Board
2011-2012 SALSA Board
Co-Presidents:
Rachna Shah (rshah@jd13.law.harvard.edu)
Apoorva Patel (apatel@jd13.law.harvard.edu)
Apoorva is the Southern gentleman of the SALSA Board – coming to HLS was his first experience living outside North Carolina, and he still dearly misses warm weather, friendly accents, and sweet tea. Apoorva graduated in 2010 from Duke University, where he spent most of his nights camping in a tent for basketball games or rehearsing with the Duke Raas dance team for competitions nationwide. On occasion, Apoorva studied public policy, psychology, and education. At Harvard, he’s involved with the Harvard Negotiation Law Review and the Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program, and is especially interested in international litigation and arbitration. Apoorva split his 1L summer in Charlotte, NC, working in the litigation group at McGuireWoods LLP and in Bank of America’s legal department. He’s had too many great experiences at HLS to choose a definitive favorite, but any choice would probably have to involve Chewy Chips Ahoy cookies.
Financial Director: Lakshmi Ramanathan (lramanathan@jd13.law.harvard.edu)
Lakshmi, a native Texan, has all the Southern charm that the other SALSA board members wished they had. She attended the University of Texas at Austin, the best college in the world, where she completed her degree in finance, with a minor in management information systems. At HLS, she is involved with Harvard Defenders and Student Government; outside HLS, she is an officer for Hindu Students Association. She spent her 1L summer in Austin, interning for the family law team at the Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid. Her mission in life is to dissuade 1Ls from living in the rat-infested dorms, and because of her obsession with Harry Potter, whose birthday she shares, she has named all of the rats “Scabbers.”
Secretary: Sam Sampanthan (ssampanthan@jd13.law.harvard.edu)
Sam was a Math and Physics major at the Rice University (’07), and worked for three years afterwards in software and engineering. At HLS, Sam is involved in the Harvard Business Law Review and the Harvard Association for Law and Business. He spend his 1L summer at the Office of Ethics and Business Conduct at the World Bank. Since HLS has inflicted nothing but pain and suffering upon his poor soul, his most cherished memory from law school is when they cancelled class over J-term due to the blizzard.
Speakers and Events Chair: Al-Amyn Sumar (asumar@jd13.law.harvard.edu)
Al-Amyn is originally Canadian, but recently escaped his country’s communist clutches to seek out a better life in the United States of America. He attended the University of Alberta (’08) and the University of Cambridge (’10). At HLS, Al-Amyn’s involved with the Harvard Law Review, the Muslim Law Students’ Association, and Advocates for Human Rights. He spent his 1L summer in New York, interning at the ACLU’s Center for Democracy. He’s had a lot of memorable HLS moments – but one of the best was watching John Roberts tear into 3Ls at the Ames Moot Court finals.
Academic Chair: Pooja Patel (ppatel@jd13.law.harvard.edu)
Pooja Patel was an Accounting and Operations Management major at the University of Maryland (10′). Pooja is currently the Director of Events of HL Central and is involved in the Harvard Business Law Review and Women’s Law Association. She spent her 1L summer in New York, working in Debevoise & Plimpton’s corporate and litigation department. Her favorite HLS memories all end with late night Felipe’s.
Outreach Chairs:
Mona Mehta (mmehta@jd13.law.harvard.edu)
Mona Mehta is from a small town in Georgia but is slowly making her way up North. She attended Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where she majored in international politics and government processes. At Georgetown, she was very involved with the South Asian Society and participated in the annual South Asian dance show, Rangila. During her time in DC, she also worked on the Hill for Congressman John Lewis, where she witnessed numerous hearings involving the US-India nuclear deal. Before starting law school, Mona spend two years as a paralegal at Weil, Gotshal, and Manges in New York. At HLS, she is involved with the Harvard Law and International Development Society’s Afghanistan Project, Harvard Law and Policy Review, and Women’s Law Student Association. Mona split her 1L summer between the Department of Justice’s Office of Policy and Legislation and Criminal Appellate division. One of Mona’s most memorable moments in law school was watching the opening day show of Social Network in Harvard Square, surrounded by boisterous members of the Phoenix Final Club.
