Our Team
Founders
Madhu Krishnan
Co-Founder, President
Class Lead, Scratch Programming
Madhu Krishnan is the co-founder and President of Inclusive World. She holds a Masters degree in Computer Applications and has worked in the high tech industry for over 18 years. At Inclusive World, Madhu heads strategy and planning and forges partnerships with local organizations. She also teaches Scratch Programming. Madhu enjoys spending time outdoors, hiking and running with her dog Jazzy and tending to her vegetable garden. Madhu believes that every human is born with innate potential, when tapped, helps them lead productive and content lives. Madhu founded Inclusive World to provide a place for individuals with different abilities to discover and grow their abilities and interests and set them on a path to lead happy lives.
Deepa Lakshminarayan
Co-founder
Production Manager and Class Lead,
Arts Crafts Small Business
Deepa Lakshminarayan is a program manager in the Silicon Valley. As co-founder of Inclusive World, Deepa wears multiple hats including Production Manager and Class Lead for our Arts & Crafts Small Business unit and as a Board Member. Deepa likes to get creative using various media like painting, crafts, jewelry making to name a few. With a deep passion to make a difference to her community, she actively engages and spearheads local community events. Deepa felt the need to help youth who were not seen for their abilities, but always noticed for their disabilities. Alongwith the co-founders of Inclusive World, it has been her endeavor to create an environment where the potential of our differently abled young folks is nurtured. With the help of neurotypical teens and youth acting as their peer buddies, she has strived to create a safe environment for growth and friendships for our members. The peer group environment has opened up avenues for learning, acceptance, friendships and inclusion for all stakeholders, resulting in win-win outcomes at both ends.
Swapna Iyer
Co-founder
Swapna Iyer is an AI engineer, currently at Intel. She holds a masters degree in Electrical Engineering and coaches in Algorithms and programming with Interview Kickstart. She has found her calling in building software systems that change the world for the better. To bring the world of Computer Science to the differently abled youth and to foster in them creativity, self-confidence and everyday happiness of being able to make valuable contributions to the society they live in – is the reason why, Swapna helped setup Inclusive World. She remains a steadfast supporter and cherishes the time with all the members and families who receives the support of Inclusive World.
Leadership
Janaki Venkatasubramanian
Treasurer and MS Excel Class Lead
Janaki Venkatasubramanian, Treasurer and MS Excel Class Lead
Janaki is the financial backbone of Inclusive World. In her role as Treasurer, Janaki critically appraises the organization’s financial standing, policies and procedures, process controls, drives budgeting and reporting as well as our fundraising work. In addition, Janaki is a Class Lead for the intermediate MS Excel Classes. Her goal is to teach and enable students to fall in love with numbers and be able to organize data while learning the tools and techniques of MS Excel. Janaki comes with a decade long experience with the Financial Planning and Analysis group at Siemens where she is Head of Performance Controlling. Janaki has previously volunteered at temples and schools but inspired by the passion and vision of the founders of IW, she joined IW as her first formal volunteer work, where she is part of the Leadership team. When she is not crunching numbers, Janaki loves to travel, cook and to enjoy time with the family and her dear Nella (her dog).
Gowri Kuthanur
Board Member
Gowri Kuthanur, Board Member
Gowri leads Inclusive World’s efforts towards adopting Person Centered Thinking and in the development and implementation of building One-page profiles for all our members and volunteers. Gowri believes that person centered approaches and asset-based teaching have the power to unlock our members’ potential by focusing on their interest, abilities and talents. She is passionate about education and believes access to free flowing knowledge can change and empower all. After spending 15 years as a Software and Systems Engineer in the SF bay area, Gowri has been engrossed in the education field for the last eight years as a learning Coach/Instructional Aide for her own daughter, a differently abled youth at Inclusive World. Gowri keeps her passion for learning strong by continuing education through Coursera courses. She enjoys listening to music, reading, cooking and hiking with her family and friends.
Rohini Panchapakesan
Executive Director
Rohini Panchapakesan, Executive Director
As Executive Director, Rohini is responsible for planning, organization, and the direction of the organization’s operations and programs, towards Inclusive World’s strategic goals. Rohini loves to explore opportunities for continuous learning, improvising and serving in her role at Inclusive World. She brings a wide range of management knowledge and experience from managing and leading a software development team and involvement with Chinmaya mission as a parent as well as a volunteer teacher to teach spirituality to elementary school kids. Rohini’s journey began with attending a workshop in her children’s school that inspired her to commit her time to positively engaging with people with different abilities. Her association with Inclusive World began through volunteering opportunities that her children pursued at the organization. Over time as she got more immersed in the mission, Rohini took the plunge to dedicate her time to organize and run program operations by leveraging her in-depth corporate experience. Her relentless pursuit of bringing the organization together in its journey makes Rohini a core asset on the Leadership team. Rohini is a music lover and listens to all kinds of music and loves to sing classical Carnatic music. She also loves going out on hikes with friends and family.
