Team

Our mission is to encourage healthy, open dialogue of South Asian mental health issues in an effort to remove stigma, improve awareness and promote self-care.

Executive Committee

Abhijith Ravintula | Founder and CEO

Abhi is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at Harvard University, and hopes to become an author of fiction and nonfiction books on Hinduism. Apart from his own experiences dealing with bulimia and anxiety attacks, Abhi became truly passionate about mental health after his childhood best friend passed away after mental illness struggles. He then founded MannMukti so people wouldn’t have to experience the loneliness and stigma that his friend faced. When he’s not studying, Abhi can be found writing, making fun of his mother, or watching movies with friends.

Abhijith Ravintula

Founder and CEO

Sailesh Kumar | Chief Growth Officer

Sailesh was born and raised in Austin, but currently lives in the Bay Area, pursuing a career in the tech industry. His goal with technology is to transform the education system, and battle the educational inequalities that exist in the world today. While he did go through his own battles with mental health growing up, the loss of a close friend to suicide is what really sparked his passion for mental health, and led to him joining the MannMukti team. When he is not sleeping, you can find Sailesh eating at his favorite food truck, Don Japanese, 4-5 times a week. Sailesh loves dancing, singing, and binge watching The Office over and over again.

Sailesh Kumar

Chief Growth Officer

Ali Rizvi | COO

Ali is a connoisseur of life, a fan of smiling, and a dedicated activist. Born in Chicago, and raised in a small town in Texas, his experiences and the world around him motivated him to start non-profits, lead political initiatives, and pursue a Law degree. As a dedicated public servant, Ali believes in MannMukti, and hopes together, the organization can make a measurable and lasting impact. For fun, Ali tries to grab life by the horns, traveling, eating, and raising a rescue puppy, whose name is Potter, as in Harry Potter. The best fiction series ever.

Ali Rizvi

COO

Bahar Sachdeva | Chief Marketing Officer

In her corporate life, Bahar leads a marketing team supporting inbound lead generation, marketing automation, website management and social media. Having seen loved ones struggle with mental health their entire lives, Bahar is really proud to be part of a community like MannMukti that has helped generate awareness in South Asian cultures. In her down time, you’ll find her watching videos of puppies, planning her next big trip, sweating at a barre class or perfecting her recipe of banana bread.

Bahar Sachdeva

Chief Marketing Officer

Shimei Nelapati | VP Research

Shimei believes radical storytelling helps defeat stigma against mental illness. She is honored to amplify stories and celebrate vulnerability, particularly within South Asian communities. As a product of the vibrant community of Alief, TX, she dreams of the day every Desi in our country has access to evidence-based mental health care. Mostly though, she considers herself (and loves being) your friendly go-to akka. Who else can teach you to self-care & shimmy in Tenglish?

Shimei Nelapati

VP Research

Shivani Hiralal | VP Volunteer Development

Shivani is a true California girl – born in NorCal, raised in SoCal, and loves any chance to take in the ocean views. Through her personal struggles with mental health and anxiety, Shivani was able to find solace in Yoga & Mindfulness techniques. She is a registered Yoga & Mindfulness Guide, and works with individuals one-on-one to change their relationship with their mental health & anxiety, through the philosophies of Yoga and mindset changes. Shivani’s personal mission aligns with the mission of MannMukti, and she hopes to continue to shed light on the importance of mental health, especially within the South Asian Community. If Shivani is not working on her business, you can catch her reading a good book, or going on a nice long walk with her husband and pup, Ruxin.

Shivani Hiralal

VP Volunteer Development

Chintan Jani

VP Content

Shivani Parikh | VP University Chapters

Shivani is a born and raised New Yorker (admittedly from the suburbs of NYC, though she resents Rockland County being referred to as “upstate”). She graduated from Cornell University as a Development Sociology major, with minors in South Asian Studies and Asian American Studies. Her journey with grief, loss, and repressed emotional trauma throughout her childhood after losing her grandparents and great-grandmother to robbery/homicide sparked her interest in culturally competent mental health resources. She is passionate about Desi liberation, transnational justice, and postcolonial feminism. She aspires to become a public interest lawyer and serve immigrant, Desi, low income and undocumented communities. In her free time, she enjoys scouring cupcakeries, drinking iced mochas with whipped cream, and binge watching political dramas!

