Tushneem Dharmagadda works for Analog Devices Inc. in the area of Intellectual Property Design Management and Automation. His  work focuses on managing and developing products and methodologies for reusing IC Semicondutor designs (Digital and Mixed Signal) particularly in the area of SoC's (System on Chips). He has a Master's Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Arizona, Tucson and a Bachelor's Degree in Electronics Engineering from RV College of Engineering, Bangalore, India.
       
      He also serves on the Executive Board of NetSAP (Network of South Asian Professionals) as Advisor and on the Executive Committee of MITHAS (MIT's Heritage of Arts from South Asia) and has been involved with the Indian Business Club at MIT. Tushneem co-founded the Tsunami Working Group (TWG) in January 2005, a consortium of 11 organizations working for relief and rehabilitation in the Tsunami affected areas in South Asia. He has also been a TiE volunteer since 2003 and has helped start a few Special Interest Groups, including BCCF (Business Communication and Case Forum) of which he was the Co-Chair until January 2006. He is currently the Logistics chair for TiECON East ’06 at TiE-Boston.  
       
 What are your responsibilities at NetSAP?

      I am the Advisor on the NetSAP board and have been involved with NetSAP for the last 3 years. I advise the board on short term and long term strategy, goals and mission of the organization, fundraising and sponsorship initiatives, outreach initiatives, increasing memberships, marketing and packaging events.

What have been your  most notable achievements?

      When I joined the NetSAP board, the organization was relatively small to what it is now. The strategies that I put in place helped the organization in various ways.

• Increased Awareness of the organization in the South Asian community by establishing alliances and and exploring new marketing channels

•  Increased free cash flow by over 200% in last 2 years. This enables us to invest more money into our events and provide quality events to our members and patrons

• Started Forums and Blogs on our website, which serve as a platform for the communty to interact with each other.

• Increased the number of events under each category (Professional, Social, Cultural and Community Service).

Co-founding TWG: I think this was the first effort in the US to get Indian charities and non-profits working for Tsunami relief and rehabilitation on the same platform. Many ideas were exchanged which benefitted most participants and redundant efforts were eliminated.

Can you share a human interest story on how a member benefited from NetSAP

      NetSAP is a great organization for people who are new to Boston. It enables them to meet other professionals in the area and build social and professional networks in a very short time. Tuhin Bhattacharya, Professional chair at NetSAP Boston is a very good example. Tuhin moved to Boston sometime last year, attended our Greater Boston Food Bank Volunteering event where he made a few friends. He became a NetSAP member and attended couple more social events. At the end of 3 events he had made around 22 new contacts in the Boston area. Most of these people are peers in different professions from the same community. He was so impressed with the organization and its mission that he joined the executive board so that he can contribute and impact more of the South Asian Community.

      See our blog for his article “NetSAP Promotes Social Growth & I have numbers to prove it” (www.netsapboston.org/blog)

What has been your guiding principle in life or inspiration?

      There is a quote by Albert Einstein “How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose we know not, though sometimes sense it. But we know from daily life that we exist for other people first of all for whose smiles and well-being our own happiness depends”

      Everyone’s purpose might be different; purpose can be spiritual, religious or simply materialistic but in the end our happiness depends on how we impact and help the people around us in a positive way.

 What has been your yardstick for success working for a non profit versus for profit?

      The difference between non-profits and for-profits is that non-profits work for the community without any monetary objectives. However in terms of operations, to build efficient and successful non-profits, we need the same kind of discipline and strategies used by for-profits.

Yardstick for Success in Non-profits:

           Number of people that your organization impacts directly or indirectly. At TiE-Boston, the BCCF (Business Case and Communication Forum) SIG helped over 15 entrepreneurs directly in refining their business cases and communication. Indirectly it might have helped hundreds more, those people that were in the audience.
           Fundraising and Awareness: A non-profit cannot survive without raising funds. Funds can only be raised by creating more awareness about the organization’s mission and objectives in the community.

Yardstick for Success in For-profits:

           Building a competitive yet socially responsible firm. Though the primary objective is to save costs, generate more revenue and profits, it is important to give back to the community, either directly or by supporting non-profits.

What are some of the future goals for NetSAP?

      NetSAP is on its way to become one of the most prominent organizations in the New England region. In order to get there we need to have long term strategy in place. Some of the goals are

•  Increase awareness and member base.
•  Raise funds through sponsorships and donations so that we can organize events of high quality
•  Increase community awareness in non-mainstream careers such as Media, Theater, Politics which make a direct impact in the community
• Partner with other community organizations and build a platform for mutual collaboration and growth.

What are your other interest and hobbies ?

      Tennis player – play in the leagues at ADI, Music – Trained to play Tabla and sing, Listen to everything from classical music to Bollywood music to Ghazals and Rock, Hiking, Philately, Cooking and like to go on long drives. 

How do you find the Indian American community response to non profts like NetSAP ?

      Over the years NetSAP consisted predominantly of Indian Americans. Infact the Boston Chapter was founded by an Indian American. Recently, many Indians have joined the organization, on the executive board as well as regular members. This provides lot of interaction between people who grow up here and those that have spent considerable time in India. There is a healthy exchange of different perspectives, experiences and ideologies. As far as I know NetSAP is the only organization in the New England region where young professionals in large numbers both from here and from India come together.

Any other information you would like to share with our readers?

      Working with non-profits requires lot of time, commitment and most importantly a passion and a desire to make a difference in the community. However, a non-profit cannot sustain with volunteers alone. They need the support and involvement of everyone in the community. Different non-profits cater to different needs of the community. For ex. NetSAP caters to the young professionals, TiE for fostering Entrepreneurship and Mentoring, MITHAS for promoting the art and culture from India and so on. Choose a non-profit based on your interest and support it.I’d encourage young people to get involved.

For more info check out www.Netsapboston.org

|