Geetha Gopalakrishnan
Co-Head, Arts & Crafts Small Business
Geetha Gopalakrishnan - Co-Head, Arts Crafts Small Business
Geetha Gopalakrishnan has been involved with Inclusive World since 2013 and currently she is the co-head of Arts & Crafts Small Business alongside Maria Hassonjee. She enjoys her time in class interacting with members and volunteers and feels ever so proud in seeing them grow over the years. As a Core team member, Geetha is also involved in many different aspects of the organization. Geetha has been a Bay area resident for the last twenty years and currently works as an IT Manager in a tech company. Committed to giving back to her community and believing in the power and spirit of volunteering, Geetha volunteers her time for few other non-profit organizations, besides Inclusive World. She enjoys running, cooking and yoga in her spare time and is an avid Marathoner.
Maria Hassonjee
Co-Head, Arts & Crafts Small Business
Maria Hassonjee, Head, Arts Crafts Small Business
Maria, a fashion and jewelry small business entrepreneur, started the journey with Inclusive World when she generously offered her time to be mentor at the Arts and Crafts Small Business for several years. Maria, with a Diploma in Fashion Design, comes from a family that runs multiple businesses. Her online handcrafted curated collection of fashion jewelry for every occasion, Duel on Jewel, speaks to her own success in business. Duel on Jewel has been selling online across North America (US, Canada and Mexico) and has a strong online marketplace not only through its website but also on Amazon, Ebay and very recently on Walmart. She has over ten years of experience in all aspects of small businesses and brings a can-do attitude to any challenge she encounters. Maria believes in making the business work for her rather than her working for a business and is ever inspiring about her motto to “never lose faith in oneself”. Motivated by Inclusive World’s unique approach to empowering the differently abled and making a difference in their lives, she joined the organization formally in 2020.
Jaya Rupanagunta
Strategy Advisor
Jaya Rupanagunta - Strategy Advisor
In her role as a Strategy Advisor, Jaya Rupanagunta supports the leadership team by undertaking strategic initiatives that help us inch closer towards our mission and tracks our progress in making that success a reality. Jaya has more than 20 years of experience in Banking and Financial Services as well as the non-profit sector in leadership roles across areas such as product management, business strategy and operations, FP&A and impact research & analytics. She appreciates different genres of music and dance. In her spare time, she tinkers in DIY arts & crafts and culinary experiments, loves the outdoors and cuddles with her kids and her dog Frodo. Jaya first came across Inclusive World at a UNDP conference in Palo Alto a few years ago. She was very impressed by the organization and its vision and initially undertook project based work. Excited by the opportunity to contribute to building a strong sustainable social impact organization, Jaya joined Inclusive World formally in 2020.
Core Team
Dharma Kuthanur
Coordinator, Grants
Dharma Kuthanur, Coordinator, Grants
Pallavi Kuthanur
Inventory Controller
Pallavi Kuthanur, Inventory Controller
In her role as Inventory Controller, Pallavi Kuthanur keeps track of the inventory of the products created by the Arts and Crafts Small Business at Inclusive World. Pallavi has been a proud and enthusiastic student in many of our programs since inception. She finds great joy in her role in both maintaining and seeing the stock flow sheets after sales. Pallavi is a student of Accounting and Economics, at San Jose City College. Pallavi likes to listen to all genres of music to relax, watch movies and likes to go on hikes with her family. She also likes to read and write poetry.
Shalini Suresh
Manager, Volunteer & Member Relations
Shalini Suresh, Manager, Volunteer & Member Relations
In her role as a Manager Volunteer & Member relations, Shalini Suresh recruits and manages a large base of members and volunteers in the organization. In the past, Shalini worked in the Arts and Crafts Small Business Program. Shalini was instrumental in setting up the Shasta-Kidly-Inclusive World collaboration. Shalini works at Cisco designing specialized computer chips. In her free time she loves to read, do puzzles, do yoga, and spend time with her friends and family. Her search to learn how to interact with her friend’s child who was differently abled, led Shalini to join the Inclusive World team and be an instrumental force in an impactful journey.