Shivani Parikh

VP University Chapters

Sid Verma | VP Operations

Sid is a self branded creator of stuff and doer of things. He graduated from the University of California Santa Cruz and works in tech in the Bay Area. He has personally grappled with anxiety and depression and is determined to raise awareness of such issues in the South Asian Community. In his free time you can find Sid, DJing, taking photos, flying drones or adventuring with friends.

Sid Verma

VP Operations

Sri Nimmagadda | VP Finance

Raised in the Pacific Northwest and currently based out of Los Angeles, Sri Nimmagadda is a corporate strategy and finance professional specializing in the media and entertainment industry. Sri’s passion for mental health advocacy stemmed from his own struggles growing up, as well as the experience of having seen several close friends undergo their own issues with mental health. Sri is proud to work with MannMukti as he fundamentally believes in empowering others to break free from the shackles placed upon them, such as societal stigmatization of mental health, and the ability for stories to change the way people think. He enjoys watching football, exercising, and convincing people that the Seahawks throwing the ball at the one-yard line was the right call.

Sri Nimmagadda

VP Finance

Prameela Boorada | VP Partnerships

Prameela is an artist, entrepreneur and storyteller. Equipped with a passion to tell vulnerable stories as well as an intrinsic urge to solve any and every problem, Prameela is a quirky mix of unconventional, creative, outspoken and “I m surprised I pulled it off” kind of productive. Her “follow where my hearts leads me” mindset has led her to work in research, design, app dev, business dev, management, entrepreneurship as well as advisory and advocacy spaces. She is currently an Advocacy Fellow working on a storytelling campaign centered around youth well being in digital spaces. She also serves as a Youth Advisor for numerous companies/innovators working in the same space. Other than that – she loves to write (when pensive), dance (when happy), paint (when inspired), bake (when stressed), garden (when told to) and run (when… wait, never).

Prameela Boorada

VP Partnerships

Akhil Akula | VP Volunteer Development

Akhil is from Dallas, TX and an alumna of The University of Texas at Dallas, with a bachelor’s degree in Biology. He is currently working and enjoys exploring Dallas as well as traveling around the globe. As someone who has struggled with mental health and seen his friends fight through, he strongly believes in the mission of MannMukti, especially giving a platform and voice for many individuals in the community. In his free time he enjoys catching up with friends and enjoying science and city views.

Akhil Akula

VP Volunteer Development

Officers

Anand Jayanti | Podcast Producer

Anand Jayanti came from India with his family as a child, when he developed an interest in storytelling. Initially, this meant making up exotic stories about his family to the subsequent shame of his parents during PTA meetings. Now, it manifests as he imagines all the ways in which others may not like him, or the ways in which he’s failed. Slowly, he’s trying to learn how to write a story in which he’s the protagonist in his life — someone he wants the best for. When he begins work as a resident psychiatrist this fall, he hopes to help others write that story for themselves as well.

Anand Jayanti

Podcast Producer

Kirandeep Sidhu | Podcast Producer

Kirandeep Sidhu is an MD Graduate with a keen interest in Public Health. From humble beginnings in rural Canada, she currently resides in Los Angeles. On a typical day you may find her trying to find a work/life balance as a new mom and advocating for mental health on social media.

Kirandeep Sidhu

Podcast Producer

Parth Badhiwala | Podcast Producer

He currently is working as an analyst at Bank of America. He likes MannMukti because it allows conversations to be created for people that are afraid to ask questions or share their stories surrounding mental health. For someone with no health background at all, MannMukti gives him the opportunity to learn more about mental health so that I can take care of himself and his loved ones. In his free time he likes to watch movies, play with his dogs and travel!

