Board of Directors

Founders:

Praseeda Kunam is the CEO of the organizations within the Samhita Development Network. Prior to this role, Praseeda was most recently with ABN AMRO Foundation, India as manager of a capacity building initiative for start-up MFIs in underserved regions. She earlier served as Director of Operations at SKS Microfinance. Prior to this, she spent 2 years as an advisor to the Government of Kazakhstan under a USAID Trade and Investment program. She has also run a successful startup marketing enterprise in Hyderabad before pursuing her MBA studies. Praseeda holds an MBA degree as well as a Masters in Information Management from Washington University, St. Louis, and a BA in Economics from St. Ann’s College, Hyderabad.

Bala Krishnamurthy serves as an advisor to the Samhita network. Bala's corporate experience covers 10 years in finance and technology capacities in the US investment industry. In the past decade, he has served as a volunteer advisor to various social service programs across India, such as the Health Promotion Program of Ramakrishna Mission Home of Service, Varanasi. His current focus is on developing the eCubeH Common Appropriate Technology PlatformTM, with enterprise, mobile and web-based community applications for poor communities. Bala holds a B.Tech (mechanical engineering) from IIT Delhi, MS (computer science) from Virginia Tech, and MBA (finance) from the University of Chicago. He has also been a member of American Mensa and IDS, Chicago.

Independent Board members:

Prof. Biswas, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal. Prof. Biswas is a sociologist from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has been a faculty member with the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal for over 23 years. He is actively involved in social development efforts, as well as in various governmental administrative networks. He is also active in IIFM’s MBA placement program.

Ms. K.C. Ranjani currently serves as the Managing Director of Dia Vikas Capital Private Limited, a subsidiary of Opportunity International Australia. She is a financial services and development specialist with over 20 years of experience, and holds a special interest in MSME sector. Her experience includes policy development, risk management, market development and managing the conversion of MFIs from non-government organisations into sustainable formal financial institutions. Prior to her current role, she has held a number of senior management positions at leading Development Finance institutions in India. Ranjani also had a brief stint as the Senior Microfinance Specialist at MicroSave. She has been a Board member of a number of leading microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India. Ranjani holds a Masters Degree in Bank Management.

Mr. Geoff Woolley is founding partner of Dominion Ventures, Inc., which he founded in 1985, Chairman of European Venture Partners, and Chairman of MACC Private Equity. For more than 25 years, Geoff has been involved in financing more than 300 emerging growth companies, including Ceina, Coinstar, Hotmail, and Human Genome Science, while managing more than $1.5 billion in cumulative assets. His nonprofit experience includes being the founding chairman of the NAMES Project Foundation, (the AIDS Memorial Quilt) and working with foundations to empower the less fortunate. He founded and chairs University Venture Fund at the University of Utah, the nation’s largest and most successful student-led venture fund. Geoff holds a B.S. in business management from Brigham Young University and an M.B.A from the University of Utah.