THE TEAM

In Guru Krupa We Trust

Friday, 10 Jan, 2025

Two long-term Trustees of the Guru Krupa Foundation recount their association with it and Mukund Padmanabhan’s central role in expanding GKF’s footprint in India and the US.

GKF represents an excellent  example of good governance

I've known Mukund Padmanabhan for about 30 years and have been associated with GKF since its inception. Guru Krupa Foundation was his creation. When it started, it was an informal organization with only a few grantees. 

Mukund has done a great job of formalizing its operations, including the due diligence process for evaluating grant applications. With feedback from the Trustees, the organization has continued to grow. It is most impressive that we now have over 70 grantees, and they span both India and the US.

The Trustees Board also receives regular updates on the organization's status. I believe GKF now represents an excellent example of good governance, from vetting the grants to monitoring them and all the administrative work, which is carried out seamlessly.

Most importantly, the organization continues to do noble work, helping those who need it most, promoting knowledge acquisition, and preserving heritage. I can confidently say that it has been my privilege to serve on GKF's Board, and I hope we can keep the good work going for many more years to come.

Lalit Bahl, Formerly with IBM and Renaissance Technologies, New York

Lalit Bahl earned his B. Tech in Electrical Communication Engineering from IIT Kharagpur and his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
After his PhD, he joined the IBM TJ Watson Research Center in New York, where he worked for 30 years.
Lalit retired from IBM as Manager of the Speech Recognition Group.
During his career, Lalit has published over 80 technical papers in scientific journals and conferences and been awarded 37 patents. 
He was elected to the IBM Academy of Technology and is a Life Fellow of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). He has received the IEEE Signal Processing Society Senior Award twice and the IEEE Information Theory Society Golden Jubilee Award. He was also elected a Distinguished Alumnus of IIT Kharagpur.
After retiring from IBM, Lalit embarked on a second career at Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund. There, he worked for two decades before retiring as a Senior Researcher.
Lalit is also a philanthropist and has made major contributions to the SUNY Stonybrook Medical School for cancer research and his alma mater, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He also serves on the Board of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and has been one of the Trustees of the Guru Krupa Foundation since its inception.

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The time Mukund gives to GKF is more important than $$$ he gives

Long before the Guru Krupa Foundation was established, a few friends working at IBM pooled as little as $400 each, and I used to send the collection to support village schools in Odisha, my home state. Mukund Padmanabhan, my junior at IIT Kharagpur, was part of our group. Later, he moved to New York and founded GKF. I have been supporting his work since 2010.   

GKF has funded half a dozen projects in Odisha over the last few years, on my recommendation. We choose those projects over which we will have some control. I spend one or two days at each place to monitor their progress.

For Adruta Children Home in Bhubaneswar, GKF has built the Bolangir Center building and supports its operation, covering hundreds of orphans. Here, a child is fully supported till he or she graduates from college. At the Institute for Helping the Disabled, also in Bhubaneswar, GKF has created a physical therapy center. We also support Jyoti Kala Mandir to teach Odissi dance to poor girls and instill in them self-esteem and confidence. For Grassroots India in Cuttack, GKF’s grant provides vocational training to poor teenage girls from villages.

I also oversee a couple of GKF-supported projects at UCLA.

In Silicon Valley, many people have lots of money but don’t want to give it away. The most important thing about Mukund is not the amount of money he gives but the time he devotes to GKF. He travels to visit projects in different places and spends all weekends on GKF work, thus sacrificing part of his life. You can always cut a check for a charity but working two hours in a soup kitchen is a different feeling altogether.


Deepak Nayak, Engineering Manager, Consumer Hardware, Google, Mountain View, CA

Deepak Nayak was born in a village in Odisha (earlier Orissa), India. He obtained his engineering degree from IIT Kharagpur. He moved to the US  in 1983 and completed an MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering at UCLA. He also earned an MBA from UC Berkeley. He has 130 patents and publications to his name.  
Deepak has worked in Silicon Valley’s high-tech industries for over 30 years, blending management and engineering excellence to cover the semiconductor, solar, LED, and consumer hardware markets.
Deepak is currently at Google. Before Google, he worked at Intel and AMD.
Deepak is passionate about helping poor and disadvantaged people by providing good education, better economic opportunities, and progressive political and social changes. As part of his charity work, he was an early leader of Asha for Education, Los Angeles chapter.
He has been a Member of the Guru Krupa Foundation's Board of Trustees and Vice President since 2010.
He lives in Union City in the Bay Area.

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At GKF, Mukund Padmanabhan does everything by the book 

I have been part of the GKF governing body and have witnessed the tremendous difference the Guru Krupa Foundation makes to the lives of its beneficiaries. I have personally been involved in some projects in the Mumbai-Pune area of Maharashtra and appreciate the foundation's dedication to creating opportunities for the less privileged. 

