Elections to the AHT Executive Committee ANNOUNCEMENT

Transcription

1 Elections to the AHT Executive Committee ANNOUNCEMENT The Election Committee, comprising of the undersigned, has been constituted by the Board of Directors of the Trustees and the General Body of Trustees, to conduct Elections to the Executive committee on November 15. This Election Committee is pleased to announce the List of Candidates for Elections to the Executive committee. Please direct all enquiries regarding this election to: Positions Open for Executive Committee Election There are a total of 6 positions open for election. 1. President - there are two candidates contesting for this position Mr. Srihari Pingali and Mrs. Geetha Vijayan Mr. Srihari Pingali An accomplished IT professional with over 30yrs of experience and currently working at General Motors. Extensive experience in guiding successful execution of projects by the IT companies with part ownership by my wife. As a founding trustee of the AHT, have been highly committed and dedicated volunteering since inception even without a formal position. As the Secretary of the Executive Committee during , successfully planned and executed Maha Kumbhabhishekam, through tireless work along with

2 the Executive committee, many trustees, volunteers and the community members. Commended for my ability to keep a calm demeanor amidst chaos and the leadership ability to motivate volunteer groups for Temple events, I like to empower every individual to contribute to the temple to their capabilities and give them a sense of being a part of this wonderful religious organization. I truly believe in Sarve Janah Sukhino Bhavanthu and practicing it in every walk of my life. Making Austin Hindu Temple as the first destination for all Hindu religious services, festivities and community events, by expanding the reach out to wider community and involving more people in various activities. Improving the cleanliness and attractiveness of the temple and providing devotees a place for religious serenity and devotional belonging. Valuing feedback from devotees, volunteers, employees, trustees and management through an open door policy and taking corrective measures. Improving food services at the Temple. Streamlining temple day-to-day operations, HR process and improve employee morale. Streamlining administrative items such as Front Desk Operations, immigration processes for AHT employees, inventory management of religious supplies, etc. Hailing from a traditional family with strong sense of religious mindset and community service, have always maintained strong roots to the religious and family traditions and values. Have been involved with the local temple and community activities, since childhood. I have been part of the Austin community, along with my wife Uma Rani and two sons, Bhararadwaj and Prapul, for nearly 16yrs. My interests include reading religious texts, listen to religious discourses and undertake pilgrimages during my trips to India. The temple belongs to the community. Let us bring the community together to make the temple their religious destination.

3 Mrs. Geetha Vijayan Geetha Vijayan s professional career includes 20 years at IBM where she last served as senior technical advisor to the IBM Chief Information Officer. She started in IBM as an Associate Programmer at the T. J. Watson Research Center and quickly rose to the IBM s highest technical level position. Geetha has graduate degrees in Mathematics and Computer Sciences from Georgia Institute of Technology, Pace University and University of Madras. She holds 8 U.S. and 8 International Patents. She has received numerous IBM technical and invention awards. Geetha has been associated with the temple since its inception as a devotee, volunteer, founding member, and trustee. She served the temple as its Religious Committee Chairperson during the formative years She is currently the Vice President of the temple s Executive Committee and the Chair of the Human Resources Committee. More specially, she is simply a very humble devotee and servant of the temple. Geetha has been responsible for organizing many important temple events including the Shikara Pratishta of the Ganesh Temple, the Bhoomi Pooja for the Main Temple, Shanthi Kalyanam and annual programs such as Navarathri and Ganesh Chaturthi. As Vice President and HR Chair, she has been responsible for the well being of our priests and staff. She helped obtain visas for our priest s spouses and children. She has also been successful in obtaining religious worker visas for all our temple artisans (shilpis). Our shilpis have been working with great skill during the past year to ornament the temple alayams and vimanams. She started and managed the ornamentation brick sponsorship program to raise funds for this important project. She is currently working to recruit additional priests for the temple. Geetha s dream for our temple is for it to become one of the greatest temples in this country and across the world. She is committed to making this a reality by bringing our Hindu community together for the greater good of the temple. She believes that if we work together passionately, we can grow and build our temple and leave a great legacy for all future generations. Her most important goal for

4 the temple is to provide a great devotee experience that makes all devotees feel welcomed and special when they visit our temple. If elected as President, she will seek input and help from every member of our temple community. She will work hard to be inclusive and bring more diversity to the temple through the introduction of new religious, cultural and educational programs. Geetha is married to Vijayan who during the past year as a temple volunteer has helped to manage the ornamentation project. Geetha and Vijayan have two wonderful children, Vikram and Poornima Nithya, who are both trustees of our temple. 2. Vice President There is one candidate for this position Mr. Veera Lenin Mr. Veera Lenin Photograph and Bio were not provided. 3. Secretary there are two candidates contesting for this position Mr. Madhusudan Akkaraju and Mr. Sandeep Vuppala. Mr. Madhusudan Akkaraju This is Madhu Akkaraju living in Austin City since By Profession, I am Senior Consultant on Project and Portfolio Management Domain. In 2013, got elected to Telugu Cultural Association and currently serving as Treasurer also member previously. Have been spiritually attached to the temple since moved to Austin in 2008 and seeing temple growing leaps and bounds since then. Had opportunity at several occasion to serve as volunteer both individually and represented telugu cultural association in events like new temple inauguration, food melas, Bathukamma festivals etc Bring consistency in temple communication, ensures it reaches out to maximum audience and try for transparency Study the existing bylaws to identity gaps and make amendments that benefits

