About AIF - People
AIF Senior Leadership Team
Sanjay Sinho, Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Sanjay Sinho joined AIF in April 2008 as its Chief Executive Officer based out of New York. Dr. Sanjay Sinho brings 21 years of experience in the field of primary health care. Prior to joining AIF he had spend 13 years with CARE, one of the largest private voluntary organizations, working in 70+ countries in the field of poverty eradication. He held various positions in CARE the latest of them being the Director of Health programs for CARE USA based out of Atlanta. Sanjay is a pediatrician and a sociologist by training and has over 14 years of experience in managing health programs across the globe: this includes managing an overall portfolio of more than 250 projects in 50+ countries, and being the director for health programs in CARE India. He also has significant experience of working with government agencies like USAID and CDC and multilateral groups like WHO and UNICEF, and private foundations. He received his Bachelors and masters in pediatrics degrees from Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal and his MA in sociology from Bhopal University. Sanjay and his wife Abha live in Milburn, New Jersey. They have two sons.
Kris Dasgupta, Chief Operating Officer
Kris Dasgupta is responsible for AIF’s Finance, Fundraising, Marketing, Communications and Administration functions. Kris comes to AIF from A Better Chance, where she was the Vice President of Advancement and Communications. Prior to A Better Chance, she was Senior Vice President in charge of Global Fundraising and Communications at Helen Keller International.
Kris came to the non-profit sector after a 21-year career in investment banking and capital markets. She is the first South Asian woman to run the Foreign Exchange (FX) sales operations at three major financial institutions. She started her career at Citibank’s FX sales desk in New York where within four years she ended up running the Corporate desk. She was then hired away by Chase Manhattan Bank to run the New York FX Sales desk where, as Managing Director, she took the bank to rank Number One in Foreign Exchange. She later joined Société Générale (SG) as Managing Director FX Sales for the Americas. She turned that business too into a highly profitable one.
Following September 11, she decided to devote her expertise to the non-profit world as a way of giving back to the community.
Kris holds an M.A. in English from Presidency College, Calcutta, and an LL.B from Calcutta University. She also received her M.B.A. from Tulane University, New Orleans. Kris has a son and lives in New Jersey with her husband.
Ethan Veneklasen, Regional Director, West Coast
Ethan Veneklasen serves as Regional Director-West Coast of the American India Foundation. Based in Santa Clara, California he oversees AIF’s West Coast operations as well as the Service Corps and DE Programs.
Veneklasen brings with him a long record of success in the world of politics and public policy. Upon gradating from the University of Rochester, he moved to Washington, DC, where he established a winning track record, managing campaigns and advising candidates ranging from the state legislative to Presidential levels.
Returning to the Bay Area in 1997, Veneklasen shifted focus from electoral politics to public policy. In several positions, he was an outspoken advocate at the local, state and federal level for infrastructure investment. He was appointed to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission Advisory Council, BART to San Jose Policy Advisory Committee and Regional Measure 2 Steering Committees as a representative of the business and construction communities.
As Executive Vice President of the Contra Costa Council, Veneklasen helped lead the way to the successful passage of Measure J, a $2.2 Billion transportation sales tax measure passed by 70.5% of the voters in 2004. In addition to his work in transportation, he was also co-founder the East Bay Workforce Housing Coalition.