Anson Ben

Excecutive Director - Programs

LIFE EXPLORER:
Passionate about disruptive ideas
Thrives on breaking the rules
Did a bit of both in the corporate world
Myriad roles across operations and training
Training was a passion. Ops was a mission
Youngest ops mgr in company
Best ops mgr award next year
Moved to corporate quality, change mgmt
First in the world on a new quality standard
Then transitioned to consulting
Last role - heading global delivery of consulting
Lived the gypsy life in a suit
Loved the gypsy life - not so much the suit
Time to do something radically different
Took a sabbatical
Got into Harvard
Best decision in life
Continued journey through other experiences
INK was one of them
Truly revolutionizing
Decided to work here
Exploration continues
Anson 2.0 begins . . . .
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Anu Sethuram

Co-founder and Chair, International Council

Anu Sethuram combines her passion for promoting inter-cultural activities and her dedication to community service in her work at INK. As a Partner in the venture, she is an early investor and truly believes in the value proposition that INK offers.  
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Deepak Sridhar

Program Manager

Passionate about creating livable ecological systems (biological, physical, economical, and social). Fascinated by complex systems. Driven by a strong interest in understanding how everything in the world is wired. Interdisciplinary education in information science & engineering, public affairs and environmental science. Worked in the community development space, data and database management, and the sustainability sector of the sporting goods and outdoor industry. At INK, I am piecing together the puzzle to get people plugged into the Internet. Each individual must be able to access the web and make informed choices. Also: I love traveling. Enjoy swimming and playing badminton. A huge European sauna fan. Appreciate German wheat beers.
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Deepti Mulakaluri

Office Manager

Deepti joined the INK team in Feb 2012 and is part of the operations team. She worked for Dell for 3 years in Bangalore and headed the Ireland Cash Applications team of 12 members. She has done her Masters in Commerce from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore.
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Lakshmi Pratury

Founder, Host , Curator

Lakshmi Pratury brought TED to India in 2009, when the first TEDIndia conference was held in Mysore. In December 2010, she curated and hosted the first INK Conference, in association with TED, which carried forward the momentum created by TEDIndia. Lakshmi Pratury brings with her a varied and rich experience that spans for-profit enterprises, venture capital and nonprofit organizations. Featured in the list of ‘100 Most Powerful Women’ by Forbes Asia in 2010, Lakshmi has traversed an incredible distance professionally.
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Meghna Ashok

Speaker Management

Meghna manages and coordinates speaker relations at INK. Initially she joined the INK team as an Events Associate where she helped with coordinating and managing events for youth programs. She was also involved in INKlabs and other brand outreach activities. Meghna holds a Masters degree in International Marketing Management from Leeds University Business School.
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Nandini Ashok

Executive Director - Operations + Attendee Relations

Nandini Ashok leads the internal and external operations at INK. She also manages the attendees for the annual INK Conferences. She is a specialist in Facilities Management and Operations, and prior to INK, she worked at Intel, Sasken and the United Nations (ESCAP-APCTT) with over 20 years experience.
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Nirupa Rao

FELLOWS PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Nirupa coordinates the INK Fellows program, alongside writing for the INK Blog. She enjoys art, music and travelling, and is passionate about history
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Shalini Prakash

Marketing + Brand Outreach

Shalini joined the INK team in 2011 and is a part of the Marketing team primarily handling Brand Outreach activities, including campus outreach for INK events. She holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Telecommunication from RVCE, and Master of Business Administration from Liverpool Business School.
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Sharat Satyanarayana

Partnerships

At INK I contribute as a jack-of-all-trades: partnerships, sponsors, marketing, tech tools, and coordinating the daily lunch & desserts selection! By experience: part supply chain management, part marketing, part IT. Corporate & Entrepreneur; By interests: dancing, cooking, traveler, music aficionado, ideator. Generally a wondering wanderer
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Vaibhav Mathur

DIGITAL MEDIA + CONTENT

Always a curious kid. I had the pleasure of joining the INK team long before I graduate. I manage INK's online presense -- everything to do with Digital Media to our content.  
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Ajith Ingva

