Sri Sathya Sai International Organization, USA
National Conference & Children's Festival 2025
Hon. Rick Stopfer
Mayor, City of Irving
Rick Stopfer currently serves as the Mayor of the City of Irving.
Rick was re-elected to a third term as Mayor in May 2023. He was originally elected as a councilmember to the Irving City Council in 1998 and served through 2012; he was appointed Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem in 2007-2008 and Mayor Pro-Tem 2008-2009. While on the City Council, he was chair of the Planning and Development Committee and has been a member of the Audit and Finance, Legislative, Public Works, Communications, Community Services, and Transportation and Natural Resources committees.
Rick has an extensive history of involvement with various municipal boards and government agencies, as well. He has served as a board member and/or a liaison to the Trinity River Corridor Advisory Committee, DFW International Airport Board, Dallas Regional Mobility Commission/TEX-21, Irving Flood Control District-Section I, Irving Flood Control District- Section III, North Central Texas Council of Governments, National League of Cities, and the Irving Planning and Zoning Commission.
Rick and his wife, Melanie, were born and raised in South Dakota, but have lived in Irving since 1988. He is a retired automotive consultant.
Rick is widely recognized for being a public servant and a champion for the residents of Irving and of the North Texas region.
Hon. Amir Omar
Mayor, City of Richardson
Amir is a father of 3 adult children and lives in NE Richardson with his wife, Alika. A 1st-generation American, he was born in Milwaukee, WI, and moved to Texas in the 1st grade, graduating from Harlingen High. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M where he was a member of the Aggie Corps of Cadets and an Executive MBA from UT Dallas. A graduate of Leadership Richardson, the FBI Citizens Academy, and Richardson Police and Fire Academies, Amir has dedicated his career to community service.
In 2009, Amir was elected as Place 7 Council Member for the City of Richardson and was re-elected in 2011. His leadership earned him the 2012 One Man Dallas award and the Regional Community Leader of the Year. While on council, Amir championed the “Tree the Town” program as well as Richardson’s community garden program. After his council service, he led the Duck Creek Neighborhood for two years. He is currently serving as the Mayor of Richardson and works as a Senior VP at HydroPoint Data Systems where he has worked for over a decade.
Dr. Narendranath Reddy
Chairman, SSSIO & Chairman, Prashanti Council
Narendranath Reddy, MD, graduated with honors in medicine from S.V. Medical College, Tirupathi, India. He has been a consultant endocrinologist in Southern California for over 40 years.
Dr. Reddy received three gold medals for outstanding academic achievement in the premedical undergraduate program and was awarded the Physicians Recognition Award by the American Medical Association.
Dr. Reddy is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and a Diplomate of the Sub-Specialty Board of Endocrinology & Metabolism. He is a Charter Member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and a member of the American Diabetes Association. A fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Endocrinologists, he served on the teaching faculty at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Dr. Reddy received the "Volunteer of the Year Award" from Beverly Enterprises Organization for providing volunteer services to the elderly.
Four generations of Dr. Reddy's family have been devoted followers of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, with Dr. Reddy himself having come to Bhagawan Baba at the age of five. Dr. Reddy and his family have been hosting a Sri Sathya Sai Centre in their home for nearly 40 years.
Dr. Reddy serves as the Chairman of the Sri Sathya Sai International Organization (SSSIO), which has a vast volunteer network in over 110 countries. Dr. Reddy has been serving in the Divine Mission for nearly four decades in various capacities. He is actively involved in service activities at the community, national, and international levels and has received many accolades. He traveled to more than 45 countries, spreading the love, message, and works of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
Dr. Suresh Govind
Member, Prashanti Council
Chairman, Sri Sathya Sai Scriptural Studies Committee of the SSSIO
Dr. Suresh Govind is a professor and former Head of the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. He has written several chapters in publications by the World Health Organization and supervised more than 100 elective, diploma, graduate, and post-graduate students, including at the doctorate level. He is the recipient of many honorable awards, including the prestigious Malaysian Toray Science Award. Dr. Suresh Govind has been serving in the Sri Sathya Sai International Organization (SSSIO) for more than three decades in various positions, including the National Council President of Malaysia. Dr. Suresh Govind serves as a member of the Prasanthi Council, the administrative body of the SSSIO, as the Chairman of the Sri Sathya Sai Scriptural Studies Committee of the SSSIO, and leads the SAI 100 program, which has picked up momentum in several countries.
Dr. Phil Gosselin
Chairperson, Zone -1 , SSSIO
Dr. Phil Gosselin is currently the Chairperson for Zone 1 of the Sri Sathya Sai International Organization. (Zone 1 comprises the English and Dutch speaking countries of the Western Hemisphere.) He is also founder and member of the SSSIO Archive Committee.