Parth Badhiwala

Podcast Producer

Audria Choudhury | Podcast Producer

Audria is a first-generation Bangladeshi-American residing in Austin, TX. She works at a nonprofit to ensure that children around the world grow up in loving families instead of orphanages. Audria’s mental health journey consists of attending affordable therapy instead of psychoanalyzing herself, trying to rein in her scattered thoughts through meditation, and being more present. She has been accused of not being able to sit still due to her acute case of cabin fever and can be found either dancing, lettering, netflixing or traveling the first chance she gets.

Audria Choudhury

Podcast Producer

Vidhya Krishnan | Website Lead

From the small town of Allen, Texas, Vidhya is a ball of joy and laughter, bursting at the seams with life. She is an alumna of the University of Texas at Austin, with degrees in Sociology and Health & Society. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington. As someone who struggles with mental illness, she believes strongly in the mission and purpose of MannMukti and hopes to share it with everyone in her life. In her free time, she hangs out with one of the many puppies in her life, eats all forms of Tex Mex, and watches Grey’s Anatomy for the 25th time in a row.

Vidhya Krishnan

Website Lead

Leena Rijhwani | Website Officer

Leena is from New Jersey and is a rising senior at Boston College studying Biology and International Studies. She hopes to pursue a future in medicine focused on immigrant and first generation women’s health. She is fluent in Hindi and Sindhi and, in her free time, can be found singing or drinking chai. As a new addition to the MannMukti team, she hopes to promote attention to mental health in the South Asian community by furthering the organization’s digital presence and accessibility.

Leena Rijhwani

Website Officer

Mudit Verma | Research and Content Officer

Mudit Verma is a Pharm.D. graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Minor in Leadership Studies, all from the University of Maryland. Mudit’s primary interests consist of mental health disparities in relation to socioeconomic factors as well as healthcare policy on a global level. Mudit has diverse experiences pertaining to mental health ranging from promoting awareness of community level professional resources to patient education of psychiatric medication safety. Moving forward, Mudit envisions himself addressing specific healthcare policies pertaining to mental healthcare access, primarily in the US, such that marginalized patient groups are better equipped to access quality mental healthcare. Mudit also has personal experiences pertaining to the management of mental illness and he perceives himself as a lifelong mental health advocate, particularly among South Asian communities.

Mudit Verma

Research and Content Officer

Ramya Chunduri

Research and Content Officer

Sukhraj Bassi | Research and Content Officer

My name is Sukhraj Bassi and I am a first-generation Punjabi-Sikh born and raised in California. I am currently working in higher education and graduated with my Bachelor’s in Psychology and Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley. As a young adolescent, I became acutely aware of my own struggles with my mental health (anxiety and depression) and started the long journey towards healing and reconciliation, that I am still on even to this day. Working through my struggles, I found that they were inextricably intertwined with that of my community. Some of my interests include music, Avatar the Last Airbender, reading, Beyonce, spirituality, and social justice.

Sukhraj Bassi

Research and Content Officer

Esha Kacker | Volunteer Development Director

Esha Kacker is a Registered Nurse (RN) who is currently pursuing her Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) to become a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). Esha obtained her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN) from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in 2016, and has worked in various positions as an RN. Esha has experience working on a medical-surgical floor that specialized in Oncology, Neurology, Spine, and Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) patients. Additionally, Esha also has experience working as a camp and school nurse. Apart from Esha’s professional life, Esha volunteers with several mental health nonprofits, serving as the Newsletter Coordinator and a Senior Ambassador for MannMukti, as well as the Networks Team Lead and a Provider Team Member for I AM SHAKTI. Also, Esha serves as a 1st grade teacher for her local Sunday School, Chinmaya Mission.

Esha Kacker

Volunteer Development Director

Trishla Jain | Volunteer Development Projects Lead

Trishla Jain is currently a graduate student at University of California, Berkeley pursuing a dual degree MBA / MPH program. Prior to enrolling in graduate school, she was a healthcare technology consultant with Accenture. She graduated from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service in Science, Technology, and International Affairs, with a concentration in Global Health and Biotechnology. Trishla became passionate about mental health, especially within the youth and South Asian communities, after experiencing a family member struggle with issues of mental health. When she is not running around between classes, Trishla loves to read, explore the Bay Area, and dogwatch in local parks.

