Pratham USA Announces New Board Appointments

Pratham USA is thrilled to announce that Seattle-based venture capitalist Sheila Gulati and Dallas Fort-Worth’s Sumeet Jaisinghani have been appointed to our National Board of Directors, effective March 2021.

Sheila is the founder and managing director of Tola Capital, a global private equity firm that focuses exclusively on investments in enterprise software companies. She brings a wide range of industry experience, blending financial and strategic acumen with a broad understanding and passion for software businesses. Sheila has been involved with Pratham USA since 2007 when she founded the Seattle chapter. Read Sheila’s bio.

“I’m honored to join the Pratham USA Board,” said Sheila. “To me, education should be a fundamental human right and Pratham delivers education while measuring learning outcomes at scale for India. I have worked closely with Pratham for the last fifteen years and I look forward to continuing the partnership to serve our core customer – the Indian student.”

Sumeet serves as managing director, public and private equity at Saban Capital Group. Prior to joining Saban, Sumeet worked as an investment banker in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group of J.P. Morgan. Sumeet provides an uniquely global perspective to our organization, having lived in Singapore and Hong Kong for many years, and has served on the board of directors of several public and private companies in the US and Asia. Read Sumeet’s bio.

According to Sumeet, “Supporting underprivileged youth in India has never been more important, particularly in the aftermath of the pandemic, and Pratham plays a critical role in spreading the gift of literacy. I’m honored to join such a distinguished organization and look forward to working with the Pratham teams in the US and India on achieving our shared objective of educational advancement.”

Pratham USA Chairman Deepak Raj expressed his enthusiasm about their appointment: “We’re excited to have two such extraordinarily accomplished individuals joining our Board. Along with their knowledge and experience, they bring new energy and fresh perspectives.” Adding, “While the year ahead will pose challenges, we have a strong team in place, both in India and the US, that can support education in person and remotely.”