Board Members

  Shubhada Saxena 

Shubhada Saxsena is the President & Founder of social venture Aspire to Age, PBC  which focuses on building cultural competency in services. She founded the non-profit SAIVA - which enables intergenerational volunteering since 2008.

She holds a patent through IBM on “IT Help Architecture”.  She leads local innovation at a global scale as Deputy Ambassador of Aging 2.0 Austin chapter, member of Aging Services Council, and Wellness Exchanges for the Austin Pune Sister City Initiative. She enjoys hosting friends and a large extended family, provides caregiving training, and shares empowerment stories with her 20+ year old daughters Maya and Shilpa.

Sonali Amodwala 

As a Financial Services Professional, Sonali enjoys helping individuals and families achieve their financial goals. Her primary focus is to educate and provide financial solutions for personal and business needs.

Sonali is passionate about SAIVA’s mission and values because it gives her opportunity to interact with senior members as well as to give back to the community. Her is to expand SAIVA to other cities and continue to provide sustainable intergenerational programs. A core tenet of Sonali’s values is life-long learning for personal growth and professional development. Besides SAIVA, Sonali is also involved with GAACC, IACT, HC4A and Chinmaya Mission Austin. 

Indu Vaidya

As an accomplished professional trio- Singer, Dancer and Choreographer, Indu has observed the world through creative eyes, sensed nuances and appreciated both form and function. As a real estate professional, Indu has developed the skills of working with a diverse, high-profile, and international customer base. Known by clients and colleagues alike for her tenacity, perseverance, honesty and fairness, and a focused listener, she is committed to creating a positive experience for all. Indu’s mantra, to be in touch and stay in touch, is the key to her long-term relationships with her clients, and that same philosophy permeates her philanthropic life. 

Janani Janakiraman

 “Let’s go do it”. As a IBM Master Inventor and STEM enthusiast, Janani Janakiraman has been active in harnessing the power of corporate volunteers to help with the core mission of SAIVA to affect social good in the community. Janani was part of the IBM Service Corps volunteers and served on a multi-cultural, gender-balanced, cross-functional, pro bono consulting team of IBMers from seven countries on social impact projects in Bulgaria. Janani serves on the board of the American Association of University Women, where she leads the PR/Web team for the Austin and Texas sites. She has also been active in promoting STEM learning for K-12 kids.

 Samrity Dhawan 

Samrity is extrovert, optimistic, generous and enthusiastic, and likes changes. Mom of two, always keeps a positive attitude in everything she does and feels happy in helping others. She loves family vacations. She is so passionate about cooking and always likes to feed her family and friends. Samrity has a dream to open a restaurant that serves food free of cost to any who need it. She enjoys creativity without being bound by limitations. Samrity is a compassionate person who helps people without a second thought. She loves volunteering at Saiva. According to her, life becomes meaningful if you can serve those in need.

Sangeeta Sethi

Sangeeta is a homemaker who loves to do shopping ,dancing & travel all around the world! Sangeeta likes to help people as much as she can. Sangeeta’s smiling face is always seen during our weekly activities! She is leading several projects at SAIVA, including our food for thought and refugee cooking programs. SAIVA members are like family members to her and in a very short time she became favorite among our senior members with her bubbly, loving and caring personality. She is also involved with One Ward At A Time ( Speech Therapy Lab) as a volunteer. Sangeeta is a very social person like to live the life fullest & believes in the impact of a positive attitude!

Dipty Desai

Dipty is a retired RN, married and has two wonderful kids. She loves being around the volunteers and members at Saiva. She enjoys learning from their knowledge and experience every day as it helps her with her personal growth. She is committed to being the most helpful, patient, and loving volunteer. With her selfless services and dedication, Saiva’s therapy doll program has grown so exponentially!

Sintra Nalini Persad 

Sintra's mom Tara is the driving force behind Sintra's work with SAIVA. SAIVA'S commitment to the emotional wellbeing of our seniors is by far its most important attribute. SAIVA has indeed been a "SAIVior" for Tara, who has found a whole new family here.

Born in the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago and educated in Scotland, Sintra loves to travel, and to share her cultural and culinary heritage with us. Her eagerness to interact with our seniors stems from her passion for learning about people, their customs, cooking and stories surrounding food. 

Sintra leads our 'Cooking with Nani' segment which started on Zoom during the pandemic in 2020. She arranges for SAIVA members to record and show off how to prepare their favorite dishes. She encourages members to tell their own stories about special foods during festival celebrations and other occasions.

In 2021 and 2022 Sintra led SAIVA's 'Diwali In A Box' fundraiser with the help of many volunteers. Her dedication to perfection and attention to detail are well known.

With a graduate degree in Biological Sciences, Sintra taught Science in the Round Rock School District. She is the mom of four children, and nani of two. She also volunteers at the Thinkery and the UT Performing Arts Center. She loves entertaining, and her entire family enjoys cooking and trying out new recipes. When not looking at BBC mysteries, Sintra and her husband watch YouTube cooking videos.

Palak Sadargani 

Palak is a certified Health Coach and the founder of Organic Herbal Garden and The Cultured Carrot. She joined SAIVA’s board in 2016, after volunteering time with the organization for a year as she was passionate about SAIVA’s mission to empower South Asian Seniors she resonated with their intergenerational program. Being a young mom, away from parents/grandparents it was extremely fulfilling to lead programs where many generations could learn from one another.

Palak was an integral part in bring on new volunteers and moving SAIVA into a new direction both for programs and fundraising activities.  

Megha Uppal

Megha joined SAIVA through a service learning course through The University of Texas at Austin, where she studied Public Health. She fell in love with SAIVA's mission and intergenerational programming and oversees programs at SAIVA. She is a certified Behavioral Therapist that went from serving children 18 and younger to now focusing on older adults. She loves avocados, dancing, and planning for trips!

Shikha Sharma

Shikha is inspired by the organization’s commitment to fostering friendships and support for South Asian elders through intergenerational programs. She brings her expertise in content writing, community building, and storytelling to SAIVA, aiming to strengthen volunteer engagement and outreach. When she’s not crafting content or managing volunteer initiatives, you can find her exploring new places, dancing to her favorite tunes, or planning her next adventure. 

Sugandhi Sashdar

Sugandhi's association with SAIVA started with her mom being a member. She has seen the wonderful positive impacts SAIVA has brought to her mom and other seniors in the community -  positive energy, compassion, camaraderie, a sense of belonging, empowerment, fun, laughter, acquisition of new skills, and the formation of lasting friendships. She is here to support this wonderful org.

Sugandhi is a technology professional at Dell, and enjoys traveling, listening to music, watching kramas. She loves connecting with people and has a passion for genealogy.

Sugandhi serves as Treasurer to ensure that the organization's finances are managed effectively and transparently.