Trishla Jain

Volunteer Development Projects Lead

Shriya Yelaswarapu | Volunteer Development Manager

Shriya is a New Jersey native, and is known to be a bubbly and optimistic person. She has a bachelor’s in Psychology and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Along with school, Shriya is an interning therapist at a community mental health clinic. Being in the mental health field, Shriya is incredibly passionate about promoting mental health awareness and eliminating stigma against it. When she found out about MannMukti, she was eager to get involved and support the mission. In her free time, Shriya enjoys watching Friends on repeat, baking, and hennaing.

Shriya Yelaswarapu

Volunteer Development Manager

Meera Shah | Volunteer Development Manager

Born and bred a California girl, Meera is a one two punch of silly and sarcastic. She is an alumna of The Paul Merage School of Business, as a Master of Business Administration. Currently, Meera works as a Business Analyst for Cummins and is pursuing her Six Sigma green belt. As someone who holds mental health of utmost importance and priority, the idea of educating and spreading awareness to those in the community excites her. Outside of her daily work, Meera mentors her “little sis” through Big Brothers Big Sisters, meal preps and works out, and recites verbatim one-liners from Friends.

Meera Shah

Volunteer Development Manager

Rabab Rangwala | Senior Partnerships Chair

Born and raised in Mumbai, India – She now lives in San Francisco, CA. She is a Speech-language pathologist, trying to help the world one word at a time. Having dealt with her own struggles of depression and anxiety, she’s trying to help other individuals with mental health struggles realize that they’re not alone, especially in the South Asian community and we can all be #MentalHealthSurvivors! In her free time, you will find her lying on a beach somewhere, traveling and trying out new places to eat!

Rabab Rangwala

Senior Partnerships Chair

Vishwa Dhuleshia | Senior Partnerships Chair

Vishwa is a true New Englander – born and raised in Massachusetts, she is rarely seen without an iced coffee in hand, and her loyalty to the Boston sports teams is unwavering. While getting her Bachelors in Behavioral Neuroscience, she realized the inequality of access to behavioral healthcare between varying communities. Currently she is getting her MHA in Chicago and hopes to utilize her background to make strategic and operational changes to improve behavioral health accessibility. In her free time, you can catch Vishwa walking around the city, enjoying the weather or looking for the best dessert spots!

Vishwa Dhuleshia

Senior Partnerships Chair

Juhee Kumar | Partnerships Chair

Juhee grew up in both Dallas, Texas and Columbus, Ohio. She currently is a graduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln pursuing her Master’s in Counseling Psychology. Juhee’s passion for social justice/advocacy and mental health—specifically within a South Asian/South Asian-American context—stems from her inner voice, and hopes to help others hear their own inner voice. During her free time, you can find Juhee journaling in her hammock, practicing her flow on a yoga mat, creating music on her guitar, or snuggling with (other people’s) dogs.

Juhee Kumar

Partnerships Chair

Nikkita Kumar | Partnerships Chair

Born and raised in Dallas and a proud Texan at heart, Nikki currently lives in Northern Virginia where she is pursing a career in product. She became truly passionate about mental health after going through her own experiences with anxiety, depression, and ADHD. She is excited to join MannMukti because it brings together her passions for mental health and culture. If you manage to catch Nikki you might find her spending her free time rewatching Brooklyn 99 on repeat, or liking one too many dog pics on Instagram.

Nikkita Kumar

Partnerships Chair

Dristhi Vidyarthi

Partnerships Chair

Denesh Chandrahasan | Partnerships Chair

As have many children of immigrants, Denesh has had to converge two different cultures, identities, and ways of life. Born in India but raised in Seattle and SoCal, he has reconciled the model minority myth with being a unique person with his own hopes and dreams. He became passionate about mental health after experiences with depression spiraled in college amidst personal crises, and has since strived for healthy ways to manage it. Denesh recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Political Economy with a focus on Development & Sustainability, and is interested in the intersection between social issues and data science methodologies. In his free time, he enjoys reading about productivity whilst also being unproductive, having deep conversations with friends, and being with nature.

