My mother and my three elder sisters were instrumental in shaping my views on women starting at an early age of six, subsequent to my father’s untimely demise. I feel eternally obligated to the cause of empowering women to rise above poverty and inequality, having witnessed the ordeal of suffering and numerous sacrifices made by my mother and sisters for the sake of my welfare.
I have more than 30 years of experience as a business and technology consultant. I have worked for major corporations such as IBM, Digital Equipment (now Hewlett Packard), and Unisys as well as small niche consulting firms specializing in a industry vertical or a technology domain. During the 2000’s, I worked as a technology executive at Health Care Industry leaders – Kaiser Permanente and WellPoint.
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration with specialization in Finance and Information Systems.

I am very excited about helping the cause of girls and find opportunities to empower them. My interest in serving the underserved population was inculcated in me by my parents. It took a new meaning watching my sister, Dr. Asha Rao and my brother-in-law, Dr. Kali Pappu devote their entire life to community health as MDs. The need to increase awareness of issues surrounding women, rehabilitation of street children, sustained economic independence, and healthcare for women grew out this association.
Motivated by this fraternity, my wife, Dr. Anu Pappu and I decided to be part of this foundation to support the empowerment of women. I am an entrepreneur at heart, motivated to bring positive change in the business arena as well as the social landscape. We are very grateful for what we have today and would like to spend our energy and resources to give back in a small way.

The idea of making a difference through Surya-Chandra Foundation in the lives of as many under privileged women and children as possible, is very appealing to me. Currently, I also volunteer at a couple of different non-profit organizations in the Los Angeles area.
I have worked in accounting and finance for over 25 years. Most of my experience has been in the field of education. I have a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Madras, and have supplemented the degree with several courses in Accounting and Computer Science.

Right from my early youth, I was deeply influenced by my father’s love and respect for all loving things, God’s creations, as he would put it. Being an Indian Government Worker, he had limited means. But, in his life time he turned around the lives of many people who used to come from villages with no money and very little education to do domestic work. He would get them started at the lowest level working for Post and Telegraphs. He would then encourage them to get more training and move up the ladder. Most remarkable is the achievement of an orphaned youth who used to work as a washerman and iron clothes in our house–“Dhobi.” He got him started in Post and Telegraphs as well. From digging holes and erecting telephone poles and installing wires, he got promoted to be a supervisor. He, in turn, encouraged his children to study hard. As a result, his sons became engineers and scientists. One of them lives in Atlanta. Contributions made by S-C-Foundation to some of the charities in India are achieving similar results. Turning lives around really appeals to me.
I studied at Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India. I came to the U.S. in 1969 for higher studies. I did post graduation work at University of Maine and University of Massachusetts. I worked for 37 years in the urban transportation planning field working with transportation network simulation models.
In my spare time, I like to keep up with various web technologies, innovative ways of fund raising, and the investment opportunities in promising technologies and bio-tech to achieve superior returns. I like to earmark some of my investment income to fund charitable causes. Besides Surya Chandra Foundation, I also promote Kiva to turn lives around on a shoestring budget.