INK Ambassador

A Bangalore native who loves to travel in his spare time but remains loyal to his hometown!!!Comes to INK as an MBA graduate with a passion for making a difference. Previously worked with ITC infotech from 2004-2008 and 2010-2011 where he primarily handled off shore accounts (including all IT and Engineering concerns) with GE Oil and Gas and Oracle.
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Aruna Kulkarni

Google-INK Ambassador

I graduated with a Bachelors in Commerce from Karnataka University, Dharwad. My active participation in social activities earned me the best leader accolade and my time spent working in the social service sector gave me the opportunity to enhance my interpersonal skills within community. I love food, travelling and also like intense multi-tasking and consistently managing various expectations. I can think of no task more challenging or fulfilling than to start my career as a Google - INK Ambassador which I believe will require great resilience and discipline.
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Durgha Ramji

Google - INK Ambassador

In a past life I must have taken the incarnation of a long distance migratory bird - a swallow or a falcon perhaps. The essence of this migratory existence is still within me! As my friends and family will tell you they often have to ask me ‘Where in the world are you?’ I have lived in the UK, France and the Palestinian Territories and now my journey begins in India. My single passion is nomadic travelling - I love the adventure of back-packing: London to Berlin in Europe, Cochin to Amritsar in India and Zagreb to Istanbul in the Balkans are journeys I’ll never forget. I enjoy cycling and even more than this sitting on the back seat of a bicycle, feet dangling while being cycled around =) I believe you can learn something from everyone and so I am most content in a room full of new people from different parts of the world during international seminars. Using my skills of connecting people and building diverse networks, as a INKtara Ambassador, I will be working to achieve our aim of getting the next billion people online in India. I already know it’s going to be a challenging, entertaining and wild journey - and I look forward to every second of it! I’ll leave you now with a quote a wise friend wrote to me in a card before my departure to India. ‘Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it’ (Sudama Gautama). So, what are you waiting for? Follow my adventures on:amigratorybird.blogspot.comTwitter @DurghaRamji
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Kruthi Aramanamada Narendra

Google Ink Ambassador

Passion for People, Hunger for Change and My Beliefs brings me to INK and this project!!I am an Engineer by academics and have completed my Masters in Management from Warwick Business School. I dream to make internet and information accessible to everyone; which can then serve as a medium for their stories and recognize India`s hidden potential. And Yes, I have the longest name.
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Laxmi Kaparatti

Google-INK Ambassador

I graduated from Karnataka state women’s university, Bijapur with a Master of Social Work. I then completed the Deshpande fellowship program (social entrepreneurship, development sector) in the Deshpande Foundation. Athlete by passion, I am a very hard worker and a results oriented person. I have been actively involved in better and more sustainable work. With lots of positive energy, I have joined INK. I love working with people, and this gives me strength and makes me more energetic, lively and adds value to my life. With a desire to make a difference in my own life, at INK, I want to help women, old age people and children. My aim is to change society for the better by helping. I also plan to open my own NGO in future!
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Prajakta Kulkarni

Google - Ink Ambassador

A believer.I have been studying design for the past four years. Being an enthusiast about the field I have explored a lot through the possibilities of graphic designing. I enjoy travelling, talking and writing, the basic means of direct and indirect communication with humans and nature. I also write poetry and blog articles, and have fun making sketches and illustrations. Recently, I have finished a paper about music and its relevance in visual surrealism. In the past I have done a few other design projects related to systems and strategies.Currently, I am working towards developing a communication strategy for Ink and Google, to get the next billion people online and look for encouraging and enlightening stories from all over.
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Prakash Peerashetti

I am an engineer by degree, a black belt in karate, amateur violinist by interest, a total foodie with a love for nature, I love driving to unknown destinations, exploring places and going on road trip. With Google-INK, I intend to touch people’s lives by empowering them with knowledge of the internet – something that most of us take for granted, to serve their curiosity and to facilitate a sustainable eco-system who take forward what they have learnt to others. Bubbling with curiosity and full of questions, people don’t realize that I am actually facilitating their thought process and widening their horizons – true wisdom will dawn on them sometime (hopefully soon) .
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Priya Goldsmith