5 everyone Stay non-partisan, take everyone into confidence in making right decisions and devise plans for temple growth Explore options on generating revenue to make itself sustained Basically, I am from Nellore, Andhra Pradesh and living in US for more than 10 yrs now. I am blessed to have wonderful wife and kid. I take this as god given opportunity that has come my way and try my best to contribute and collaborate with other elected members to the growth of our temple. Mr. Sandeep Vuppala I have been office holder and dedicated volunteer of Austin Hindu temple with the grace of almighty for past several years and part of Austin Hindu community since While in the office introduced various programs and events that brought Hindu community together. I had been part of the current exec committee as Secretary and played key roles in Religious, Kitchen operations, facility rentals and fundraising to improve the devotee experience. Apart from this I actively volunteered and led some religious events like Sai temple Kumbhabhishekam, Vasantha Navarathri, Ugadi, Navarathri, Shanthi Kalyanam etc, All these events are very successful and improved the divinity in the temple campus bringing festive looks attracting more devotees than usual bringing up much needed donations and contributions to the temple and I thank each and everybody who are part of these contributions. Our temple needs more dedicated volunteers than before as it has grown exponentially and has more challenges that we need to address which I am prepared to take up this challenge. Improving Devotee experience is a uphill task and I have a strategy to address this challenge taking it to next level. I am excited to bring this change to reality and I would like to be part of new exec committee as secretary and I need your support without which I cannot deliver. As secretary of this term I saw there are more opportunities for this temple to perform and meet the expectation of local community which includes your

6 family and friends. With your support I promise that I will make this temple a unique one and more serene place where devotees feel the divinity as in any other temples back in India. I am running for secretary position to make this change and I need your support. I will work towards my goal diligently and need your help in accomplishing this goal as a community. Please join me in improving our temple and make it an even better place. Lavanya is my wife who supports me 100% along with my two little angels Raghavi (8th grader) and Ananyaa(3rd grader) in any volunteering in AHT and elsewhere. 4. Assistant Secretary there are two candidates contesting for this position Mr. Rajkishan Chintakindi and Mr. Sanjay Rathod. Mr. Rajkishan Chintakindi I am writing to request your support for my candidature for the post of Assistant Secretory in the upcoming Austin Hindu Temple elections. I have been fortunate enough to contribute as a volunteer for various events and celebrations at the temple and I look forward to continuing my service being part of a dedicated team. As an IT professional managing a team of engineers located around the globe, I understand how important it is to plan and deliver what has been promised by setting proper expectations and achieving them. I have been serving the community through volunteering for organizations like BATA, Silicon Andra and local temples for 10 years in California Bay Area before moving to Austin in Austin Hindu Temple has been like a second home for me after I moved to Texas and I have been able to contribute what little I can during various festivals and Melas since Specifically, I have had the blessing to serve in various activities like Crowd management, front desk management for both main temple and Gurumandir Kumbhabhishekams. I have also had the pleasure of serving for various events in Kitchen. During the recent Ganesh Chathurthi celebrations, with support of all volunteers, I had the opportunity to plan for various aspects of event in addition

7 to coordinating work of all the wonderful volunteers. As I have seen AHT growing in last 5 years that I have been associated with and with a brief knowledge of various activates in the temple, I hope to serve and dedicate more time to involve myself on any future activities in an organized and efficient way that will enhance views of our devotees about the temple and help us grow. My hope is that an expanding and vibrant temple helps the whole community. It is an honor to serve for this great cause and if given an opportunity to work on the committee, I am confident to make a significant difference to the advancement of temple and devotee experience. My wife is a big supporter for all my goals and we are proud parents of two kids ages 12 and 7. Over the last few years, I have witnessed the Austin Indian community to be growing exponentially and serving this community through the Austin Hindu Temple has been my passion and honor. My other passions include playing Cricket and Volleyball where I get to meet various other likeminded people to get to know them and serve wherever possible. If you have any other questions or clarifications, I am happy to meet you in person to discuss more. I thank you again for the opportunities I have had to serve the temple and devotees and I humbly request your support in the upcoming elections. Mr. Sanjay Rathod Photograph and BIO are not provided. 5. Treasurer There is one candidate for this position Mr. Suresh Pabisetty Mr. Suresh Pabbisetty Photograph and BIO are not provided. 6. Assistant Treasurer There is one candidate for this position Mr. Mohan Reddy Arekooty Mr. Mohan Reddy Arekooty Photograph and BIO are not provided.