Arogya World Board of Directors
The members of Arogya World’s Board of Directors bring years of experience and passion for public service to bear in the global fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Dr. Nalini Saligram
Founder & CEO of Arogya World
Nalini Saligram, Ph.D, is the Founder & CEO of Arogya World, a global health non-profit committed to changing the course of chronic disease. She is an Ashoka Fellow.
Under Nalini’s leadership, Arogya World designs and implements scalable, science-based diabetes prevention programs in Indian schools, workplaces, and the community. As a tireless advocate for NCD prevention, Nalini leverages public-private partnerships and global platforms to improve the world we live in. Arogya World has made three Clinton Global Initiative Commitments (one in 2011, and two in 2013), a United Nations Every Woman Every Child Commitment (2014), was active with MIT’s SOLVE effort (2017), and was named a finalist for the Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation (2014).
Nalini has lived and worked in many parts of the world, including Merck in Philadelphia, Merial in Atlanta, Glaxo Wellcome in London, and Hill & Knowlton in Hong Kong.
Nalini has a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She serves on the Dean’s Council at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and is active with the Taskforce on Women & NCDs, the Alliance for Food & Health, Indiaspora and the Global Centre for Healthy Workplaces. She is based in Chicago and Bangalore.
Pamela Yih
Pamela is President of Pamela Y-F Yih, Inc., a life science consulting company. For the past 17 years, she has provided consulting services to start-ups, and pharmaceutical, biotech and med-tech/diagnostic companies of all sizes. She also serves as Treasurer of Arogya World.
Pamela’s expertise is in strategic marketing, commercialization strategies and opportunity assessments, portfolio planning and development of cross-functional commercial planning and evaluation processes. Previously, as a Director at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pamela led global Product Planning and Business Planning for the flagship ACE inhibitors portfolio (hypertension, heart failure, diabetic nephropathy and post-MI).
Neeru Arora
Neeru is the Chief Knowledge Officer of Aon, the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. In this newly established role, Neeru is responsible for developing capabilities which make it easier for colleagues to find expertise, content and communities they need to better serve our clients, drive growth, and improve colleague productivity. She is responsible for delivering Aon’s new Global Intranet, which will enhance Aon’s communications capabilities and build a trusted search experience for colleagues.
Neeru is a proven leader with over 20 years of experience in financial industry where she has held various roles in strategy, operations, and technology and knowledge management, including roles at McKinsey, UBS, and the Chicago Board of Trade. Neeru hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Economics from Loyola University.
Dr. Seema Bhatia
Seema is board certified in internal medicine and was in private practice for over 14 years. She currently sits on the board and serves as the chair of the medical committee of Health Reach Clinic, the only free clinic in Lake County, IL. She has been actively involved in recruiting other volunteer physicians and plays a proactive role on the executive board. She feels passionately about the role of preventative medicine in the fields of diabetes and hypertension.
Kathryn Graves
Kathryn is Associate Dean for Development and External Relations at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. Kathryn has over 30 years of experience in higher education administration, strategic planning and all areas of development.
Kathryn is past chair of the Association of Schools of Public Health Development and Alumni Council. Her service on non-profit boards includes Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS), Amistad (Bolivian orphanage), the American Cancer Society, the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Camp Sunshine (for children with cancer), the Georgia Association of Pastoral Care, the Hambidge Center (an artist in residence program) and MPower Now (microfinance).
Heather Nornes
Heather is an attorney licensed to practice in the State of Illinois. Heather’s practice focused on financial services and the insurance industry. Heather served as senior counsel for companies such as Aon Corp. and Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. Heather also served as assistant director at Arthur Andersen advising its global captive insurer. In addition, Heather is a certified mediator and serves on a number of nonprofit boards.
Deepa Prahalad
Deepa is an author, business strategist and consultant specializing in opportunities at the intersection of consumer experience, technology and strategy. Deepa has worked as a management consultant with firms from start-ups to large multinationals.
Deepa has degrees in Economics and Political Science from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Deepa, who can be found on Twitter at @deepaprahalad, lives in Southern California with her husband and son.
Gloria Barone Rosanio, M.A., A.P.R
Gloria is the Director, Corporate Communications and Public Relations for Cigna Corporation, a global health service company ranked 103 on the Fortune 500 with annual revenue of $22 billion.
She is a seasoned, versatile communications leader with a wide breadth of corporate and journalistic experience, a strong background in media relations and thought leadership, and expertise in creating integrated brand and public relations strategies. Prior to Cigna, Gloria served as a speechwriter for the New Jersey Senate, Lifestyle Editor of The Brockton (Mass.) Enterprise and guest host of a talk show on WBET-AM, and Communications Manager for the New England Newspaper Association. She also serves as an advisor at Rowan University and has taught courses at Penn State, Camden County (N.J.) College, and Emerson College in Boston. Follow Gloria on Twitter at @gloriabarone.
Denise Freier
Denise is President and CEO for the Strategic Accounts Management Association (SAMA), a non-profit organization that assists clients in creating and executing a strategic account management program through conferences, training, research and B2B networking opportunities. Denise has over 40 years of sales, sales transformation and sales leadership experience from IBM in local and global roles. In addition to her business responsibilities, Denise has a long history of mentoring with IBM’s Chicago Women’s Group in Chicago, as well as external mentoring of young professionals with Menttium. She graduated with a BS in Management Science from the University of Illinois, and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Swati Chaudhary
Based in New York, Swati is a Director in the Advisory practice at Synergos. She works at the nexus of strategy building, systems thinking, and partnerships for social impact at scale. A generalist, she has worked in a diverse range of topics including financial inclusion, income inequality, gender equity, agriculture, and non-communicable diseases. Previously, Swati held the roles of management consultant at PwC Advisory and investment analyst at Acumen Fund and General Atlantic. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Franklin and Marshall College, and a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University. A Third Culture Kid, Swati was raised between Bihar, India and Manila, Philippines; she now lives in Brooklyn with her husband.
Radhika Papandreou
Emilie R. Ninan
Emilie R. Ninan is a Partner at Ballard Spahr LLP, Chair of the firm’s Public Finance Department, and member of Ballard Spahr’s Expanded Board. Emilie assists clients with obtaining lower-cost capital financing through the issuance of tax-exempt bonds. Emilie serves as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, borrower’s counsel, issuer’s counsel, or trustee’s counsel on a variety of municipal bond financings, and has advised nearly every major bond issuer (including all three counties), municipality, hospital, and higher educational facility in the State of Delaware. In addition, Emilie represents corporate, banking, government and nonprofit clients in commercial real estate lending matters, contract negotiation, and other finance transactions. She is a recipient of SABA Philadelphia Legal Excellence Award for Professional Achievement, has been profiled by Law360 in as a “Female Powerbroker,” and recognized as an Influential Woman in Business in Delaware Today. She holds a JD from Georgetown University Law Center, an MBA from Georgetown University School of Business, and BBA from Temple University.