Denesh Chandrahasan

Partnerships Chair

Sharavan Davuluri | Partnerships Chair

Shravan Davuluri was born and raised in the heart of Silicon Valley – San Jose, California. After receiving his undergraduate finance degree from the University of Texas at Austin, he moved to San Francisco for work. Growing up in a city struggling with income, racial, educational, and health inequality, Shravan experienced a mental health disparity between local communities first-hand. Once he embarked on his own mental health journey later on, his personal interest in the field grew even more as he learned more about the topic of mental health from many qualified resources. Now, Shravan works with MannMukti to help his community and to help the organization serve as an effective outlet for raising awareness to these issues! But don’t be surprised – during the times he’s not out there fighting the stigma against mental health, he’s probably pursing one of his hobbies, such as watching TV and films, creating fun media content, and most importantly, eating.

Sharavan Davuluri

Partnerships Chair

Menaka Krishnan | Content Manager

A Pennsylvania native now living in Austin, TX, Menaka is a first generation Indian-American. After graduating from Syracuse University with an Architecture degree, and working in various design firms, Menaka now spends a majority of her time with her two boys and building her graphic design business, The Social Papery. Combining her passion for the arts/graphics and telling a story, Menaka is MannMukti’s content manager. She was led to MannMukti after seeing some loved ones battle mental health and suffer in silence with little to no resources. She believes in the power of information and education when it comes to mental health and passionately believes in changing the mental health conversation within the South Asian community. She hopes to become increasingly more informed and help be a voice and supporter to those who need it. In her free time, you can find Menaka curling up with inspirational books, cooking up new recipes, working on house projects, and traveling!

Menaka Krishnan

Content Manager

Janani Srikanth | University Chapter Program Manager

Janani grew up in rainy, green, beautiful Portland, OR with a very tight-knit, loving Tamil community. Her family moved to Dallas shortly after she started school at Baylor University to study pre-med, neuroscience, and French. After going through episodes of depression and anxiety for many years, then finally seeking and receiving help in college, Janani started to talk and write about her experiences. She started with family and loved ones, then branched out to platforms like panels, podcasts, Instagram, Facebook, and her own blog. Janani speaks very openly about her struggles with self-harm, suicidal ideation, and communicating her pain to members of the South Asian community, in hopes that others who are silently struggling can feel less alone. Outside of the depression that doesn’t define her, Janani loves to dance, sing, do escape rooms, tell dad jokes, solve puzzles, and knit, because she’s 94 years old. She’s also learning to crochet, if anyone needs socks. Big virtual hugs to everyone.

Janani Srikanth

University Chapter Program Manager

Manasa Chitluri | University Chapter Program Manager

Manasa was born in India and moved to the US at a very young age. Although she moved around a lot in her early life, she now calls North Carolina home and has been living in the Raleigh area since 2003. Manasa graduated from NC State University with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Manasa now works as a therapist in private practice and volunteers as a crisis counselor at Interact of Wake County, a local domestic violence and sexual assault crisis & relief center. While her passion in life is to provide therapy and better understand human interactions, she is also quite fond of connecting with family & friends, singing, reading a good book, snuggling with her dog, trying new foods & experiences with her partner, & practicing the art of yoga.

Manasa Chitluri

University Chapter Program Manager

Sreeja Choppara | University Chapter Program Manager

Sreeja was born in India and raised in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA. She is a recent college graduate from Georgia State University, where she founded a chapter of MannMukti, and has future plans of attending medical school. She has always been passionate about mental health and is honored to be part of an organization with a wonderful and impactful mission. Sreeja is also passionate about music. She has been singing for many years and has recently started releasing music of her own. In her free time, you can find Sreeja either taking photographs, exercising, binging a TV show (most likely Avatar: The Last Airbender), or drinking Boba.

