About Us
Founded in 2007, Tiktala is a privately held software company. We believe that the success of businesses and organizations lies in building strong and lasting relationships with the people who support them and that positive interactions drive strong relationships.
Meet the team
Every member of Tiktala team contains a potent mix of drive, creativity, and integrity. We don't just work here; we're dedicated to making Tiktala the best platform of its kind.
Nivi Padhy / CEO and Co-Founder
Nivi drives the vision at Tiktala and enjoys being involved in everything that impacts our users. She brings to us fifteen years of software development and customer facing experience at companies such as Computer Associates, Ingres, Informix, and Infosys. She also brings a lifetime of experience running marketing and fundraising campaigns for her community involvement activities. At Computer Associates, she owned responsibility for worldwide support of the Ingres data replication product and was instrumental in driving down product defects and improving customer experience. Nivi later worked with Social-Impact India and Global Social Benefit Incubator to assess the social impact of their investments in social enterprises. As part of her commitment to her local community, she has played a key role in organizing and marketing the Lunar New Year Unity Parade in Cupertino, an annual event that celebrates that city’s cultural diversity. She also serves on the Board of Directors and co-chairs the fundraising committee for the Youth Science Institute, a California nonprofit providing hands-on science education to children. Nivi holds a B.E. in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from BITS Pilani, India and has attended MBA coursework at Santa Clara University. With many vices to choose from — Bourne movies, the Colbert Report, math puzzles, and sushi — Nivi is often seen slacking off in the twenty-fifth hour of the day.
Mano Puthukudy / CTO and Co-Founder
Mano is responsible for Tiktala's overall product architecture as well as implementation, constantly pushing the envelope to innovate for an even better user experience. He has over fifteen years of experience in developing and architecting leading-edge computer technologies. While working for companies such as Kineto Wireless, WindRiver, Mentor Graphics, he helped architect a revolutionary media enhancement system that combines multiple audio and video streams into a single stream controlled by a simple programatic interface, devised a fault-tolerant solution that allows cell phone users to switch between a cell tower and an in-home wi-fi device without dropping a call, developed embedded security devices for wireless routers, and even helped build the operating system that was used in the Mars Rover. Mano holds a Masters in Engineering Technology from BITS Pilani, India. Mano has a deep interest in people and cultures from around the world, spending his free time reading the novels of Haruki Murakami and nonfiction works about the intersection of cultural histories, social systems, and economic development. He is also a fan of the films of Akira Kurasawa and Stanley Kubrick.
Jeremy McNevin / Developer
One of our resident Rails fanatics, Jeremy spends his days tweaking and re-factoring like a madman. After completing a B.A. in English with an emphasis in creative writing at the University of Minnesota, Jeremy began working as .NET developer, first at his alma mater creating intranet applications including a classroom reservation system, then at Aware Web Solutions developing intranet systems, time tracking and project management applications, and websites for a wide variety of clients. Originally from Minnesota — and having spent two years in Bulgaria as a Peace Corps English teacher — he is confounded by California's mild winters. He enjoys playing Rock Band (occasionally strumming an actual guitar), his Netflix account, and wasabi-flavored almonds.
Ryan Mathis / Developer
Ryan is dedicated to making Tiktala an engaging, intuitive experience for all of our users. Ryan worked for Pop Labs in his hometown of Houston, Texas as a Production Specialist converting design concepts into HTML/CSS. It was there that he discovered his love for Ruby on Rails. While working at Pop Labs, Ryan developed a highly accessible and user-friendly website for Special Kids, Inc., a nonprofit organization that supports traditionally under-served and under-represented families of children with disabilities. Upon graduating high school, Ryan enlisted in the Army and served a year in Iraq as member of the 101st Airborne Division and appreciates this transformational experience. In his time away from work, he enjoys relaxing with his collection of Quentin Tarantino movies and on most weekends can be found at the local pool hall or golf course.
Stephen Miller / User Experience Manager
Stephen is driven to find ways to help organizers and their supporters use Tiktala to be more effective in transforming their communities. In 1999, Stephen left a promising academic career to join an internet media start-up called Regeneration TV, a website that combined music videos, live concerts, interviews, and documentaries in order to encourage young people to become more engaged in their communities and the world. Stephen was eventually drawn to work with nonprofit organizations where he became an accidental techie — as well as human resources director, payroll processor, bookkeeper, and development officer. In other words, he was the operations manager for the Garment Worker Center, a small social justice organization in downtown Los Angeles. He holds an M.S. in Communication from the University of Utah and is completing a second Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy. He is a voracious listener of all kinds of music and is unafraid of karaoke.
Madhumita Padhy / Office Manager
Madhumita handles everything back-office at Tiktala so the rest of us can focus on the other stuff. With over seven years of experience in leading software development for embedded systems, Madhumita is highly skilled in both software coding and project management. While working at TeamF1 as a software developer, she discovered her talent and passion for coordinating efforts among team members as well as assuring customer satisfaction with their high-end security solutions, eventually becoming the Project Lead for many key clients. Madhumita holds a Master's degree in Organic Chemistry from Utkal University, India. She loves to travel and enjoys the opportunity to experience different places, people, cultures, and foods throughout the U.S. and the world. She finds relaxation in gardening and enjoys tending to her herbs and vegetables.
Advisory Board
Bruce Lunsford
Bruce provides technical insight for the features and functionality of the Tiktala platform, with particular attention to the platform tools that enable organizers and supporters to engage deeper with each other. He is enthusiastic about Tiktala's mission to help organizations be more accountable to their supporters. Bruce brings to the table thirty years of a broad range of management and development experience in the computer software industry. He began his career at Electronic Data Systems in 1974, where he worked for seventeen years developing applications for a wide range of corporate clients in the healthcare, financial, and retail sectors. Since 1991 he was worked for Computer Associates (CA) and Ingres in a wide variety of roles and responsibilities such as Ingres Client Base Owner, Divisional Vice-President, and Architect. He most enjoys being involved in hands-on technical development to advance the Ingres database products, the industry standard for enterprise open source data management and integration. Bruce earned both his Bachelor's in Mathematics and his Master's in Computer Science from New Mexico State University. In the past, Bruce has been both a deacon and an elder in his church. He enjoys visiting his hometown of Las Cruces, New Mexico and family trips to San Felipe in Baja California, Mexico. When he is not spoiling his grandchildren, Bruce can be found at the nearest tennis court.
Jaclyn Phuong Fabre
Jaclyn advises Tiktala on the technology needs of nonprofit organizations to be more effective in their outreach and fundraising activities. Jaclyn is a nonprofit management consultant with fifteen years of executive management experience at small to medium sized nonprofit organizations. Jaclyn began her career in nonprofit work with Legal Assistance for Vietnamese Asylum Seekers (LAVAS) in 1993 working in Hong Kong with US attorneys to provide pro bono legal representation to Vietnamese boat people who fled communist Vietnam and went on to became its Executive Director. She then served as the Associate Director for Canal Community Alliance, a community-based agency that provides family, youth, and child services to the ethnically diverse, working poor residents of the Canal in Marin County, California. She later was the Executive Director of Cupertino Community Services, a community-based nonprofit providing basic human needs and housing services to low-income families in the West Valley community. She even built the first donor database system at CCS, using FileMaker Pro. Jaclyn holds an M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of California Irvine, and a B.A. in Fine Arts from California State Polytechnic Pomona. These days, Jaclyn's number one interest and source of inspiration is her toddler. She is also passionate about food and loves to cook Vietnamese food and pasta of any kind. She has taken three years of classes at the Wafu School of Ikebana, but still considers herself a beginning flower arranger.