Crossover Board Members

Get to know Crossover through our board members. 

Durjoy "Ace" Board Member Crossover

Durjoy (Ace) Bhattacharjya

CEO, Medicalrecords.com

Durjoy (Ace) Bhattacharjya is an experienced healthcare entrepreneur and interactive marketing executive based in Boston. Before trading the agency world for the startup world, Ace worked for some of the world’s greatest brands including Ford, IBM, Mercedes Benz, Starwood, JetBlue, and Pfizer.

Ace is currently the Founder and CEO of medicalrecords.com, a Boston-based healthcare IT firm connecting physicians with electronic medical record software vendors. Previously, Ace was a senior executive at the renowned EXOS, a leader in integrated performance training, nutrition, and physical therapy for elite and professional athletes. He was previously a Director at the United States Tennis Association / US Open.

He is an advisor and early stage investor to a number of private and venture backed companies including: Amino, Toscanini’s Ice Cream, SocialSign.in, AppliedQ, Digital Economy Ventures and Sharalike.

Ace has a BA from Boston University in International Relations / Economics and is an active Mentor in BU’s Kindle program. As a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, Ace is a judge for the Webby Awards. He is also a Senior Judge at the Harvard Business School Venture Competition.

John P. Albert

Lobbyist, Bolton-St. Johns

John Albert’s advocacy portfolio has included leading New York City non-profits, cultural organizations, and business corporations. He has advocated in support of internationally recognized corporations and advised their business operations to help them strategically plan for the changing legal and regulatory environment of New York City. Throughout his career, John has secured millions in City and State funding for youth, after-school programs, at-risk populations, parks, and cultural institutions.

John has a strong track record of working with coalitions to bring about policy change. Past accomplishments include successfully advocating for passage of New York State’s Anti-Stalking law, Anti-Hate Crimes law and expansion of New York City’s after-school programs. Notably, John helped the United States Tennis Association secure the land-use and community approvals needed for major upgrades to the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

Before joining Bolton-St. Johns’ New York City team, John served as Counsel at Manatt, Phelps & Phillip, VP of External Relations at The After-School Corporation and as Senior Director of Government Relations at Victim Service, Inc. (now Safe Horizon).

John was raised and currently resides in Queens with his wife and two children where he is deeply connected to the fabric of community through his participation in political and civic organizations. John holds a Juris Doctor and is admitted to practice before the New York and Connecticut Bar. He was the former Chair of the State Affairs Committee of the New York City Bar Association and has held Board positions at the Brooklyn Technical High School Alumni Foundation, New Destiny Housing Corporation, Crossover Basketball and Scholars Academy, and Taking Our Seat.

ANURIMA BHARGAVA Crossover Board Member

alana beard

WNBA Player, Los Angeles Sparks

Alana Beard has one of the most impressive professional careers as a basketball player, both domestically and internationally. Although being a decorated athlete, Alana has always made it clear that impacting her community and developing her business acumen were just as important as winning on the basketball court. “I am obsessed with being more than an athlete,” she often states and strives each day to prove just that. 

The second overall pick in the 2004 draft, Alana’s impact on the game was felt immediately as she led her team back to postseason play during her rookie season. Defensively, she is considered a premier player in a league composed of the best players in the world. Coaches and opponents alike respect Alana’s commitment to defense because after all, as the saying goes, “offense sells tickets, defense wins championships.” As a result, Alana was the only player unanimously voted to a WNBA’s All-Defensive team.

A four-time All-Star, two-time Defensive Player of the year and a ten-time All-Defensive team selection, Alana has helped lead her teams, domestically and internationally to multiple championships and a 2016 WNBA championship with the Los Angeles Sparks.

Alana is one of the most decorated players in women’s basketball. As a member of Duke University’s basketball team, Beard received over 15 different awards, winning several awards multiple times. She was the first woman to win the John Wooden Award, Naismith Player of the Year Award, and State Farm Wade Trophy. She is also the first National Player of the Year out of Duke.

RAHUL BRAHMBHATT Crossover Board Member

ani sanyal

CEO, Green Room Creative

Ani Sanyal is a multidisciplinary creative working at the intersection of business and culture. He is the CEO of Green Room Creative, a digital agency based in New York City, that focuses on scaling early stage companies through creative campaigns in a digital-first world. He is also the founder/CEO of Sanyal Capital Group and the co-founder of Kolkata Chai Co.

Ani is an accomplished speaker and has given talks at conferences and workshops around the world, including a TEDx talk which focused on his battle with kidney failure. He is deeply passion about empowering creators of color, and hosts a monthly workshop which connects emerging entrepreneurs with experts in the field. He double taps for The New Yorker magazine, Jay-Z, The Boston Celtics, and samosas from his favorite bazaar in Kolkata, India.

dr. ashleigh huffman

Global Director of Gender Equality, Athletes for Hope

Dr. Ashleigh Huffman is an experienced educator, entrepreneur, and published author in the global sports diplomacy and women’s empowerment movements. As the Global Director of Gender Equality at Athletes for Hope, Ashleigh is developing new programs to connect female athletes to local and global social causes. As the co-director of the U.S. Department of State’s “Global Sports Mentoring Program,” Ashleigh trained more than 10,000 global sports leaders from 75 countries on the use of sport for social change.