GKF grants for early education and immunization provide lasting benefits to the recipients, positively impacting the life outcomes of many children. GKF also creates opportunities in higher education, encouraging students to pursue research areas of their choice.  

I have known Mukund Padmanabhan from our time as students at IIT Kharagpur in India when we happened to take some labs together. We have been regularly meeting since then. I joined GKF at the outset on Mukund’s invitation.

I remember Mukund as a very focused, diligent person at IIT. At GKF, he diligently reviews all the proposals and monitors every project to ensure the funding is used correctly and for the right purpose.

All GKF Trustees, including Mukund, are engineers, so the efficiency of the grantees’ projects is very important to us - the proposals’ intent should be matched to the best extent possible in the final outcome. For any GKF project approval, we have made it a requirement that, in most situations, at least one of us should be able to visit the project.  

Mukund does his utmost to ensure everything is done by the book - all the laws and bylaws in America and India are followed. 

The exceptionally qualified trustees of GKF bring diverse, well-formulated life experiences that make my association with the foundation personally informative and fulfilling. 

On my own, too, I support some smaller projects that focus on educating and empowering the less privileged, mainly in India but also in America.

Amit Maitra, Principal – Research Dept, Nvidia, Santa Clara, CA

Amit Maitra is an internet technologist who develops high-availability networking solutions for high-performance computing (HPC) data centers for Machine Learning. He holds a leadership position at Nvidia and has worked with HP, Cisco, and Intel.   
Earlier in his career, Amit was instrumental in developing core routing platforms that formed the backbone of the internet infrastructure in its early growth phase. He has been instrumental in various innovations in the data networking domain, innovating networking technologies from core IP routing to metro ethernet solutions. He also created power management solutions for x86 mobile processors and was part of the core team that developed the widely used USB standard.
Amit has also innovated around scaling the wireless infrastructure, including streaming real-time content over cellular networks. This was employed in a live telecast and streaming of the 2011 Cricket World Cup in India, which the Men in Blue won. 
Amit was born in Kolkata, grew up in Bombay, and lives in Cupertino, California.

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GKF inspires by transforming the lives of the underprivileged  

I have worked at the Guru Krupa Foundation for the past four years. It is an inspiring organization dedicated to making a lasting and meaningful change in the lives of countless underprivileged and underrepresented individuals in the US and India. 

As Grants Manager, I have the privilege of working directly with the founder, Mukund Padmanabhan, to ensure funds are used to address critical needs and drive positive change. The Foundation’s commitment to transparency and impact is commendable as Mukund takes a holistic, personal, and strategic approach to grant-making.  

I am excited to continue working with the Foundation and look forward to contributing to its continued growth and success.

Adithi Menon, Nonprofit Professional, Toronto
Adithi Menon is a seasoned nonprofit professional with over 17 years of experience in grant writing and management, communications, and business development.  Her passion for positively impacting the world drives her work in building partnerships, fostering collaboration, and achieving impactful results.
Adithi has extensive experience in grant management. As a part-time Grants Manager at the Guru Krupa Foundation, she is crucial in managing all aspects of grant monitoring. Her meticulous attention to detail and strong organizational skills ensure funds are appropriately utilized.
As a skilled grant writer and consultant, Adithi has secured significant funding for grassroots and international nonprofit organizations like A Future for Every Child and Save the Children Australia. A talented communicator, Adithi excels at developing compelling proposals and crafting engaging content for various platforms to raise awareness and build strong donor relationships.  
Beyond her professional accomplishments, Adithi is a foodie who enjoys traveling and hanging out with her husband and two sons.

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Thank You!


Mukund Padmanabhan, GKF Founder

I want to take this opportunity to thank my fellow Board members, Amit, Deepak, and Lalit, for their hard work.

Inspiration may be a fine starting point, but it takes much guidance and help to shape a successfully functioning organization.

My fellow Board members have provided this guidance throughout the process, and they have guided and informed our current operating procedures and priorities.

Not just that aspect, but their involvement has also been essential in monitoring the projects that function in their respective hometowns.

All of them are highly successful people with ongoing full careers, and for them to take time out of their busy schedules to serve on GKF's Board is truly creditable, and I am more than grateful.

Last but not least, I want to thank our Grants Manager, Adithi, for keeping things humming year-round. Without her organizational skills and follow-ups, we would operate much less efficiently.

GKF has been fortunate to provide solace and support to thousands of people in India and the US. With the continued help, involvement, and hard work of our Board members and staff, I earnestly hope that we can extend that support to many more thousands.


Mukund Padmanabhan with trustees Amit Maitra (2nd from left) and Deepak Nayak (extreme right), and friends. (Photo courtesy: Guru Krupa Foundation)