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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline APRIL 03, 2023 | The Indian Eye 22

ca’s richest self-made women list sev-
eral times. In 2022, she was on 24th
rank. In 2021, Neerja Sethi was among
the five Indian-American women
who were featured in the Forbes
list of ‘America’s Richest Self-Made
panel on an investigation into the Women.’ In 2015, she was ranked 14
youth e-cigarette epidemic, which on the inaugural Forbes list of Amer-
led to a nationwide ban of flavoured ica’s Richest Self-Made Women.
Rahul Roy-Chowdhury e-cigarettes. While at Harvard, he
founded the HLS Homelessness Co-
Executive named as CEO of alition and was a Senior Policy Edi-
Grammarly tor on the Harvard Law and Policy
Review. He received his BA from
ahul Roy-Chowdhury has Sarah Lawrence College, where he
been appointed as the CEO Neil Makhija
Rof Grammarly, the San Fran- studied neuroscience and served as
co-president of his class and 2009
cisco-headquartered online text edit- Attorney to contest for commencement speaker.
ing platform based on artificial intel- Commissioner of Montgomery
ligence. The Indian-origin executive, County Arun Agarwal
who is currently serving as the global ttorney and educator Neil
product head at the company, will Makhija will be contesting the Nextt CEO named chair of
take over as CEO from May 1. Community Bond Task Force
Aelections for Commissioner
of Montgomery County — the third run Agarwal, CEO of Dal-
Rahul Roy-Chowdhury joins the largest county in Pennsylvania with las-based ‘Nextt’, has been

league of Indian-origin top exec- over 865,000 people. 36-year-old Aappointed chair of the Com-
munity Bond Task Force (CBTF)
Makhija, the election law professor
utives helping major corporations at the University of Pennsylvania, Neerja Sethi committee as part of the 2024 Capital
around the world. Grammarly is if elected, would be the first South Bond Programme development pro-
cess. The committee assists the Dallas
Asian member to serve for the posi-
an American cloud-based typing tion left open by outgoing commis- Businesswoman makes it to city council and city staff in review-
Forbes list
assistant which reviews spelling, sioner Valerie Arkoosh. Montgomery eerja Sethi, a graduate in ing and selecting projects for con-
sideration in the 2024 Capital Bond
County Commission is the governing
grammar, punctuation, clarity, en- body of Montgomery County, con- mathematics from Delhi Uni- Programme. Bond programmes are
gagement, and delivery mistakes sisting of 5 members who are elected Nversity, a master’s in computer intended to pay for the city’s capital
science from the University of Oak-
by districts.
needs and must be approved by voters.
in English text. Each Commissioner is elect- land, and an MBA in operations re- “I’m particularly excited to help
ed to a 4-year term and represents search, co-founded IT consulting and make major investments in parks,
Rahul Roy-Chowdhury said, “I approximately 45,000 constituents. outsourcing company Syntel with her trails, and recreational facilities,”
joined Grammarly 2 years ago be- The Commission’s responsibilities husband Bharat Desai in 1980. The Agarwal said. “Mayor Johnson has
cause of a deep belief in our mission include control of all county public venture was started from their apart- been a true champion for our city’s
to improve lives by improving com- funds, adoption of an annual budget ment in Troy, Michigan. Both of them parks and for the efforts to build a safer
munication. I’m honored to serve reflecting anticipated income and ex- were working for TCS in the US when and more vibrant city. I look forward
that mission in a new capacity as penses. The board oversees an annu- they met and decided to get married. to working with Mayor Johnson, my
Grammarly’s CEO, starting May 1.” al budget of more than $500 million. Neerja Sethi is one of the most colleagues on the task force, and the
“Our millions of users remain Makhija recently announced successful Indian American billion- residents of Dallas as we work to pri-
our north star as we continue solving leave from serving as Executive Di- aire businesswomen. She started this oritise our city’s most pressing needs.”
their real communication challenges. rector of IMPACT, the nation’s lead- entrepreneurial journey with her hus- “The upcoming bond pro-
Grammarly has been harnessing in- ing South Asian civic organization, band with an investment of $2,000 in gramme will provide us with a critical
novation in AI responsibly for over a to join the electoral race. In 2021, 1980, when she co-founded the IT opportunity to build for our future
decade, and we’re just getting start- Makhija was one of 13 civil rights consulting and outsourcing firm Syn- by investing in public safety, in infra-
ed!” he said. leaders invited to the White House tel. Born in India in 1955 Sethi now structure, and in our most significant
Before joining Grammarly in to advise President Joe Biden and lives in Fisher Island, Florida, US. needs,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson
May 2021, Rahul Roy-Chowdhury Vice President Kamala Harris on According to Forbes, Neerja said. “Arun Agarwal has proven to
was working at Google for 14 years voting rights. He was named by City Sethi has a total net worth of USD be an effective and engaged leader in
serving in multiple functions includ- & State PA as one of the “40 under 1 billion as of 2022. Starting out with our city, and I am confident he will ad-
ing vice-president of product man- 40” most influential people in Penn- an initial investment of just $2,000, vocate for the right priorities for the
agement. He also spent 2 years as sylvania politics. they pulled in a mere $30,000 in first- people of Dallas on this task force.”
a product manager at Google’s of- In his former law practice, Makh- year sales. Syntel racked up $924 mil- The task force will assess the
fice in Bengaluru between 2007 and ija advocated on issues of mental lion in 2017 revenues and has 23,000 city’s USD 13.5 bn needs inventory
2009, following which he moved to health and addiction. He represent- employees, 80% of whom are in In- and recommend roughly USD 1 bn
California. ed Pennsylvania counties in opioid dia. In 2018, French IT firm Atos SE to the Dallas city council, which will
An MBA from Stanford Univer- litigation, notably, children and par- bought Syntel for USD 3.4 billion. make the final decision to call a bond
sity and a Master’s in computer sci- ents in an early class action against Neerja did not join Atos after the election. The mayor said Agarwal’s
ence from Columbia University Ra- Big Tobacco companies who market- acquisition but she got an estimated appointment emphasizes his adminis-
hul Roy-Chowdhury completed his ed flavored e-cigarettes to children. USD 510 million for her stake, as a tration’s commitment to ensuring that
graduation from Hamilton College In 2019, he inspired and advised result of this acquisition. parks are treated as a top priority in
in New York. a US House Oversight Committee She has been on Forbes’ Ameri- the bond programme.

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