Ashleigh has a PhD in Sociocultural Studies and was a two-time captain of her basketball team at Eastern Kentucky University.

Vasu Kulkarni

CEO, Krossover

Vasu Kulkarni is the founder and CEO of Krossover, an online sports analytics platform as well as the Founding Partner of Courtside Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm. Vasu attended the University of Pennsylvania where he played on the Junior Varsity Basketball team, while pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering & Entrepreneurship.

In 2010, Vasu was named by Bloomberg Business Week as one of America’s Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25.

prakash janakiraman

Co-Founder and Chief Architect, Nextdoor

Prakash Janakiraman is the Co-Founder and Chief Architect of Nextdoor, the world’s largest social network for the neighborhood. Founded in 2010, Nextdoor is in use by over 200,000 neighborhoods worldwide, including over 90% of neighborhoods in the United States. Prakash has over two decades of experience building consumer applications used by hundreds of millions of people, most recently leading the engineering team for Google Maps. Prior to that he led teams at Shopping.com and Excite@Home.

Prakash attended the University of California at Berkeley and is a native of Hayward, CA.

Carie Small Richeal

Co-Founder and Editor, WSN247.com & Digital Marketing Professional

Carie Richeal, a former Division I basketball player, is the cofounder and editor of WSN247.com, a digital marketing professional, and a passionate advocate for gender equity and girls opportunities to play sports who is originally from Vermont and now living in Nevada. Additionally, she has travelled to Chennai as a faculty member for Crossover since 2012 allowing her to witness, understand, and to develop the curriculum and outlook for the program.

Carie is a champion of digital tools and technologies, with a track record of creating and executing successful social media programs and digital campaigns as well as engaging interpersonal events.

She has been involved with Crossover since 2012.

ajay mago

Managing Partner, Edwards Maxson Mago & Macaulay, LLP

Ajay Mago is Managing Partner at Edwards Maxson Mago & Macaulay, LLP. Ajay is a nationally recognized lawyer, trusted boardroom advisor, and passionate advocate for individual, corporate and institutional clients across numerous industries. His legal work has been recognized in The Washington Post, India Business Law Journal, Law360, Inside Counsel, Legal 500 U.S.– Leading Lawyers for M&A: Middle-Market, among other publications.

Ajay is committed to the community and engages in significant pro bono work. He has handled pro bono matters involving international and domestic microfinance, civil rights issues, immigration rights and countless other issues.

Dr. Bash Iyengar

Physician

Dr. Bashyam Iyengar is a board certified family medicine physician. He has completed fellowships in both academic and sports medicine. He completed an undergraduate degree in nutrition, which has served as the foundation for his work in the development of sustainable community programs to prevent chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiac disease. He is also one of the lead investigators for ‘Momentum’, a school based program aimed at promoting exercise and healthy eating for children.

He currently practices in an underserved and resource limited setting in Jacksonville, Florida, where he has started to develop a community based medical home model to address the many social and environmental disparities that act as barriers to health and well-being in this community.

Reece Hollans Crossover Board Member

jonah travis

Senior Media Associate, Taboola

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Travis grew up the oldest of five children. As a recruited student athlete to Harvard, Jonah was an integral part of four consecutive Ivy League Championships and winning two NCAA Tournament games. As a Government major with a Secondary in Economics, Jonah also directed social media for Harvard Ventures, interned with Wellington Management, and volunteered with Crossover in India for two-years.

Since graduation, he has grown his career in digital advertising working for Taboola with brands such as SquareSpace, Serta Simmons, and Blue Apron.

He is also the summer high school coach for D1 NYC along with a travel warrior to be witness to his siblings basketball, volleyball, and football games.

Peter Davey Crossover Board Member

Pete Davey

Director of Operations, Bishop Ireton High School

Pete Davey is the Director of Operations, and the Director of Basketball Operations, for Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, Virginia, a member of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. A technologist/systems engineer/programmer, Pete has over thirty years of experience in IT with particular emphasis on applications and consulting in non-profit membership, accounting, and finance. He has held senior management positions in the mortgage, education, and consulting industries, served on industry advisory boards, and was the co-owner of two startup IT consulting firms, managing all aspects of the business from marketing and client development to accounting, payroll, tax preparation, and cash management.

A former youth basketball coach in the Northern Virginia area, Pete has long realized that sports participation is an invaluable instrument in helping to develop essential leadership skills and tools that young athletes can rely on both on the court and in the classroom. Pete is a native of Upstate New York and holds degrees in Finance and Telecommunications from the University of Oregon. He resides in Northern Virginia with his wife Mary Ann. They have had two children.

create impact

Share This