Team
Indonesian Field Director
Alfan Rodhi
Alfan has been working on education, good governance, and community development projects for over ten years. He has extensive experience working in urban poor communities throughout Indonesia including in Jakarta, Malang, Makassar, and Aceh; in building and managing teams of people for user acquisition; and conducting user interface studies. Alfan manages user acquisition, onboarding, user feedback, and manages a team of community moderators who post regularly on AtmaGo and provide feedback on features needed.
Community Manager and UI/UX Developer
David Khoirul
David is a translator, graphic designer, and community outreach specialist. He speaks English, Indonesian and Javanese. David has worked for HBO Asia, Google, Uber, and Motorola. He was a member of the English Student Association of the University of Ronggolwre from 2005 to 2008, and the FKPPG Youth Communication Forum in Lamongan from 2006 to 2009. David graduated from the University of Ronggolawe with a degree in language education.
Chief Financial Advisor
Barbara Finnin
Barbara Finnin has over 18 years of experience providing finance, human relations and executive leadership for emerging and established nonprofits and businesses. She is a consultant to The Democracy at Work Institute and served as a LeaderSpring Fellow from 2012-2014. Barbara has advised the City of Oakland on land use planning and also served as Executive Director of City Slicker Farms. She holds a BA in Anthropology Sociology from University of Maryland College Park where she graduated Magnum Cum Laude.
Operations and Program Manager
Ari Turrentine
Ari is experienced in operations, project management, research, and evaluation for non-profit and social impact ventures. Ari has recently focused on social innovation and entrepreneurship as a Fellow at the TexasConnector, a Research and Evaluation Analyst at VentureWell, and as the VP of Operations at Next Thing Co.. Ari holds a Masters of Science in Social Work and a certificate in Nonprofit Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, and a B.A. in Psychology from Lewis and Clark College.Â
Founder, CEO
Meena Palaniappan
Meena has been implementing community-based technology projects in the developing world for nearly two decades. An environmental engineer and technologist, she has launched technology projects in Africa and Asia. Meena was the principal investigator for a $1.3 million USAID project to build the WATER SMS mobile to web crowd-sourced mapping system to improve water services for the poor in Indonesia. She has worked with the Pacific Institute and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) on sustainable community development, pollution prevention, and environmental justice, co-authoring the EDF’s Environmental Sustainability Kit. Meena received a Master of Science degree in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley, and an Engineering degree from Northwestern University.
Social Media and Evaluation Manager
Jimmy Welles
Jimmy is on our Indonesian team working to understand, measure, and evaluate AtmaGo’s social impact and outreach. He has extensive experience as a market researcher, translator and teacher. He was an AusAID/ADS Scholarship awardee 2010-2012 and holds a Master’s in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Australia’s La Trobe University.
Global Strategic Advisor
Minh Chau Nguyen
Minh Chau spent 25 years working with the World Bank Group in Washington DC. As an economist at the World Bank, Minh Chau was responsible for policy dialogues, project evaluations, and loan negotiations for projects in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. She also served as the head of the Gender and Development Division at the World Bank. In this position, she led the World Bank delegation to the Women’s World Conference in Beijing in 1995. Minh Chau received her M.S. in economics from the University of Washington, and Advanced Management Training certificate from Harvard Business School.
Deputy Director
Nicholas Cain
Nick is a strategist with experience leading research projects, developing communications campaigns, and evaluating programs and policies. He has worked for the Sierra Club, the Pacific Institute, and Southern California Edison. Nick holds a PhD in Environmental Policy and World Politics from Claremont Graduate University and an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University.
Product and Marketing Manager
Ramadhi Irawan
Rama is a project manager, systems designer, and developer who loves to solve problems using technology. He has worked for Brodo Ganesha Indonesia, Atreus Global and Gellies Media building systems using Java, PHP, C and other technologies. Rama has taught computer science and holds an MS in Information Systems and Technology from Swinburne University of Technology.
VP, Development and External Affairs
Silke Knebel
Silke has nearly 20 years of experience in the private, public and nonprofit sectors. She has worked with over a dozen organizations across 5 continents helping disadvantaged people. Silke was a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Guyana, South America. She served on the Board of the American Red Cross, California Northwest Chapter and holds an MA in sustainable international development from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University. Silke received the 2015 Nonprofit Leadership Award by the North Bay Business Journal and the President’s Volunteer Service Award by the American Red Cross in 2015 and 2016.
Women's Outreach Manager
Silvia Yulianti
Silvia has been working for almost 20 years both in the profit and non-profit sectors, while maintaining her interest in the field of environment, sustainability and community development. Her role is to increase women participations and to build partnerships with women organizations throughout Indonesia. She received her bachelor degree in Engineering from the Universitas Indonesia and Master of Science degree in Environmental Science and Technology from the UNESCO-IHE Delft, The Netherlands.
