SOURCE OF WEALTH: Software Engineer; Epinions co-founder
FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Indian Community
OVERVIEW: Ramanathan Guha and his wife, Asha, conduct their philanthropy through the Guha Family Foundation. Funding interests include education and the Indian community.
BACKGROUND: Ramanathan V. Guha graduated from IIT Madras, UC Berkeley and Stanford University, where he received Ph.D. in computer science in 1991. Guha was a principal scientist at Apple Computer and a principal engineer at Netscape Communications, where he created RSS, RDF and helped start the Open Directory Project. He is a co-founder of Epinions, a web site where consumers write reviews on products and services. Guha and his wife established the Guha Family Foundation in 2013.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: Guha’s education grantmaking prioritizes the San Francisco Bay Area. Guha supports his alma maters Stanford and UC Berkeley. Asha Guha has been an education advocate in the Palo Alto community for several years. She sits on the board of the Peninsula College Fund and was president of the board of directors for Palo Alto Partners in Education (PiE). Other past education grantees include the Castilleja School, Palo Alto Partners in Education and Gunn High School.
INDIAN COMMUNITY: Through their foundation, the Guhas support Indian cultural organizations in both the Bay Area and India. They’ve given millions to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams in Andhra Pradesh, India to support various Hindu religious activities. In the Bay Area, grantees have included the Hindu Community and Cultural Center, South India Fine Arts (SIFA), the Vedic Education and Devotional Academy and SanKritiLaya, “a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Indian classical music and dance art forms in North America.”
OTHER: The Guhas, via their foundation, have supported the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the Cancer Institute Foundation.
LOOKING FORWARD: The Guha Family Foundation’s giving has ranged from $50,000 to $2.5 million annually. This funder will likely continue to focus on education and Indian culture in the Bay Area.
CONTACT:
The Guha Family Foundation
12977 Cortez Ln.
Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
(650) 965-1729
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