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Board of Trustees

Talat Hasan, Chairperson - Talat has been a technologist and entrepreneur for over two decades.  She is married to Kamil Hasan and they have two daughters. She founded Sensys Instruments in 1996 to market products for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company was acquired by ThermaWave in 2002. Talat holds a B.A./M.A. in Physics from Oxford University and a B. Sc. in Physics from Aligarh Muslim University (India). She currently serves on several boards, including the Castilleja School, a private school for girls, and IBPW (Indian Business and Professional Women). She is a charter member of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), a trustee of AIF (American India Foundation) and on the advisory board of Maitri, a support group for victims of domestic violence. She is also a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum. She is also active - with her husband - in investing in start-up companies through Hitek Venture Partners.

Anil Godhwani, Secretary  - Anil was the co-founder and Vice President of Marketing for AtWeb, which was acquired by Netscape in 1998. He also co-founded and served as the VP of People at SimplyHired. Anil has a B.A. in Economics from the UC Santa Barbara. He is an angel investor and mentor to several Silicon Valley startups.

Gautam Godhwani - Gautam was the co-founder and CEO of AtWeb, which was acquired by Netscape in 1998. Gautam served as a director at Netscape and AOL for two years after the acquisition and then co-founded ICC. He co-founded and is currently the CEO of SimplyHired and has a B.E. from UC Berkeley.
   
Kumar Malavalli - Kumar is currently the chairman and CSO of data protection specialist InMage Systems. Kumar is also currently the chairman of leading edge data security solution provider CryptoMill Technologies. Kumar is also the chairman and co-founder of Orchesys, Inc. Prior to this, Kumar Malavalli co-founded Brocade Communication Systems, the leader in storage area switching.

Kanwal Rekhi, Trustee Emeritus - Kanwal was the founder of Excelan, which was sold to Novell in 1989. He is currently a venture capitalist and an angel investor and sits on the boards of numerous companies. Kanwal recently gifted $2 million to IIT, Bombay to help set up a new IT school. He was named "Entrepreneur of the Year" in 1987 by Arthur Young/Venture Magazine.

Sheena Vaidyanathan - Sheena was the co-founder of Paralogic, an Internet company that created ParaChat, the largest Java chat network. In 1995, she put the first Indian newspaper, The Hindu,  online, and ran the first Indian online community. After ParaChat was acquired by Xoom  in 1998, she co-founded Anexa, an online community company that was acquired by NBC Internet in 1999. Currently, Sheena combines her technology background with her passion for art and teaching by working at a public elementary school.  Sheena earned a B.Sc. in Computer Science at the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, India and an M.S. in Computer Science from the State University of New York.

Steve Westly

Prior to founding The Westly Group, Steve Westly served as the Controller and Chief Fiscal Officer of the state of California - the world's sixth largest economy.   As Controller, he chaired the State Lands Commission and served on 63 other boards and commissions, including CalPERS and CalSTRS, the nation's two largest public pension funds, which together invest more than $350 billion.   During his four-year term, Mr. Westly spearheaded innovative tax programs that helped close the State's budget deficit and also led an effort to commit more than $1 billion to clean technology investments.   In the 2008 election cycle Mr. Westly served as a state co-chair and a National Finance Committee member of the Obama for America campaign.

Before running for office, Mr. Westly helped guide the online auction company eBay through its period of most rapid growth, serving as the Senior Vice President of Marketing, Business Development, M&A and International.   Mr. Westly helped bring eBay to Europe and Asia and developed the marketing and acquisition strategies that paved the path for the firm's exponential growth.

Mr. Westly began his career in Washington, D.C., where he worked first on Capitol Hill and later in the Office of Conservation and Solar at the U.S. Department of Energy.   Mr. Westly returned to California to become special assistant to the President of the California Public Utilities Commission.   While there, he published two books on alternative energy and the utilities.  Mr. Westly also served as the California Co-Chair for the Obama for President campaign.  

Mr. Westly holds a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business, where he served on the faculty for five years.   Mr. Westly and his wife, Anita, run the Westly Foundation, which provides education and health care services for children and underserved communities throughout California.