I am delighted to be the Board Chair of Atma Connect, now an award-winning technology non-profit in the San Francisco Bay Area, and take part in Atma Connect’s exciting future. – Lisa Nash
Board
Board Chair
Lisa Diaz Nash
Lisa is the Co-Founder of a national political advocacy organization. She is an expert marketer with 30+ years of consumer and cause marketing experience to create strong customer satisfaction, deep engagement and high retention. Lisa was formerly the Chief Marketing Officer of Thrive Networks and Executive Director of Blue Planet Network, an award-winning global clean water and sanitation nonprofit. She is a member of the Swarthmore College President’s Council and serves on the Board of Directors of We Players, a San Francisco arts nonprofit. Lisa was recognized as Silicon Valley 100 Women of Influence by the Silicon Valley Business Journal in November 2012. Lisa holds a Graduate Certificate in Mandarin Chinese from National Taiwan Normal University and a BA with Honors in Political Science and Asian Studies from Swarthmore College.
Board Secretary
Adrienne Bloch
Adrienne Bloch serves as Senior Fossil Fuels Attorney for Earthjustice, leading their work to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Prior to joining Earthjustice, Adrienne was Senior Staff Attorney at Communities for a Better Environment, where she worked on behalf of low-income communities and communities of color. Adrienne played a leading role in securing the nation’s first refinery flare control rule and helped pass California’s truck idling law. A champion for environmental justice, she also a long passion for climate justice and has worked as a consultant for numerous California and national organizations to support efforts to achieve climate equity. Adrienne is a graduate of Oberlin College and University of California Hastings College of the Law.
Board Officer
Sergio Paluch
Sergio has 20 years of experience and has worked for Autodesk, Scribd.com and Wells Fargo. Sergio is the co-founder of Atma Connect and the founder of Montparnas, a firm that helps start-ups grow business lines and customer retention strategies. He has led and set product strategies for companies such as Tivo, Google, Scribd, Flurry, FairTrade USA, Wells Fargo, LeapFrog and HubSpot, among others. He holds an MA in Development Economics and International Development from Boston University.
Board Officer
Kush Amerasinghe
Kush is a Computer Scientist / Futurist at Adobe, exploring new frontiers of creativity, business, and technology. He has co-founded 4 technology and media companies and pioneered many internal initiatives within them. He has gained a diverse set of working experiences spanning across 6 countries in 3 continents and many industries such as computer graphics, video, disk based media, to web and mobile. Kush also has a strong focus on problem solving and improving the world. He serves on multiple boards of non-profits and acts as an advisor and volunteer for organizations covering areas including art, community, environment, and well-being.
Emeritus Board Chair
Jennifer Mitrenga Maymon
Jennifer is the Founder and Managing Partner for Kijamii Capital and Vice President of Global Business Development and Women’s Philanthropy at Opportunity International. She invests her time, talent and treasure in individuals, organizations and ideas focused on women’s empowerment, social forward thinking, disruptive technologies and solutions to the world’s most significant problems. She has taken executive education courses at Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business and holds a BA in Finance & Accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Board Treasurer
Meena Palaniappan
“With Meena’s strong leadership, I am confident Atma Connect will scale globally to empower millions of poor people to become change agents of their own future. She is leading her team to build a robust technology solution in poor and vulnerable communities so they can help each other get better access to basic needs, respond to disaster, and improve their community from the ground up,” shared Lisa Nash, Board Member. Adrienne Bloch, Board Member shared, “I am inspired by Meena’s vision of AtmaGo. Meena’s twenty years of experience has given her the insight needed to address chronic problems faced by poor people globally. Her extensive fieldwork in Indonesia, Africa, Mexico and India has shown her the in-depth reasons of why existing systems continue to fail the very poor. One hallmark of Meena’s thinking that is unique and extraordinary is the innovative way that Meena approached studying the issues of water security, technology and the environment. She focused on perspectives that are too often missing in humanitarian aid and development – the voices of poor communities and those at the bottom of the pyramid. It was her frustrations with this disregard to the voices of the poor that influenced her in dedicating a lifetime to developing technologies that address this issue.”
Advisory Council
Public Investment Manager, Cisco Foundation
Erin Connor
Founder and Principal, Elevar Equity
Maya Chorengel
CEO and Founder, Flurry
Sean Bynes
Executive Director, Cisco Foundation
Peter Tavernise
Co-Founder, Institute for Transformative Technologies
Shashi Buluswar
Matleena Venable
Website Designer
Matleena Venable
Sam Shingledecker
Website Developer
Sam Shingledecker