Founders:
Ms. Praseeda Kunam is the promoter and CEO of Samhita Community Development Services. Praseeda has over 19 years of experience in the areas of microfinance, financial literacy and advising small and micro-enterprises. Praseeda holds an MBA degree as well as a Masters in Information Management from Washington University, St. Louis, and a BA, Economics from St. Ann’s College, Hyderabad.
Mr. Balachander Krishnamurthy is the promoter of Samhita Community Development Services. Bala has worked for ten years in the US corporate sector, with the firms McKinsey & Company (Chicago), Zacks Investment Research (Chicago) and Wellington Management Company (Boston), in the areas of corporate finance, investment research and investment software. Bala has also worked in the rural development sector in India over the past 20+ years. He has been an advisor to a public health promotion project at Ramakrishna Mission, Varanasi, as well as the architect of microfinance technology solutions at SKS Microfinance, Hyderabad, and Cashpor Microcredit, Varanasi. Bala holds an MBA (Finance) from the University of Chicago, MS (Computer Science) from Virginia Tech, and B. Tech. (Mechanical Engineering) from IIT Delhi.
Independent Board members:
Professor P.K.Biswas is an academic with research and leadership experience at multiple institutions across India and abroad. He serves as a Dean Academics, at the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad. His earlier roles include: Vice Chancellor at Skyline University, Nigeria; Director, Institute for Financial Management & Research (IFMR), Chennai; and Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management (LBSIM), New Delhi. He started his career as a faculty member at Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal where he taught for over 20 years. He completed his doctorate in sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. He is actively involved in various social development and governmental administrative networks.
Mr. Geoff Woolley is the founding partner of Dominion Ventures, Inc., which he founded in 1985, Chairman of European Venture Partners, and Chairman of MACC Private Equity. For over 29 years, Geoff has been involved in financing more than 300 emerging growth companies, including Ceina, Coinstar, Hotmail, and Human Genome Science, while managing more than $1.5 billion in cumulative assets. His non-profit experience includes being the founding chairman of the NAMES Project Foundation, (the AIDS Memorial Quilt) and working with foundations to empower the less fortunate. He founded and chairs University Venture Fund at the University of Utah, America’s largest and most successful student-led venture fund. Geoff holds a B.S. in business management from Brigham Young University and an M.B.A from the University of Utah.
Mr. Sanjeev Anand, Nominee Director from IndusInd Bank, is Country Head for Commercial Banking and Deputy Country Head for Commercial & Corporate banking at Indusind Bank. He is involved in the development of strategy and business in areas including SME Banking, Mid-Market Corporates, Supply Chain Finance, Financial Inclusion, Priority Sector and the Corporate Agri business space. Prior to Indusind Bank he was with ABN Amro as Head of Commercial Banking where he set up the SME vertical. He is an engineering graduate from IIT Roorkee and an MBA from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He is an experienced corporate banker with 27 years of work experience. A regular squash player, Sanjeev has won the National Men's Squash title in the over 40 years category, and has represented the Delhi State Squash team.