NetSAP Boston condemns Terror in India & sends its condolences

Boston, Sunday 29th November 2008: Network of South Asian Professionals of Boston (NetSAP Boston) strongly condemns the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the financial capital of India. The organization also expresses condolences to all the families of innocent victims who lost their lives in this attack including the officials who laid down their life fighting the terrorists.

NetSAP Boston executive board and its members who are first and second generation Indians have strong ties back to the country. What angers and frustrates many is the magnitude and the type of attack in Mumbai. Moreover, this event which was preceded by terror attacks in other prominent cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore, Delhi, and Ahmedabad over last two years, seemed like a nail in the coffin. Many have in fact lost patience with the political establishment in India which despite the several recent attacks failed to prevent or move in quickly to mitigate the loss.

While political awareness has been a pillar that NetSAP Boston focuses on, this incident highlights an important issue that many other non-profits and NGOs should focus on in addition to their other developmental activities. What good is development and growth without peace. Indian politicians are bent upon dividing people on race, region, caste, and language hardly focusing on the important issues that matter to the people including security. Since years NetSAP Boston has worked with several alliance partners and helped them with fundraising and other developmental initiatives. Today, NetSAP Boston pledges its support to Indian NGOs and non-profits here in Boston to help create non-partisan political awareness in India about these issues. It is also time that the young Indian generation who are against terror and want to bring about change in India joined our organization and made their voices heard.

Our hearts and prayers are with all the people and families in India who are undergoing this trauma.

NetSAP Boston is also planning to hold a candle light vigil to show the support of the strong Indian American community to the people in India. We are talking to many of our partner organizations to join us in this effort. If you are a representative of an organization and want to support this cause with us please email Tushneem Dharmagadda, President, NetSAP Boston or Chindu Satheesh, Community Chair. Details will be posted on our website soon.

Update: Candle light vigil to show unity and remember victims of terrorism - 6pm on December 4th

Meanwhile NetSAP encourages its members to use its forums at www.netsapboston.org/forums to discuss more about this issue and to send in their comments. We believe that Mumbai is resilient and will spring back to normalcy soon. A tribute to Mumbai is this old song from CID - "Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan"



On behalf of NetSAP Boston Team
Tushneem Dharmagadda

Vote for the 2009 NetSAP Boston Executive Board

Dear NetSAP Members,

The final nominations for the NetSAP Boston 2008 Executive Board are in. Click on the names of the candidates to view their letters of intent.

Process for voting: All 2008 and 2009 NetSAP Members are eligible to vote in the elections. Voting will be carried out for the positions of President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and National Liaison which makes up the Board of Directors for the organization.  The BoD will then finalize the nominations of the other chair positions on the Board.

For uncontested positions, members will have an option to challenge the candidate and voice any issues they may have. If not the candidates will be considered unanimously elected.

Each candidate brings lot of passion, commitment and energy to the NetSAP board. When deciding to vote make sure to read their letters of intent to learn about their strengths. While new candidates may bring fresh ideas to the table, candidates with prior stint with NetSAP will bring in enormous experience. It is this mix that has helped NetSAP Boston grow tremendously over last few years. How can you vote: This year members will have two options for voting. You can vote in person at our holiday party and elections event on Saturday, December 13th, 2008. Alternately, you can vote online through the voting link that will be sent out to your email in the next week or so. The voting process will end on 13th December and all votes will be anonymous. Lastly, we'd like to thank the candidates for stepping forward and volunteering to take NetSAP Boston to the next level. We'd also like to thank you for taking the time to choose the next leadership. If you have any questions feel free to email Tushneem Dharmagadda, President, NetSAP Boston 2008 and elections officer at tushneem.dharmagadda@netsapboston.org

Position Responsibilities & Duties The following positions on the 2009 Executive Board are contested (Click on the names below to view the candidate's letter of intent) President Provide leadership, vision and guidance to the team in all areas.Manage the overall flow of activities and events. Nominees: Kunal Mishra,    Pallavi Chhabra Vice President Responsible for creating alliance partner relationships, external communications and building the NetSAP-Boston brand. Coordinate all teams (social, professional, community, cultural, membership and sponsorship). Work hand-in-glove with the President in all these activities Nominees: Chaitali Thakar Treasurer Oversee and manage finance for NetSAP-Boston, including generating periodical reports. Maintains all financial records. Work hand-in-glove with Sponsorship Chair in building the financial status of NetSAP-Boston Nominees: Swarupa Purandare Secretary Responsible for, managing internal communications, board meetings and newsletter. Keep an on-going record of all activities and events. Help President and Vice-President coordinate all teams. Nominees: Gayathri Arumugham National Liaison Coordinate communication between NetIP-NA and NetSAP-Boston. Attend all meetings and conference calls and represent NetSAP-Boston in the National organization. Work with respective Chairs and develop initiatives at NetSAP-Boston with National significance. This includes membership incentives and sponsorship opportunities. Nominees: Manoshi Vin The following positions on the 2009 Executive Board are finalized by the President & Board of Directors (Vice President, Treasurer, & Secretary) Website Director Multiple Openings Maintain, update and develop the NetSAP Boston website; Assist with all web-related NetSAP activities including forums. Requires knowledge of basic HTML and JavaScript. Knowledge of PHP scripting language preferred. Nominees: Sivashankar Pattamadai Membership / Marketing Chair  Multiple Openings Take a proactive role in constantly increasing membership base by devising new strategies; Manage all marketing-related activities for the organization and Alliance partner relationships. Nominees: Sonia Rai,    Sanjay Tamhane Sponsorship Chair Multiple Openings Responsible for securing sponsors for NetSAP-Boston. This key position involves building relationships and securing sponsorships from corporations and other potential local organizations to achieve annual sponsorship goals to support NetSAP-Boston Nominee: Rashi Mittal Social / Networking Events Chairs Multiple Openings Develop and manage all social & networking events; Organize all monthly social events; Organize an additional 4 to 6 networking events per year. Nominees: Harish Gulati Professional Development Chairs Multiple Openings Develop and manage all professional development events which include panel discussions, speaker series, and mentoring events; Organize 6 to 8 professional events per year. Nominees: Sonit Seth, Kalyan Bemalkhedkar Cultural/Theatrics Chair Multiple Openings Develop and manage all cultural/theatrics events which include Gala events, celebration of festivals, Chai chats and plays; Organize 3 to 4 cultural events per year. Nominees: Rishi Popat,  Michael Dwan Singh Community Service Events Chair Multiple Openings Develop and manage all community service initiatives which include volunteering events, fund-raising initiatives and social entrepreneurship panels; Organize 3 to 4 community events per year. Nominees: Saru Mahajan NetSAP Forum Moderators Multiple Openings Moderate and maintiain User-Forum on the NetSAP website. Open