He has been a USA Sai Organization Central Coordinator and a USA Central Council President. He is one of the original USA Central Council members announced at the 1975 World Conference in Sai’s Presence. He had the great fortune to live in Prashanthi Nilayam for a year in 1971-1972 and again for a year in 1974-1975.
Dr Gosselin was also a Founding Member of several Sai Centers in the Northeast USA including the Manhattan Sai Center. Dr Gosselin resides in Amherst, Massachusetts in the USA where he is a clinical psychologist in a private practice. He has previously been a Professor of Psychology at Union Institute and has been director of the Behavioral Medicine Department at Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, MA. Before moving to Massachusetts, Phil worked on Wall Street for twelve years in the 70s and 80s. An account of his professional life on Wall Street is described in the book The Dharmic Challenge.
Dr. Jack Feely
Central Coordinator of SSSIO-USA.
Dr. Jack Feely is a psychologist with a private clinical practice in St. Louis, and a management/organizational consulting practice in and outside St. Louis. He has a long record of treating, managing, teaching and consulting in a wide range of institutions and global corporations.
He first heard about Sai Baba in 1977 during a meditation seminar. When he witnessed a vibhuti (sacred ash) shower at a devotee’s home several months later he began reading as much as he could about the Avatar and attended some center meetings.
After his first trip to Prasanthi in 1990, Dr. Feely became an active member of the Sai Organization. He has served in many roles at all levels: as Center President, Regional YA Advisor, Regional President, National Service Coordinator, National Vice President, and National President of the USA Sri Sathya Sai International Organization.
Currently he is serving as the Central Coordinator of SSSIO-USA.
Mr. Harish Naidu
National President, SSSIO USA
Harish feels very fortunate to see Sathya Sai Baba at an early age in 1968. He is grateful to his parents and the divine grace for this opportunity. He was greatly influenced by his parents’ involvement in service activities in the Sai organization and their transformation.
Harish moved to the US in 1986 for graduate studies in electrical and computer engineering from the State University of NY, Buffalo. He has worked in the software industry since 1988 and in the recent past has been involved in developing and delivering products and services to help improve teachers and student experiences for K-12 education in the US. Harish has been active in the technology startup community as a consultant and advisor. Harish spent 7 years as the CTO of Accolade, a company that combines compassion with technology to provide a personal healthcare concierge service to consumers. Most recently he was the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Vacasa, the largest property management company in the country.
Harish has had the opportunity to serve in the USA Sathya Sai organization as center devotional coordinator, center president, regional YA adviser, regional president, national service Coordinator, national vice president and is currently serving as the National President, USA. He is married with two children.
Mr. Alejandro Graña
National Vice President, SSSIO USA
Originally from Peru, Alejandro "Alex" Grana, settled in Texas in 1993, graduating with honors from the University of Texas at Austin for both his undergraduate degree and MBA. After a successful corporate career, Alex retired as head of global investments of Tivoli Systems - IBM Software Group, to pursue his own entrepreneurial interests. He and his family also own and operate a brand of Montessori schools in Austin.
Alex first met Sri Sathya Sai Baba in the 1980’s. Over the last three decades, he has served in various capacities in the Sri Sathya Sai International Organization. Today, he serves as the SSSIO-USA National Council Vice-President, Chairman of the SSSIO International Events Committee, and member of the SSSIO International Humanitarian Relief Committee.
Ms. Sonal Shah
CEO, Texas Tribune
Sonal Shah is a lifelong public servant and community builder who currently serves as CEO of The Texas Tribune. With more than 30 years of experience across the nonprofit, academic, government, and private sectors, Sonal has dedicated her career to advancing service, civic engagement, and social innovation.
Born in India and raised in Houston, Texas, Sonal’s commitment to service was shaped early through volunteering alongside her parents in local community programs. That foundation led her to co-found Indicorps in 2001 with her siblings, a nonprofit inspired by the Peace Corps model to support Indian diaspora youth in dedicating a year of service in India, with the goal of returning home as changemakers in their communities.
Her leadership includes serving as Interim Executive Vice President at United Way Worldwide, where she focused on strengthening community engagement and service infrastructure across the country. She was also the founding president of The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), created to uplift and serve Asian American communities nationwide.
In academia, Sonal established and led Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation, where she mentored the next generation of leaders committed to using data, policy, and innovation to serve the public good.
In government, she served as the founding director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation under President Obama, where she championed national service, civic innovation, and public-private partnerships.
A proud Houstonian, Sonal holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago and an M.A. in economics from Duke University. Her work continues to be grounded in the belief that service is the foundation of strong communities and transformative leadership.
