Induz Advisory Board

Jose Esteves - Mayor, City of Milpitas

Jose Esteves currently serves in his third term as Mayor of Milpitas, California, a city with a population of over 67,000 people located in the heart of Silicon Valley. Milpitas diverse population (Caucasian, Vietnamese, Filipino, Indian, Hispanic, and many others) has provided the Mayor with a unique platform to listen to and understand the needs of many groups of citizens and residents. Mayor Esteves is very involved with the community and supports several non-profits for numerous good causes. Jose Esteves works for the Department of Information Systems, County of Santa Clara Superior Court and is also a businessman and business consultant.

Anu Natarajan - Vice Mayor, City of Fremont

Anu Natarajan was elected to the Fremont City Council and has served since 2004. She grew up in Bangalore, India. She was educated as an architect and worked as an architect in India. After graduation, she was awarded a Rotary International Scholarship for graduate studies. She did her masters degree in Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her professional experience includes working as an architect, public agency planner, and as an urban planning consultant. Through a community-based planning process, she believes in creating well-designed, sustainable and livable communities, which is essential to fostering economic growth. She has worked as a planning consultant in San Francisco working on downtown and housing plans for several bay area cities and in China. Anu is passionate about art and design and believes that they are critical to making places memorable. Anu has worked with several groups to promote art in various forms and especially among children. She worked with over 300 volunteers in organizing a two-day event to mark Fremont's 50th anniversary with a focus on showcasing Fremont's culture and the arts. She volunteers with community organizations in addition to serving as an advisor to other nonprofit agencies. She enjoys exploring new cities and their architecture, meeting people, and reading.

Manjula Gupta - Founder/President of Chai with Manjula TV Show

Manjula Gupta is the producer, director, and host of the TV show Chai with Manjula, a show about giving. Community service is also deeply rooted in Manjula’s upbringing. Over the years, Manjula has organized community events and led several initiatives. As a volunteer/Program Director at the American India Foundation, founded under the leadership of President Bill Clinton, she helped launch the Service Corps Program, and joined a delegation to India led by President Clinton. As the Chair of Special Events at ICC (Milpitas, CA) for three years, she founded and ran a highly successful singing club as the Chair, bringing the community together on a weekly basis, often featuring well-known artists and celebrities appearing as guest performers. anjula was the Founder/CEO of Saicom, Inc., a successful software services company in Fremont, CA, serving many well-known high-tech companies in Silicon Valley from 1991 to 2001, which she sold to pursue her passion for community service. As the Founder/President of the Chai with Manjula organization, Manjula is working passionately towards developing initiatives to promote giving/philanthropy. The weekly TV show currently airs on Public Access Television in the Bay Area.

Roger Narayan - TV and Film Actor

Information being updated.

Shonali Bose - Film Director, National Award Winner

Shonali has been an activist since a very young age and holds a deep passion for film and theater. Her short narrative films The Gendarme Is Here, Undocumented, and her feature-length documentary, Lifting the Veil, have screened in festivals and other venues throughout the world. Shonali has won seven national and international awards for her first feature film Amu, in which she wrote, produced, and directed. Among the most prestigious awards were the FIPRESCI Critics Award and the National Award for Best Film and Best Director – India's highest award given by the President of the country. While editing Amu, she simultaneously adapted the screen play into a novel and is know as the first Indian to have authored both a film and a book. She holds a BA in History from Delhi University, an MA in Political Science from Columbia University, and an MFA in Directing at UCLA's School of Theatre, Film, and Television. Shonali currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons and is working on her next film; Chittagong, an inspirational story based on an uprising against the British in 1930's Bengal. She hopes to help Induz in their mission to connect people and cultures through different art forms and use her own creative talents to inspire others.

Vilas Thuse

Information being updated.