Nivi Jaswal
President and Founder
A connector at heart, Nivi builds strong and passionate teams inspired to deliver socially responsible projects with high community impact.
She brings 15 years’ experience in International Marketing, Brand Management and Corporate Strategy in Consumer Goods, Life Sciences and Media & Research Industry; In various Global and Regional leadership assignments across Asia-Pacific, Europe and Middle East & Africa, Nivi has managed multi-million dollar brands and led complex projects that involved Product Innovation, Consumer Research and Multi-market Communications development.
Nivi holds a BA in Psychology (Panjab University), MBA in Consumer Behavior Marketing (University of Delhi) and a Postgraduate Professional Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Design Thinking from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. She trained at the Mayo Clinic for Wellness Coaching and is Board Certified in Health & Wellness Coaching. She is a Professional Team Member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine with a Lifestyle Medicine Coaching Certificate.
At The Virsa Foundation Inc., Nivi brings together professionals that blend diverse specialties in areas such as Anthropology, Psychology, Animal Rights, Social Work, Lifestyle Medicine, Health Coaching, Filmmaking, Creative Problem Solving et al to design and deliver Climate Conscious Plant Powered Community projects, with a focus on addressing Chronic Illness, encouraging Emotional Wellbeing, Immune Resiliency and ultimately, fostering enhanced Creative & Artistic Expression – amongst Women of Color in Underserved Communities.
Sean Wirtjes
Director
Sean Wirtjes has over 25 years of broad financial experience in the healthcare and technology industries. He is the Chief Financial Officer of Rapid Micro Biosystems, a Biomanufacturing company in the Boston area. In the past, he served as Vice President, Finance and Controller of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) for Boston Scientific, a leading manufacturer of medical devices. In this role, he led all aspects of financial management for the AMEA region, as well as providing regional oversight for the strategic pricing, reimbursement, supply chain, and business development functions. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Investor Relations at Boston Scientific, in progressive roles at Varian, Inc. including Vice President and Controller and Vice President, Finance and Treasurer, and as Corporate Controller at Quova. Sean began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers, serving emerging, high-growth clients across the healthcare and technology industries.
Sean holds a BS in Accounting from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of Financial Executives International (FEI) and the Association of Financial Professionals (AFP).
Sushma Jaswal
Director
Sushma Jaswal PhD, is a Cultural Anthropologist with 40 years of teaching, research and community development experience and continuing.
Having held various leadership positions across Universities in India, she has mentored doctoral scholars, graduate students, rural women entrepreneurs and served the community at large. Her research interests are Early Childhood Development and Education, Child and Family Counseling, Gerontology, Community Development and Whole Foods Plant Based Culinary Education.
She is a lifetime member of Indian Maternal and Child Health Association, Indian Association for Preschool Education, International Federation for Women in Agriculture, North East India Council for Social Science Research, Society of Home Scientists for Agriculture & Rural Institutions and Indian National Academy and Federation of Anthropologists.
In the past, she has served as the President of the Indian Association for Pre-school Education (Ludhiana Chapter), President: Child Development Society and Executive Member of The Society of Home Scientists of Agriculture & Rural Institutions.
Upon her retirement in 2011, she continued her passion for High Impact projects by leading a special Non-Profit initiative involving Value-based education for children (Grades 1 to 5) in underserved communities in India, in disaster-hit areas. This project spanned three sectors, Social Services, Education and Disaster Management and impacted nearly 35,000 students across 500 Government-run schools in South Western India. Since its inception in 2016, Sushma has been leading the India Fieldwork Operations for The Virsa Foundation Inc., and has been vital to the strategy and success of the program in multiple artisan villages across North Western India including various speaking engagements centered on Social Justice, Women's Empowerment, Plant Based Education at Universities and other Privately-held Organizations.