year’s Nirbhaya gala.”
Aruna is a professor and Chair of the English Studies Department at Fitchburg State University. She has also served as President of the Faculty and Librarians Union (MSCA) at Fitchburg State for four years.
In addition, Aruna has volunteered with Saheli at both the Shrewsbury and Acton chapters over many years, where she organized and ran workshops on issues relevant for the South Asian community. As a Board member, she looks forward to using her writing skills and literary background to help further the mission and vision of Saheli, and shape new initiatives for the organization.
Anand is a high-impact business executive with deep understanding of the value and complexity of technology as it relates to business progress. He has a strong background in strategic planning, engineering modernization, R&D leadership, product strategy, risk management, IP management, emerging technologies, cost management, and acquisition-focused due diligence. He brings an entrepreneurial mindset derived from extensive work in startups and cofounding a 600-employee technology company that was ultimately acquired by Microsoft.
Anand, who has coauthored eight patents, is currently serving on two nonprofit boards. Moreover, he is serving as the CEO at Augmenteum, a startup developing solutions for spatial computing and virtual reality. Most recently, Anand drove development of Azure for Operators strategy for Microsoft Corp following the acquisitions of his company, Affirmed Networks, Inc.
Anand holds a Ph.D. and Master of Science in Computer Engineering from Boston University as well as a Master of Science in Economics and a bachelor’s degree in electrical and Electronics Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology & Science in Pilani, India. He is a member of the Board of Directors of WBUR (Boston’s NPR news station) and an Advisory Board member of Boston University’s College of Engineering. Anand is a member of the Launchpad Venture Group, Sidecar Angels Hub Angels, and
on the leadership team at TiE Boston Angels.