Shafiq Poonja (spoonja@jd13.law.harvard.edu)
Hello! My name is Shafiq Poonja and I attended UC Berkeley (class of 2007) and was a Religious Studies major with a focus on Islam. While at Berkeley, I was Vice President of Sigma Alpha Nu (a co-edu pre-law fraternity) and editor of the California Legal Studies Journal as well as finance manager. After graduating, I worked as an education consultant in California for two years, eventually becoming Director of the program. My current activities at HLS include serving as a Line and Submissions editor for the Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law and a Submissions Editor for the Harvard Business Law Review. I am also co-chair of External Affairs for SALSA this year. My favorite SALSA moment would definitely have to be our group trip to DC, as it was my first time visiting and the conference and people I met were AMAZING!
Communications Director: Jamal Khan (jkhan@jd13.law.harvard.edu)
Jamal grew up in California and attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated with High Honors in Economics. He also studied Political Science and Rhetoric, and minored in Global Poverty. This past summer, he interned with the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in Washington, DC. Jamal has previously interned in the San Francisco district office of House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the nonprofit organization MAPLight.org in Berkeley, California, and the Community Development Department of Tata Chemicals in Gujarat, India. He is now a rising 2L at HLS.
1L Representative: Komal Karnik
Komal Karnik is a 1L from the D.C. area (Virginia). She graduated in 2011 from the University of Virginia, where she majored in Biology and Psychology. While she may look like a lost pre-med student, she is interested in policy work at the intersection of science, public health, and the law. Komal spent two summers on Capitol Hill interning for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) where she advocated legislation on public health issues ranging from chemical plant security to food safety regulations. While at PIRG, she identified chemical plants that could switch to safer alternative chemicals in their processes, and advocated the removal of bisphenol-A from canned food lining. In addition to being a huge science dork, Komal is a classical dancer and singer, trained in Bharatnatyam and Hindustani classical music. As of now, her best memories of 1L year involve watching The Office on Netflix in her dorm for hours on end!
Past Boards
2010-2011
President: Amreeta Mathai
Treasurer: Ravi Ramchandani
Secretary: Deepa Alagesan
Social Chair: Anant Pradhan
Academic Chair: Anjali Salooja
External Affairs: Saish Setty
Alumni Affairs Coordinator: Meena Harris
LLM Representative: Trayosha Darapuneni
1L Representatives: Lakshmi Ramanathan, Rachna Shah
2009-2010
Co-Presidents: Abhinav Gupta, Sonia Vallabh
Treasurer: Nikhil Gore
Events: Political: Sameer Birring
Events: Social and Cultural: Hrishi Hari
Outreach: Ashwin Kaja, Nick Joy
Conference: Pooja Nair
Communications: Jyoti Uppuluri
Alumni and Employer Relations: Aatif Iqbal
2008-2009
Co-Presidents: Rehan Abeyratne, Neema Trivedi
Treasurer: Ashwin Krishnan
Events Co-Chairs: Aarti Reddy
Fundraising Co-Chairs: Amit Vora, Andrew Yahkind
Publicity and Outreach: Ravi Shankar
1L Rep: Rohit Malik, Sonia Vallabh
LLM Rep: Abhishek Kolay
2007-2008
Co-Presidents: Kavitha Joseph, Savith Iyengar
Treasurer: Juelle Gomes
Events Chair: Nilay Vora
Social Chair: Shubham Mukherjee
Alumni/Committee Chair: Seema Kanwar
Publicity Chair/Webmaster: Arjun Mehra
2005-2006
Co-Presidents: Arsalan Suleman, Vibhuti Jain
Vice President: Sameer Dhond
Secretary: Imran Sharih
Treasurer: Vikram Thomas
Social Chairs: Shailesh Sahay, Shaun Mathew
Political & Community Chairs: Maulik Shah, Ali Almani
Webmaster: Sameer Dhond
2003-2004
Co-Presidents: Sujit Raman & Veena Iyer
Vice-President: Richa Gulati
Secretary: Rahul Mukhi
Social Chairs: Meeta Anand & Satyanand Satyanarayana
Social Chairs: Geetanjali Gupta
Treasurer: Raj Duvvuri
2002-2003
President: Farhaad Virani
Vice-President: Shalini Bhargava
Treasurer: Ramya Ravindran
Secretary: Charu Chandrasekhar
Social Chairs: Parth Chanda
Webmaster: Jith Meganathan
2001-2002
Co-Presidents: Sujata Barai & Sharmila Murthy
Vice-President: Jiten Naren
Secretary: Devesh Tiwary
Social Chair: Raj Pal
Treasurer: Michael Shah