One Million Lights Welcomes Anand Hariharan, Manager at Cisco Systems to its Board
Initially Connected Through Wharton Nonprofit Board Leadership Program, Hariharan to Take on Larger Role with Solar Focused Non Profit
Palo Alto, CA, July 27, 2009–One Million Lights announces that Anand Hariharan, Manager at Cisco Systems, San Jose has joined its board. Hariharan and the solar energy focused One Million Lights were matched through the Wharton Nonprofit Board Leadership Program (NPBLP) at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania’s executive MBA program in San Francisco. One Million Lights is a non-profit with a goal to distribute 1 Million environmentally friendly, re-chargeable solar lights to adults and children around the world.
“A deeper understanding of social entrepreneurship coupled with a goal of better education and quality of life for children and the under-privileged is the ultimate opportunity,” noted Hariharan.
This is the first year that the Wharton School has championed its West Coast NPBLP. Wharton | San Francisco Executive Director Doug Collom stated, “We offer an innovative learning environment and a mutually beneficial experience for both the student and the nonprofit. Together, it is envisioned that both Wharton and local nonprofits can succeed and achieve a rich understanding of the growing intersection between business and nonprofit activities.”
“We are thrilled to have been selected by the Wharton NPBLP and to have Anand join us. We are singularly focused on our goal. We realize that running a non-profit is just like running a good business and we are committed to putting business best practices in action at One Million Lights,” said Anna Sidana, One Million Lights Founder and CEO. One Million Lights is actively distributing solar lamps around the world with current projects in India, Africa and Peru.
The Wharton NPBLP’s vision is to serve as an experiential leadership development program educating MBA students on nonprofit board governance. In this way MBA students are provided opportunities to develop as leaders who seek a life-long commitment to community involvement and board service, resulting in value creation for nonprofit organizations and communities.
Hariharan, a 2010 alumnus of the Wharton | San Francisco MBA for Executives program, brings expertise in emerging technologies, global business solutions, and cutting-edge technologies. He will serve on the One Million Lights board until May 2010.
About the Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania — founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school — is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The School has more than 4,700 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 12,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of more than 86,000 graduates.
