Ms. Padma Chandrasekaran holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics/Statistics from the University of Calcutta, an MBA (PGP 1984) from IIM Ahmedabad and an MBA with specialization in Telecommunications from the University of San Francisco, California. She has worked for over 30 years at executive and board levels and as entrepreneur for world class organisations in the for-profit and philanthropic sectors in India, UK and USA. She is an angel investor and mentor and serves as an Executive Committee member of The Chennai Angels, a leading angel investing group in India. She is also a charter member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE) Chennai, a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship. She is a founding trustee and board member of Algolabs, the AI / data science initiative of the Chennai Mathematical Institute. She is an expert in the IT / Internet sector where she has traversed the standard gradient of developer, manager, executive officer and entrepreneur. In software services, she has worked for ICIM / ICL UK in Mumbai, Pune, UK and the Bay Area, California. She was a founding member of Sify Ltd, India’s first Internet company and was a part of the team that took it public on Nasdaq in 1999.

On Philanthropy side, Ms. Padma has worked as Senior Program Manager for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She has held responsibilities for strategy development, program implementation, impact evaluation and research in HIV prevention initially, managing a portfolio of over $200 million in grants. Subsequently she managed major initiatives in infectious diseases (vaccines, diagnostics) and maternal and childcare.