Our Team
Thomas Thekkethala, Founder
Mr. Thekkethala, the founder of Learn for Life Foundation, is an Asian-American entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist with over twenty-five years of experience in financing and leading global technology companies. https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-thekkethala
He is also the founder and Managing Partner of TOLIMA Partners, an investment fund, which is the primary source of financial support for the foundation. TOLIMA finances and advises disruptive innovation companies in AI / Machine Learning and Cloud computing.
Prior to TOLIMA, Thomas was a co-founder and Managing Partner of JT Ventures, which focused on investing and mentoring early-stage technology companies through their growth and successful acquisition. Investments included CrosStor (acquired by EMC), Allegro (acquired by Cisco Systems: CSCO), Fidelia (acquired by NetScout: NTCT), Ibrix (acquired by HP) & Sixth Sense Media (acquired by Evolving: EVOL).
During his career, he was President and CEO at Evolving Systems, (NASDAQ: EVOL) a real time digital engagement solutions company, where he completed two acquisitions and grew the company to over 100 mobile operators in 75 countries touching 2 billion consumers. Prior to Evolving, he was also the founding investor and CEO at multiple technology startups which were acquired.
Mr. Thekkethala received his Masters’ degree from the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University where he was also an adjunct faculty member for over five years. He is passionate about education as a catalyst to change lives and uplift communities.
Matt Thekkethala, Founder
Hi, I'm Matt Thekkethala. I was named a Fulbright scholar after graduating from Yale University, where I was challenged every day to think globally. I developed a passion for children’s education while volunteering and living at Sneha Care Home and Snehagram, two residential institutions for HIV+ orphaned or abandoned children and adolescents in rural India. I am very proud that the Snehagram holistic model that I helped pioneer, has helped our HIV+ students receive their high school diplomas, a first for any program of this kind in India.
At Yale, I co-founded the Yale Undergraduate Legal Aid Association (YULAA) and worked with the New Haven Legal Aid Assistance to support U-Visa and VAWA applicants. I also co-founded the Yale Human Rights Society and led the weekly ‘Wilbur Cross Human Rights Workshop’ that engaged New Haven high school students with domestic and international human rights issues. I also conducted research on trafficking of minors in Connecticut which culminated in the presentation of a memorandum amending a trafficking statute at the Connecticut State Legislature.
My extended family and friends inspire me with their passion and commitment to make a difference in our community and the world. I created the Learn for Life Foundation to inspire young people in developing communities around the world, to make a difference in their worlds. I want to teach my students to think of themselves as global citizens, each of who can change the world through the power of education. Please join me in making a difference in people’s lives.
Kishore Seshadri - STEM and Rural Education Advisor
Kishore is a Product Management executive who has held senior executive positions, always working on pioneering the first release of new products, at both startups and publicly listed technology companies in the US. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kseshadri/
Kishore was the Product Manager responsible for Ethernet and ATM Switch products at Bay Networks (acquired by Nortel Networks) and part of the early team at Redback Networks (IPO in 2000; Acquired by Ericsson) and Product Manager for the industry's first Broadband Remote Access System (B-RAS) and the industry’s first edge router with built-in subscriber management. He was a member of the founding team & Vice President Product Management at Apigee, a pioneer in the API management space (IPO in 2015; Acquired by Google). He was VP Product Management Mu Dynamics (acquired by Spirent), which delivered one of the first automated security test platforms and worked as Director Product Management at Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) overseeing the industry’s first terabit/slot core router and the WAE Service Provider SDN platform. He also served a Vice President / General Manager for
Aruba Networks Wide Area Networking and Cloud products and is currently VP Product Management in the area of secure cloud networking at Ubyon.
Kishore started his career at Intel where he was part of the Intel Processor Architecture and Network team. He received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bangalore University and graduate degree in Computer Science from the University of Kentucky. Kishore has been granted several patents across many areas of networking and is on the advisory boards of several startups. He is passionate about rural children’s education, flying and photography.
Samir Pius George, Public Policy Advisor
Samir Pius George is a St. Stephen's (India) Graduate and public policy professional who is passionate about solving governance problems in India. Currently, he works with The Education Alliance (TEA) in Tamil Nadu (TN) as part of a Project Management Unit (PMU) of the School Education Department to improve the delivery of public education in all government schools in TN. His areas of interest include Education and Urban Governance and he is building a specialization in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), a crucial aspect of creating robust and sustainable change.
Neil Bjorkman, Legal Advisor (USA)
Neil Bjorkman is the Head of Government Relations, North America at Tata Consultancy Services. He is the company's lead advocate encouraging the U.S. Government and Congress to adopt laws that will deepen the bilateral relationship and spur trade with India. In his previous role, he was credited with helping secure India’s status as a “major defense partner” of the United States. He served as the Policy Counsel for the Majority staff of the Committee on Rules in the United States House of Representatives, where he handled Chairman Pete Sessions’ India portfolio. In 2007-2008, Neil served as the Judicial Clerk to Justice Dalveer Bhandari at the Supreme Court of India, where he helped craft a landmark constitutional judgment on affirmative action in university admissions. Neil is a graduate of Saint John’s University, speaks Hindi, Malayalam and Spanish and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Rani George, Program Coordinator (India)
Sneha Care honored Rani as the “2012 Volunteer of the Year” for her active involvement with the children’s programs and part-time teaching. In her words, “Following the loss of my parents and my brother in 2008, the children of Sneha Care and Snehagram have become an addiction. It has been wonderful to work with the kids and watch them change, grow and give back more than I can possibly give them. My years in Mother Teresa’s City of Joy, Kolkotta, kindled in me a passion to give back in whatever way I could, and Sneha Care became my home away from home in Bangalore”. Rani received her bachelor’s degree in history from Stella Maris College, Chennai where she was Vice President of the student union and was actively involved in volunteering for social causes.
Priya Chidrawar, Marketing & Communications Advisor (USA)
Priya has over 10 years of experience in Finance and Marketing at both startup and Fortune 500 companies. She is passionate about social causes and children’s education. She is an active member of her children’s school’s PTA and actively involved in organizing events like 5k walks for causes such as educating children, breast cancer awareness, autism awareness, jump-starting Denville downtown after Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy. Priya has also been on teams preparing lunches for the poor and organizing the neighborhood “fulfill a wish” for local families. She is also a contributor to a non-profit organization that runs a school and manages a hospital in Dervan, a remote village in India. Priya has an MBA from Rutgers University.