+ ANIL KAKANI

Anil Kakani, Vice President and India Country Head at the Algorand Foundation, is founder of Vikasa Holdings. Prior to setting up Vikasa, he spent three years in Mumbai, India, where he was Executive Director on the investment banking team of a mid-market financial services firm. Kakani works in a strategic role with Indian and US companies looking to acquire technology, market access, and brands, and to access capital to grow their global business and market penetration.

Kakani earlier held various senior level roles in the US Government – most recently as Senior Advisor for India to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, where he established the U.S.-India Economic and Financial Partnership (EFP) with India's Finance Ministry. Kakani earlier worked as legislative counsel for economic policy issues to then-Senator Hillary Clinton, and as senior advisor in the Clinton White House to Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob Lew. Kakani traveled to India with Presidents Clinton and Obama on their maiden visits to the world’s largest democracy.

Prior to his post at the U.S. Treasury, Kakani was Director for Commercial Development and Innovation at Corning Incorporated, a global innovation and manufacturing leader in keystone components that enable high-technology systems. At Corning, Anil developed commercial strategies for India and other emerging markets, and spearheaded an initiative for cross-border innovation partnerships with select Indian corporate houses and research institutions.

Kakani holds a Master's Degree in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a law degree from the University of Arizona, College of Law; he is admitted to the California State Bar. He also serves on the Boards of numerous organizations, including Skate Basti Foundation, Just Jobs Network, World Sustainable Development Forum, and Mann Deshi Foundation. He serves on the Board of Advisors of Smart Axiom, a blockchain security technology company.

+ ARVIND DHEER

Arvind Dheer, Head of Vikasa's India operations based in Delhi, brings over two decades of commercial and technical experience across various sectors to the Vikasa platform. Most recently, Dheer served as President of Lloyd Electric and Engineering Ltd, a leader in HVAC and refrigeration systems and heat transfer technologies. He also has extensive international experience, having worked with technology partners and customers across diverse sectors (including railways, defense, energy) across Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and China. Dheer is a tech savvy engineer with a track record of identifying technology and structuring joint ventures and MOUs.

Dheer graduated with a B.E. in Electrical Engineering from the Malaviya National Institute of Technology in Jaipur, India, and a post-graduate Diploma in Business Management.

+ NIKHIL VARMA, PhD

Nikhil Varma is an academician and industry advisor, and at Vikasa, our expert on blockchain technology and decentralized ledger solutions. He has over 15 years of industry experience working as a developer, architect, product and program manager, and management consultant. He is a trained software engineer with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, and Master’s Degree in Computer Engineering from Concordia University, Montréal. He has an MBA and PhD from HEC Montreal, Canada. His PhD was focused on service design strategies using machine learning. Nikhil is currently an Associate Professor of Management at Ramapo College in New Jersey, where he teaches operations, data visualization, business analytics and sustainability. Nikhil also teaches courses on blockchain to business professionals and computer engineers at several universities worldwide.

+ JULIE HUDMAN, PhD

Dr. Julie Hudman, Managing Partner at Vikasa Health, is an executive who focuses on creating and nurturing thriving, healthy communities. Her extensive experience includes work at local, state, international, non-profit, foundation and academic organizations. She is an expert in health care finance and operations, a strategic and creative problem-solver, team builder and an accessible communicator. She has a deep understanding of the social determinants of health, skills to administer programs that address these disparities, and expertise in policy, innovation and operations to improve outcomes for vulnerable populations.

At Vikasa Health Julie leads the development and evaluation of policy, programs, and technology solutions specializing in the intersection of health care, behavioral health and homeless services. Recent clients include The Future Communities Institute, California Health Care Foundation, Fountain House and LA County Department of Health Services.

Previously, Julie was the Assistant Deputy Director for Behavioral Health in the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) where she provided leadership, management, and support of priorities including initiatives that are designed to achieve equitable health care outcomes and ensure consistent in the Medi-Cal program in order to achieve high quality mental health and substance use disorder care.

Julie also served as CEO of the Saban Community Clinic, a FQHC that provides comprehensive primary and preventive health services to thousands of low-income patients in Los Angeles. In addition, while living in Mumbai, India for three years, she advised the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Reliance Foundation and Setco Foundation, among others, on maternal and child health issues and was also a Visiting Professor and member of the Board at St. Xavier’s College for their public policy program.

Earlier, Julie served in the Cabinet of Washington, DC Mayor Adrian Fenty as Director of the Department of Health Care Finance, where she administered the District's $2 billion Medicaid Program. She began her career working at the state level in Oklahoma, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Julie was also a researcher at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and at George Washington University’s Center for Health Policy Research.

Julie is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, has a Masters Degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University, and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She also currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Center, which works to end isolation and homelessness in Hollywood.

Hudman can be reached at jhudman@vikasaholdings.com.

+ JITENDRA BALAKRISHNAN, PhD

Jitendra Balakrishnan has worked in academic and industrial R&D for over two decades in the U.S. and in India. He has set up R&D operations in India for Corning Incorporated, a Fortune 500 company, and is currently responsible for its growth in different areas of research. He also initiated an effort to regionalize product development in emerging markets for Corning by combining technology, manufacturing, commercial and strategic perspectives.

Balakrishnan has worked both as an active scientist and a technology manager in a number of fields of research, including: optical telecommunications; catalysis and emission control for automobiles; fundamental properties of glass and its application to the electronics industry; advanced life-sciences; and solar photovoltaics. Exposure to these wide-ranging fields has given Balakrishnan the opportunity to contextualize and direct activity in different areas of technology. He is also actively involved in research consortiums and collaborations with various universities in India and Singapore.

Balakrishnan holds a bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University.

+ SAM DAVIS

Sam Davis is chief social media strategist at Teneo where he works exclusively with and advises CEOs, CMOs and CCOs of Fortune 500 companies on their approach to digital, social and mobile media. His client list includes Coca Cola, UBS, Caesars, BT, Nissan, Equinox, SoulCycle, IBM, BHP, PetSmart, and WSL.

Prior to Teneo, Davis built and ran the top social media agency in professional tennis. He represented and managed the overall strategy and execution of social media accounts for various athletes, including Maria Sharapova, Novak Djokovic, and Kei Nishikori. Davis grew and managed 30+ million cumulative social media fans. In this capacity he developed and launched social media campaigns for American Express, Porsche A.G., TAG Heuer, Nike, Peugeot and Citizen Watch around their sponsored athletes.

Davis earlier worked for four years as a policy analyst to Hillary Clinton, and as a senior researcher to President Obama during the 2008 White House transition.

Sam graduated from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.