Board Members

 Subhada Saxsena 

 shubhadasaxena@gmail.com

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 sonali.amodwala@gmail.com

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

vaidyaindu@yahoo.com

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. 

Palak Sadargani 

PalakSadargani@icloud.com

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.  

Janani Janakiraman

janani66@hotmail.com 

 “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.

Anjali Gupta Chaku

agupta8@yahoo.com 

 Anjali was born in New Delhi, India and came to the US at the age of 4.  Since then, Anjali has lived her entire life in Texas, growing up in Houston and now residing in Austin for the last 15 years.  Anjali is married and has a son.  Anjali enjoys travelling and spending time with her friends.  On a professional front, Anjali has worked in IT Compliance and Technology for the past 20+ years.  Anjali loves to spend her time volunteering for several types of non-profits.

Vasant Phadnis

vphadnis@hotmail.com

Vasant started his career teaching Telecommunications and Radio Engineering. He focused on implementing cutting-edge technology such as computerization of freight, microwave-based communications, and Mumbai Metro systems signaling in his 34-year career with the Indian Railways.

His deep passion for Mathematics and Physics continues through intensive reading and proving novel theories for 28+ years after retirement. He helped the founding of SAiVA in the initial stages, volunteers with his full self making Mango Lassi for university students or addressing  letters to save the environment. He leads SAIVA’s Board and enjoys providing input for activities that are of interest to retirees as they build intergenerational programs.

Dipty Desai

desai90@gmail.com

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!

Sangeeta Sethi

sethisangeeta@yahoo.com

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 Theopy Lab) as a volunteer. Sangeeta is a very social person like to live the life fullest & believes in the impact of a positive attitude!

Megha Uppal

meghakuppal@gmail.com

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 focusing on older adults. She loves avocados, dancing, and planning for fun trips!