Google- INK Ambassador

I am very passionate and committed towards my work.I like to paint,act and designing.I am a graduate of Master of Social Work and one of the fellow of Deshpande Foundation. Accessing the internet is like a journey in the ocean of knowledge. The internet is a sword which cuts through the darkness of ignorance. It is perhaps the most significant transformation medium for the growth of human beings. I would like to make changes in the lives of others by connecting different minds.
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Rajashree Hunasikatti

Google Ink Ambassador

I completed my post-graduation in ‘Social work’ from Bijapur University. After MSW, I joined the Deshpande fellowship program where I learnt a lot of things which are relevant to the social development sector. I strongly believe in Napoleon’s principal of “Talk less work hard”. This principle has always worked for me. My hobbies are dancing, listening to music and discovering new things online and through social networking sites. I believe the Google-INK Ambassadors Network will act to change and revolutionize use of internet throughout the world.
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Shyamala Suresh

GOOGLE- INK AMBASSADOR

Masters in commerce by education, athlete by passion and aspiring educationalist by choice! From reading, music and travelling to basketball, running and cycling, I have varied interests. With a mission of creating a cleaner and greener planet, I have been actively involved in better and more sustainable methods of managing waste, and working towards getting people to say "Yes In My Backyard". Being a people friendly person with contagiously positive energy, love for research and a desire to make a difference, at INK, I believe, I have aligned my strengths to get the next billion people online and sharing stories to inspire people world over.
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Sushmitha Divakar

INK ambassador

I am a fun loving person. Just completed my Graduation from Jain University. Joined INK as it is the right place for me to be. "INK rocks". Aiming at our project to reach great success.
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Dipti Nair

Dipti brought her 15 years plus experience in the print media to spread the good word about INK. She also focused on connecting with the INK community through the social media networks besides writing, editing and developing a distinct editorial voice for INK.
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Erum Azeez

Fellows Program Coordinator

At INK, I have the privilege of interacting with brilliant minds from all over the world. It's incredibly interesting to discover who they are and what they do. I'm constantly inspired by the stories I hear and people I meet. Besides INK, Iike to read mind-blowing books such as "The Singularity is Near" by Ray Kurzweil, "Parallel Worlds" by Michio Kaku, "Heaven on Earth" by Lisa Randall, and "Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny" by Robert Wright. Additionally, I love to travel, cook, make videos of my experiences, find the best in people, and chillax.
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Nikhil Velpanur

Serial entrepreneur

At INK, Nikhil was responsible for designing and managing the Fellows program. He also conceptualized and put together a talented team to build and launch inktalks.com. Nikhil is a serial entrepreneur, innovator and a TED Fellow.
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Nikhil More

Visual Communication

Nikhil More graduated from the Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology in 2009. Having taken a multi-disciplinary approach to his design education, he is equipped with the skillsets to visually translate any outgoing INK communication. Having dealt with branding projects for the last two years, he adds creative width to the team by creating visual content that strengthens INK’s branding. With an eye for detail and a deep passion for typography, Nikhil spends his free time designing fonts. His last project was “Adhyapak“(the teacher) a font based on Indian street typography and the nuances of hand painted Devanagiri and Latin scripts.
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Nina Gannes

Nina has a degree in Geography and Music from McGill University. In her spare time, Nina enjoys exploring India, adventuring outside, and baking.
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Ram Sahasranam

Ram Sahasranam lives life filled with Passion and Emotion. An investment banker turned entrepreneur, he was involved in bringing the TED conference to India in 2009, working on partnerships and community. Post the conference, he serves as the TEDx ambassador in India. He helped in co-founding the INK Conference, and his role at INK was to rope in Partnerships and grow the INK community.
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Sheena Reddy

Communications

Sheena was responsible for company-wide communication and digital media strategy, including conference organizing and website development. She is part of the core founding team of INK. Previously, she worked in the healthcare industry, most recently interning at the WHO, Europe. She studied economics at UC Berkeley and received her MSc in health policy from LSE.
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Tariq Thekaekara

Tariq is a documentary filmmaker on the verge of diving into cyber space to make films for an online audience. He worked for the INK Conference (as an editor, cinematographer, and general video techy) where it was his job to oversee and create all the INKtalks from the conference tapes to the time they go live on our website.
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