Sreeja Choppara

University Chapter Program Manager

Board of Advisors

Dina Patel

Dina Patel is a co-founder of Ignite Asha and an avid entrepreneur. Prior to Dina’s entrepreneurial ventures, she spent 10 years in investment banking. In 2010, Dina moved to Chicago with her family where she began to explore different endeavors. She launched Didi’s Wardrobe (Indian clothing consignment) in 2011, Wolverine Property Group (real estate investing) in 2017 and most recently Simply Free Delights (allergy friendly cookies).

Dina is originally from the suburbs of Michigan and has enjoyed moving around since college. She spent her undergraduate years at the University of Michigan, her MBA years at Northwestern University and spent a number of years working in New York City and Cleveland. She loves to travel and explore the world and helping those along the way. She is a big believer in building a strong community for her children and is also a co-founder of Hamara Parivar, a community based organization in the Western suburbs of Chicago.

Dina Patel

Purva Shah

Purva Shah is a co-founder of Ignite Asha and a lifelong Chicago area resident. Purva has been fortunate to travel back to India almost every year of her life, which has given her a unique perspective on the local culture and community, and has enabled her to foster long lasting relationships there.

Purva has a B.A. degree in Psychology from Loyola University and an MBA in Human Resources Management from DePaul University. Professionally, Purva has worked in industry and also in residential real estate. After spending time away from work to be a full-time mom for 2 kids, she wanted to follow her passion for philanthropy and has been involved with several local charities over the last several years. In parallel, she continues to look for ways to bridge her strong Chicago community ties with her desire to assist those in need in India and beyond. Through this journey, the inspiration for Ignite Asha was created.

Purva Shah

Faria Akram

Faria Akram is a tiny and tough Texas native with a passion for helping others through storytelling. Outside of her full-time job in content marketing, she’s a freelance writer and the former VP of Marketing at MannMukti. In 2018, she was the recipient of the National Muslim Women’s Summit Fellowship, put on by Malikah in conjunction with Harvard University. When she’s not exploring the nuances of social media or creating digital content, Faria can be found watching Parks and Rec and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai on repeat. You can keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter @followingfaria

Faria Akram

Kavita Pallod Sekhsaria

Kavita Pallod Sekhsaria, Psy.D., is a proud Texan who’s been transplanted to Maryland, where she works as a clinical psychologist. She earned her Clinical Psychology Psy.D. at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Kavita is the Co-Membership Chair for the Asian American Psychological Association’s Division of South Asian Psychologists, where she works with an incredible team to empower South Asian mental health providers to further serve their communities. Additionally, Kavita is a National Team Member for the Hindu American Foundation, where her efforts are focused on creating materials on Hinduism for teachers. She’s also serves as the Hindu Chaplain for American University, and is Center for Dharmic Education Leadership Council, and is passionate about using her degree in psychology to fight mental health stigma in the Hindu and broader South Asian community. When she’s not helping her clients find their inner resilience or working with the community, you can probably find her yelling at the TV as her favorite sports teams lose, trying to convince someone or the other that Harry Potter is superior to all other texts, or eating Taco Bell.

Team

Our mission is to encourage healthy, open dialogue of South Asian mental health issues in an effort to remove stigma, improve awareness and promote self-care.

Executive Committee

Abhijith Ravintula

Sailesh Kumar

Ali Rizvi

Bahar Sachdeva

Shimei Nelapati

Shivani Hiralal

Chintan Jani

Shivani Parikh

Sid Verma

Sri Nimmagadda

Prameela Boorada

Akhil Akula

Officers

Anand Jayanti

Kirandeep Sidhu

Parth Badhiwala

Audria Choudhury

Vidhya Krishnan

Leena Rijhwani

Mudit Verma

Ramya Chunduri

Sukhraj Bassi

Esha Kacker

Trishla Jain

Shriya Yelaswarapu

Meera Shah

Rabab Rangwala

Vishwa Dhuleshia

Juhee Kumar

Nikkita Kumar

Dristhi Vidyarthi

Denesh Chandrahasan

Sharavan Davuluri

Menaka Krishnan

Janani Srikanth

Manasa Chitluri

Sreeja Choppara

Board of Advisors

Dina Patel

Purva Shah

Faria Akram

Kavita Pallod Sekhsaria

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