Rekha Gupta, MS
PRESIDENT
Rekha works as a Financial Advisor with Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management company and has been part of Financial Services Industry since 1986. She has earned her professional designations of CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter) and ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant) from the American College. Prior to this, she worked as a Registered Dietician at the Buffalo General Hospital in Buffalo, NY. Before migrating to the US, she worked as an Assistant Professor of Nutrition at the University of Udaipur, India for six years. She did her Masters in Foods and Nutrition from the M.S. University of Baroda, India.
Devi Ramchandran, MBA
VICE PRESIDENT
Devi Ramchandran has several years of Brand Management and Consulting experience in the Consumer Products industry. She has served on the Board of the Hunter College High School PTA. She enjoys serving her community and has taken an active role in school based organizations over the past ten years.
Mysore Gandhi, MS
SECRETARY
Mysore Gandhi has an M.S. Nuclear Engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of New York and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He has published numerous abstracts, papers, and chapters in books and has done much scientific research. Gandhi has been active in community work holding various positions including as president of Heart and Hand for the Handicapped (HHH) and the Treasurer Kannada Koota and Five Towns Indian Association.
Swarna Shah, MD
TREASURER
Swarna Shah is a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and in Cardiovascular Diseases. She is a graduate from SUNY, Buffalo and has several years of practice experience. She is a committed professional who believes in serving her community.
Runi Mukherji- Ratnam, Phd
DIRECTOR
Runi Mukherji-Ratnam has a master’s degree in nuclear physics and PhD in Psychology. She is the Chair of Faculty Senate, State University of New York College at Old Westbury and has been the author of several professional publications. Ms. Mukherji has served as President of the SACSS Board for 8 years.
Thomas Abraham, PhD
DIRECTOR
Thomas Abraham has a PhD in Engineering and serves as the Editor of High Tech Ceramics News, Connecticut. He was the Founder President of Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), Federation of Indian Associations of NY, NJ, & CT (FIA), and National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA). He is also a founding member of SACSS.
Ranu Boppana, MD
DIRECTOR
Dr. Boppana has an M.D. in Psychiatry and has also completed a fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She has worked extensively as a Psychiatrist in this field. She has volunteered with several South Asian organizations involved in promoting mental health awareness. She has written regular Health & Wellness and Parenting columns.
Francesca Gany, MD
DIRECTOR
Dr. Gany has an M.D. in Internal Medicine. She is the Chief of the Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Director of South Asian Health Initiative. She works to bridge immigrants, and the medically underserved with the healthcare system, and to eliminate health disparities. In recognition of her work, Dr. Gany has received numerous awards.
Hena Doba
DIRECTOR
Hena is a host for Cheddar News, anchoring the shows Cheddar Climate – the Fight for Change, Search for a Cure – Covid 19, and the News Wrap. Hena also reports live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange focusing on consumer, business and economic stories making headlines. She joined Cheddar in January of 2019 after working as a National Correspondent for CBS News in New York, where she anchored a segment called The National Desk with Hena Doba that aired on 100+ CBS stations across the country every morning.
She is one of the first Pakistani American anchors in the U.S. and was born and raised in Flushing, Queens, just a stone’s throw from SACSS’ Community Center.
Vasudha Viswanath
DIRECTOR
Vasudha Viswanath is the author of The Vegetarian Reset and the founder of We Ate Well, a community for foodies that focuses on eating sustainably on a vegetarian diet. After spending over a decade on Wall Street where she specialized in technology and business strategy, Vasudha left her career in finance to write a cookbook and create We Ate Well. Her work has been featured in national media like MindBodyGreen, Eating Well, NPR and ABC. She has a Masters in Information Systems Management from Carnegie Mellon University.
Elora Mukherjee
DIRECTOR
Elora Mukherjee is a globally recognized advocate, practitioner, and voice for immigrants, asylum seekers, and unaccompanied migrant children. She is director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic founded in 2014 at Columbia Law School. Mukherjee began her career as a clerk at the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania and won a fellowship with the ACLU Racial Justice Program. In 2019, Mukherjee’s reports of the inhumane conditions of children in U.S. border detention stations sparked national and international outrage following which she was invited to testify before Congress. Mukherjee regularly collaborates with other immigrants’ rights advocates on strategic litigation, legislative reform, grassroots activism, public education, and coalition building. She serves on the boards of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, Project Amplify, and the Refugee Reunification Project.
Sudha Acharya, MBA
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Sudha Acharya serves as the Executive Director of SACSS after serving as the Founder-President for the first two years. She has been active in the community for the past thirty-five years. She has held various responsibilities and leadership positions in organizations such as President of Federation of Indian Associations of NY, NJ, & CT (FIA) and Chair of the Board of Trustees of National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA). Sudha represents the All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) at the United Nations. Sudha has served on city and state level health care coalitions. Sudha has been awarded the Gandhi Community Award, Indo-Caribbean Network Award and the Federation of Indian Associations Award. She has Masters Degrees in English Literature and Financial Management.