For further questions and clarifications feel free to email Tushneem Dharmagadda, President, NetSAP Boston 2008 and elections officer at tushneem.dharmagadda@netsapboston.org

Thank you

NetSAP Boston Executive Board 2008

NetSAP Boston 2009 Executive Board Nominations and Extended Deadline (15th November 2008)

Here are the nominations for the 2009 NetSAP Boston Executive Board. The deadline is extended till 15th November 2009. To declare your candidacy, submit one-page letter of intent to Tushneem Dharmagadda, President, NetSAP Boston & Elections Officer at tushneem.dharmagadda@netsapboston.org.

Members are encouraged to sign up for open positions or a position of interest (from the non-open ones too). Voting will most likely take place on or before December 13th 2008.

Click here for details on the The letter of intent and Board Member responsibilities.

Position Responsibilities & Duties Avg. Time Commitment The following positions on the 2009 Executive Board are contested President Provide leadership, vision and guidance to the team in all areas.Manage the overall flow of activities and events. Nominees: Kunal Mishra 8-10 hours / week Vice President Responsible for creating alliance partner relationships, external communications and building the NetSAP-Boston brand. Coordinate all teams (social, professional, community, cultural, membership and sponsorship). Work hand-in-glove with the President in all these activities Nominees: Chaitali Thakar, Usha Govindarajulu 6-8 hours / week Treasurer Oversee and manage finance for NetSAP-Boston, including generating periodical reports. Maintains all financial records. Work hand-in-glove with Sponsorship Chair in building the financial status of NetSAP-Boston Nominees: Swarupa Purandare 4-6 hours / week Secretary Responsible for, managing internal communications, board meetings and newsletter. Keep an on-going record of all activities and events. Help President and Vice-President coordinate all teams. Nominees: Gayathri Arumugham 4-6 hours / week National Liaison Coordinate communication between NetIP-NA and NetSAP-Boston. Attend all meetings and conference calls and represent NetSAP-Boston in the National organization. Work with respective Chairs and develop initiatives at NetSAP-Boston with National significance. This includes membership incentives and sponsorship opportunities. Nominees: Manoshi Vin 2-4 hours / week The following positions on the 2009 Executive Board are finalized by the President & Board of Directors (Vice President, Treasurer, & Secretary) Website Director Multiple Openings Maintain, update and develop the NetSAP Boston website; Assist with all web-related NetSAP activities including forums. Requires knowledge of basic HTML and JavaScript. Knowledge of PHP scripting language preferred. Nominees: Sivashankar Pattamadai 3-5 hours / week Membership / Marketing Chair Multiple Openings Take a proactive role in constantly increasing membership base by devising new strategies; Manage all marketing-related activities for the organization and Alliance partner relationships. Nominees: Sonia Rai, Sanjay Tamhane 3-5 hours / week Sponsorship Chair Multiple Openings Responsible for securing sponsors for NetSAP-Boston. This key position involves building relationships and securing sponsorships from corporations and other potential local organizations to achieve annual sponsorship goals to support NetSAP-Boston Open 3-5 hours / week Social / Networking Events Chairs Multiple Openings Develop and manage all social & networking events; Organize all monthly social events; Organize an additional 4 to 6 networking events per year. Nominees: Kalyan Bemalkhedkar, Harish Gulati 3-5 hours / week Professional Development Chairs Multiple Openings Develop and manage all professional development events which include panel discussions, speaker series, and mentoring events; Organize 6 to 8 professional events per year. Nominees: Sonit Seth 3-5 hours / week Cultural/Theatrics Chair Multiple Openings Develop and manage all cultural/theatrics events which include Gala events, celebration of festivals, Chai chats and plays; Organize 3 to 4 cultural events per year. Nominees: Sivashankar Pattamadai, Rishi Popat 3-5 hours / week Community Service Events Chair Multiple Openings Develop and manage all community service initiatives which include volunteering events, fund-raising initiatives and social entrepreneurship panels; Organize 3 to 4 community events per year. Nominees: Saru Mahajan 3-5 hours / week NetSAP Forum Moderators Multiple Openings Moderate and maintiain User-Forum on the NetSAP website. Open 3-5 hours / week
	Please Submit your nominations by Saturday, 15th November 2008 to tushneem.dharmagadda@netsapboston.org Click here for details on the The letter of intent and Board Member responsibilities.