2025 - 2026 Executive Team
Leadership Team
Sangeetha Venkat - President
Sangeetha Venkat has been living in Portland for the past 19 years with her husband, Venkat, and their two sons, Nithin (the elder) and Nivesh (the younger). She works in administration and operations at PDXA1 Realty Group and also contributes to the community through her role in the Hillsboro School District. In her free time, Sangeetha is passionate about gardening and craftwork, both of which bring her peace & joy.
Sindhu Sylace - Vice-President
Sindhu Sylace have been a member and active volunteer for GPTM for a while. As a daily job she works in a health care company, at the same time enjoys volunteering work and is a part of several Portland non-profit organizations. She has a passion of dancing, acting and organizing parties and most importantly serving the community. She has coordinated large holiday events with in her company and also with some non-profit organizations. She lives in Tualatin,OR with her husband Sylace, kids Sid & Shruthi and a fur baby Sammi.
Konguraj Kulanthaivel - Secretary
Konguraj Kulanthaivel (Kongs) hails from Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu, also known as the Cotton City. He moved to the U.S. in 2000 and has since been living in Portland with his wife, Mekala, and their daughter, Mahathi. Kongs works at Intel and enjoys volunteering, running, and hiking. He is also passionate about financial investments.
Ashok Swaminathan - Treasurer
Ashok Swaminathan is from mango city Salem, Tamil Nadu, India, and lives in Vancouver. Since 2008 he has been living in Pacific Northwest with his Parents, wife & kids.
Food Committee
Sreenivasakumar - Food Committee Lead
Sreenivasakumar moved into Vancouver (WA) in Sep 2023 with his spouse Iyswarya and daughter Samyuktha. He is working with Mphasis and HP as the sales leader for US and Europe regions. Sreenivas has a great passion to serve the community, especially on mentoring kids on education and organizing/serving food in events.
Rekha Shrini - Food Committee
Rekha Shrini, originally from Chennai, has lived in Portland for 13 years and works at Epiq Global in the Class Action department. This is her third year volunteering with GPTM—after two years on the Décor Committee, she’s now co-leading the Food Committee. She enjoys cooking, singing, temple visits, and spending time with her husband Shrini and their sons, Darsh and Dhruv. Rekha brings warmth and dedication to everything she does at GPTM!
Kumar Ponnaiyan - Food Committee
Kumar Ponnaiyan holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and am currently employed at Epson Portland Inc. in Hillsboro.
Sathya Jeasekar - Culinary Culture Coordinator
Sathya Jeyasekar is the Youth co-ordinator lead for the year 2024-25. She is living in Portland with her husband Jeyasekar Marimuthu and 2 daughters Mahathi Jeyasekar, Smrithi Jeyasekar since 2014. She works at Nike. She is originally from Thirumangalam ,Madurai. She enjoys reading, travelling with her family and spending time with friends.
Cultural Committee
Aruna Palaniappan - Cultural Committee
Aruna Palaniappan has lived in the Portland for the past decade. Aruna works as a process engineer at Intel foundry. She lives in Tigard with her husband Sid Gandhinathan and their young daughter & son - Nila & Ilan. In her free time she enjoys playing badminton and spending time outdoors & traveling.
Arun - Cultural Committee
Arun is from Chennai. He lives in North Plains with his wife Priyanka and their daughter Aara. He has lived in the Portland area since 2013 and works as a software engineer at Nvidia. An aviation geek, Arun enjoys road trips with his family and takes every opportunity to ride his motorcycle in his free time.
Core Support Team
Anbarasu Chellakannu - Event Coordinator
Anbarasu Chellakannu is from Saligramam, Chennai. He is living in Portland with his wife Hema and two daughters Krishita & Thashvika. He was a member and active volunteer in Bay area Tamil Mandram before he relocated from California. He always feels proud to serve the Tamil community and wants to use this opportunity to develop our Tamil community as much as possible. He loves spending time with family and friends, volunteering, Outdoor games, adventure, Travelling, etc.,
Manasvi Subramaniam - Social Media and Marketing
Manasvi Subramaniam is originally from Coimbatore and has called Portland home since 2015, where she lives with her husband, Nandakumar, and their son, Krishiv. A passionate artist, she loves painting, creating unique artwork, exploring scenic road trips, and immersing herself in the beauty of nature. Now serving her second term with the GPTM committee, she is excited to once again contribute her energy and creativity to the community in meaningful and impactful ways.