Dheeraj Khanna
Class Lead, East Bay Class Software Testing Level 1
Dheeraj Khanna - Class Lead, East Bay Class Software Testing Level 1
Dheeraj Khanna is the co-lead for the Software Testing Level 1 class, offered as part of the East Bay Programs. He has spent over a year setting up Inclusive World’s East Bay Program. Dheeraj currently works as a Senior Project Manager at Adobe and feels that the testing aspect has been a key component in the success of any application he has worked on during his 15 years in the tech field. Dheeraj likes to travel to new places, loves to try new cuisines and read all things technology in his spare time. He was motivated to join the organization after hearing about its mission and approach, and meeting the co-founder, Madhu Krishan, at a workplace event.
Rajesh Prasad
Class Lead, East Bay Class Software Testing Level 1
Rajesh Prasad - Class Lead, East Bay Class Software Testing Level 1
Rajesh Prasad is a co-lead for the Software Testing Level 1 class offered as part of East Bay Programs. A software engineer by profession, he has been working in the Bay Area for more than 15 years. In his free time, he likes to spend time with his family and pursue his passion for woodworks. Rajesh joined the Inclusive World team as he liked its cause and the idea of making a difference in someone’s life in addition to the opportunity to make new friends.
Sandip Parekh
Class Lead, Robotics
Sandip Parekh - Class Lead, Robotics
Sandip Parekh spearheads Robotics programming class. Sandip works for a software startup and loves the logical flow of the challenge of solving customer problems utilizing analytical and other approaches. Sandip’s hobbies include hiking with his family, nature photography and being a cub scout leader. His son, a student at Inclusive World’s programs, initiated his interactions at Inclusive World. Sandip was motivated to join our team on seeing how computer programming leads to real-life and employable skills for the differently abled.
Sangeetha Ram
Class Lead, MS Excel Level 1
Sangeetha Ram - Class Lead, MS Excel Level 1
Sangeetha Ram is the Class Lead for the basic Excel class. With an education background in Computer Science, Sangeetha works as a Travel Agent. In her free time she enjoys cooking, reading and hiking. She was intrigued by the organization’s work after seeing the greeting cards made by Inclusive World’s members and wanted to be part of the Inclusive World team. In the process of getting to know and supporting the organization, she learned how to tailor our programs to fit individual member needs and took on the pivotal role of leading the Basic Excel class.
Chitra Narayan
Class Lead, Arts & Crafts Small Business
Chitra Narayan - Class Lead, Arts and Crafts Class Small Business Program
Chitra Narayan is a class lead for Arts and Crafts Small Business program. Chitra has a background in Corporate Secretaryship and worked part time for H&R block which allowed her time to spend with her family. Chitra’s hobbies involve watching Netflix, cooking and walking. She loves to spend time with friends and travel to new places. Chitra had joined the Inclusive World team as a volunteer with the Arts and Crafts program in 2018, which led her to appreciate how therapeutic and productive our programs are.
Geetha Kannan
Class Lead, Arts & Crafts Small Business
Geetha Kannan - Class Lead, Arts and Crafts Small Business Program
Geetha Kannan is a class lead for Arts and Crafts Small Business program. Her background is in Physics and Computer Science. Geeta currently works as a Behavior Therapist which she feels helps her understand how to approach certain situations better. In her spare time, Geetha likes to read, do gardening and baking. Her journey began way back in 2012 as a volunteer in the Arts and Crafts Small Business Program.
Rucha Desai
Class Lead, Arts & Crafts Small Business
Rucha Desai, Class Lead, Arts and Crafts Small Business Program
Rucha Desai is a class lead for Arts and Crafts Small Business Program. Rucha holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Engineering (Software) from SJSU. She worked for 6 years at Sun Microsystems. In her free time, Rucha enjoys traveling with her family, cooking and reading. Rucha was introduced to Inclusive World through her daughters who volunteered with the organization for over five years. Enjoying watching our students and volunteers collaborate to create beautiful artwork, Rucha decided to take on a lead role to support our journey.
Sowmya Janakiraman
Coordinator, East Bay & Class Lead, Software Testing Level 1
Sowmya Janakiraman, Coordinator, Skill Development
Introduced to Inclusive World by her friend Geetha Gopalakrishnan in 2015, Sowmya has been actively volunteering for the organization since then and initiated the East Bay program. Sowmya, an-ex techie in Information Technology services, served as Executive Vice President of the Board at Hidden Hills HAWKS EDFUND. She has participated in many fundraising and community outreach initiatives. Sowmya is currently happily settled as a full time homemaker cherishing the little pleasures of life like a good cup of coffee, spending time with family and friends and listening to her diverse playlist of music. Sowmya believes that there is nothing more rewarding and fulfilling than bringing a smile in someone’s life even if it were momentary. In addition, Sowmya recently took on the role of a Class Lead for Software Testing Level 1 class.