Pratham USA Announces New Leadership
New York, October 29, 2009

On October 19, 2009, the National Board of Directors of Pratham USA appointed Arvind Sanger as Chairman of the Board. Mr. Sanger was nominated by his predecessor and co-Board member, Vijay Goradia, who held the position since Pratham USA’s founding in 1999. Pratham provides underprivileged children in India with an opportunity to gain the reading and education skills needed to secure a job with a living wage and to improve their lives and the lives of future generations.

Pratham is a tripartite partnership – between corporations, government and citizens – working closely with the government in the belief that the fastest and most efficient change can be brought about only by motivating the government at various levels. In 2007, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Pratham a $9.1 million grant to scale its innovating learning techniques across the country in a campaign known as “Read India.” To date, the campaign has reached over 34 million children in 21 Indian states.

Arvind Sanger founded Geosphere Capital Management, a global long-short equity hedge fund, in 2007. This fund focuses on natural resources and industrial companies globally with offices in New York and Singapore. Between 2002 and 2007, he was a Portfolio Manager at SAC Capital, and was one of the most senior equity portfolio managers, managing a team of six investment professionals in New York and Singapore. Prior to his tenure at SAC, he had a 15-year career as a top-ranked sellside oil services and equipment analyst at a number of firms, including Deutsche Bank, DLJ (1995-2000), and Kidder Peabody.

Arvind graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, with a B. Tech in 1984 and received his MBA from Tulane University in 1987. In addition to his service on the Board of Pratham USA, he is a member of the Business School Council at The A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University.

"Having been closely involved with Pratham USA for several years, I am excited by its growth and inspired by the tremendous impact that Pratham's programs are having in India. I am honored by the opportunity to serve as Chairperson of the Pratham USA Board,” said Arvind. “I look forward to working closely with the rest of the team as we continue to build and strengthen the organization, thereby allowing us to reach and impact more children."

Arvind was welcomed by fellow National Board members Avinash Ahuja, Sudesh Arora, Vijay Goradia (former Chairman), Jaideep Khanna, Sanjay Motwani, and Paul Pandian.

Atul Varadhachary - President of Pratham USA

Earlier this year, Pratham USA announced the appointment of Atul Varadhachary as President. Atul has been associated with Pratham for many years. He, with his wife Gauri, co-founded and ran Pratham Health (now the Niramaya Health Foundation), a preventive health program that reached 65,000 poor pre-school children in India.

Atul is the President and COO of Agennix, Inc., a biotechnology company based in Houston. Before joining Agennix in May 2001, Atul was a Senior Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Co. He received his M.D. from the University of Bombay and his Ph.D. in Physiology from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Biological Chemistry, also at Johns Hopkins. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Baylor College of Medicine and at the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University, and serves on the Life Sciences Advisory Committee of the Houston Technology Center, and on several Boards including that of the Harris County Hospital District and the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (IACCGH).

The Pratham USA national executive team includes Varadhachary, Arvind Amin as Secretary, Mahalingam Ramesh as past President, Swatantra Jain as Treasurer, Sangita Karra as Vice President of Development and Leona Christy as Program Director.

Pratham USA, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, aims to make a significant contribution to Pratham’s goals by raising awareness about educational needs in India and mobilizing resources in the US to support Pratham’s programs. We aim to be the unifying movement that connects the Indo-American community in the US for the cause of a literate India.