Santosh Ramesh - Technology Liaison
Santosh Ramesh is a Portland native who grew up immersed in the local Tamil Indian community. Inspired by his parents, Ramesh and Uma, Santosh joined the GPTM board with a strong desire to give back and help create meaningful events. A passionate entrepreneur, he currently runs three ventures — Ka Realty Group, Ka Technology, and Ka Chai & Coffee. Santosh is always happy to connect with others, whether to talk business or simply enjoy a good conversation over chai.
Sadheesh Thiyagarajan - Audio Designer
Sadheesh Thiyagarajan is originally from Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu in India. He moved to Portland in 2024 after spending 12 years in Singapore, where he worked with a company called ASM. He is now in Portland to support Intel in his professional role. He has relocated to the U.S. with his wife, Sankari, and their two daughters. In his free time, Satish enjoys spending quality time with his family and keeping up with current events and entertainment through television.
Youth Committee
Gayathri Vimalan - Youth Committee Lead
Gayathri Vimalan has been living in NW Portland since 2011 with her husband Vimalan and 2 lovely kids Nihitha and Prasanna. She is from Biryani city Dindigul, Tamil Nadu and works at Goddard Systems as Senior Software QA Engineer. She is passionate about dancing, organizing events and volunteers at many school/social events as time permits
Decor Committee
Meena Lakshman - Decor Committee Lead
Jothimeena Muthukumaran lives in Portland with her husband Lakshman, and their two children, Anish and Sidhu. As Director at Safari Kid Beaverton, she combines her passion for early childhood education with her love for art and working with children. Beyond her professional role, Jothimeena is dedicated to community service and cherishes time spent with her family, making a positive impact in both her professional and personal communities.
Maha - Vinaitheerthal Ramasamy - Decor Committee
Vinaitheerthal Ramasamy also known as Maha, originally from Karaikudi, has been residing in Portland, Oregon since 2019. She is a talented quilling artist and the owner of DM Krafts, creating handcrafted paper jewelry and home décor. Passionate about baking, she especially enjoys making homemade pizza. Maha also loves playing sports and games, including chess, carrom, and various board games.
Board of Directors
Manickam Annamalai - Liason Officer
Manickam Annamalai served as the President of GPTM 2022-23 committee. He also served as Treasurer for year 2021-22. He comes from Nattarasankottai, Sivaganga district, Tamilnadu. Works at AllState. Lived in NJ, WI & LA for 13+ years and moved to Portland 5 years back. Now lives in North Bethany area with his wife Jayalakshmi Sekkappan, lovely kids Lakshman and Ashwin. Manickam enjoys spending time with friends & family. He likes to volunteer and loves to serve the community.
Mani Janardhanan
Mani Janardhanan lives in the Portland area with his wife Deepa and works at Intel as director of engineering. Besides being actively involved with GPTM activities, he is actively involved in back country hiking, video editing, poetry writing, and gardening.
Anupa Kuppuswamy
Anupa Kuppuswamy served as the President for the GPTM 2023-24 committee. She hails from Chennai India. Settled in US for the past 22 years been a Portlander for the last 7 years. Lives in North Bethany with husband Sathyan Kuppuswamy and 2 handsome boys Neranjan and Neshanth. Works for the Hillsboro school district.
Honorary Board of Directors
Swa Gandhinathan
Swa Gandhinathan (Gandhi), is a Director, co-founder and life time member of GPTM. Gandhi with his wife Seetha and children Suganya & Siddharth have been an integral part of GPTM since its inception. Gandhi’s family has volunteered, mentored and nurtured the GPTM’s growth to its present status. When vacationing Gandhi and Seetha love going on cruises. Gandhi works for Wells Fargo Bank - Wells Fargo has been the major sponsor of GPTM for several years since 2003.
Gidu Sriram
Gidu Sriram is a director of the GPTM organization and together with Gandhi has been a guiding force for every GPTM committee that has donned office. Sriram is passionate about all forms of fine arts and has been an avid supporter of many cultural forums that exist in Portland today.