Ms. Katherina Krause
CEO, Visiting Nurses Association (VNA)
Katherine Krause is President and Chief Executive Officer of VNA, a large nonprofit agency in North Texas that houses Meals on Wheels, Hospice and Palliative Care. Katherine has lived in the Dallas Community for over 25 years and has a powerful and ongoing commitment to give back to the community through progressive and diversified executive healthcare positions such as the Eli Lilly and Company, American Heart Association and Tenet HealthCare. She is a current member of The Dallas Summit and The Charter 100. She lives with her husband Warren and identical twin girls, Alana and Zoe.
Ms. Michele L Powers
Manager, Common Ground ATX
Mickie Powers was born in 1945 and grew up near Chicago. She is a granddaughter of Czechoslovakian immigrants on one side of the family and granddaughter of missionaries to the Native American Navaho people in New Mexico. I credit having grown up with these folks and her parents from these backgrounds that has given her the interest and energy for helping others.
She has her Bachelor’s Degree in Biology/General Science Education. She taught middle school science for 16 years until retiring in 2008. She also has Master’s degree in Counseling.
Mickie has a background in residence hall management for universities in Illinois and Michigan State; and at the University of Texas in Austin where she has been living for almost 50 years. These experiences served her well for the work she does in helping manage the residential facility Common Ground ATX.
Presently, she is in management of Common Ground transitional housing in Austin, Texas where she serves 160 residents who are trying to start their lives over again after incarceration. She also serves numerous folks there that are mentally and physically disabled and who are coming off the street to try to improve their lives.
She is also a director of a small non-profit that is located inside of Common Ground. It offers food, clothing, resource referrals, counseling and other help to the residents and to numerous people who still live in the street.
For the last several years, she has served her small community, the City of Sunset Valley, which is a city that is located totally inside of the City of Austin on the SW side. She was a councilperson for many years as well as Mayor Pro Tem. She still serves on the Community Development Committee. She is an active member and past president of South Austin Rotary Club-an international service organization.
Mickie enjoys working with animals and is a permitted wildlife rehabilitator with a specialty in the Birds of Prey. She also cares for 5 colonies of feral cats in the community every evening. This includes making sure they are spayed/neutered in order to keep the population from expanding.
Ms. Anjum Malik
Executive Director of the Global Impact Initiative (GII)
Ms. Anjum is a Visionary Leader and Advocate for Global Education and Economic Empowerment.
She is the Executive Director of the Global Impact Initiative (GII), expertly oversees Gii's day-to-day operations while maintaining a strategic vision for the organization. Her leadership extends beyond GII, as she is also the Managing Partner of the Alhambra US Chamber, an NGO dedicated to promoting global educational opportunities, and Co-founder of the HOFT Institute, a multifaceted corporation serving the international education market.
With decades of experience in international education, educational consulting, business development, entrepreneurial management, and public speaking, Anjum has built a vast global network. Her exceptional ability to leverage these connections has driven impactful change. She has collaborated with numerous U.S. and international agencies in strategic planning, partnerships, market development, negotiation, and management, showcasing her impressive track record.
Anjum’s profound belief in the transformative power of education is evident throughout her career. She has significantly contributed to the academic, linguistic, and professional development of international students, scholars, and administrators. The organizations she has founded and led have enhanced the global competence of over 190,000 students and hundreds of professionals from more than 60 countries. She is dedicated to empowering at-risk communities and women, fostering their increased participation in the workforce.
A lifelong learner, Anjum continually seeks innovative tools to enhance teaching, learning, and access to international education. Her commitment to driving transformation and growth through education is reflected in her dedication to staying current and continuously updating her leadership approach.
Anjum’s tireless efforts have earned her numerous accolades. She has been invited to speak at the United Nations twice, was appointed "Honorary Ambassador" to the Polish Network of Women’s Entrepreneurship by the 2015 European Congress and secured membership for the Alhambra US Chamber in President Obama’s "Partners for a New Beginning Initiative." She also serves as Entrepreneur in Residence and Associate to the Future Learning Lab in Norway, State President (Texas) for the Association of Business Women in Commerce and Industry (ABWCI), and has been a featured speaker at conferences and symposia worldwide.
Most recently, in the fall of 2023, Anjum was recognized as one of 100 Women "Rising Beyond the Ceiling," a finalist for the Exceptional Woman of Peace Award by the Culture of Peace Initiative, a nominee for the CNN Hero award, and named an "Extraordinary Woman" by the Austin American-Statesman.
Mr. Johnathan Gonzales
Ashland Free Medical Clinic
About 20 years ago, Mr. Johnathan Gonzales started volunteering at the Ashland Free Medical Clinic in CA. He wore many hats at the clinic from managing the front office to being a phlebotomist to helping with Spanish translation to name a few. So Inspired by the volunteer work, he decided to take up a career in the healthcare industry. Currently he lives in the Bay area with his family.
