The Tamil Entrepreneurs Forum (Tefcon) at FeTNA’s annual conference this July 4 weekend in New Jersey promises to be very exciting with 25 top executives as speakers including Arvind Swamy, the actor-entrepreneur. Speaking to the media, the NJ based Nagappan, who is Chief Information Officer with Pershing, BNY Mellon, says that Tefcon has been part of FeTNA’s annual celebration for some time, but this year the scale is a lot bigger. There will be keynote addresses, panel discussion and inspiring TEF talks – taking the stage will be at least eight successful women.
The presenters at the July 2 full-day session inside Patriots Theatre at the War Memorial, Trenton, will not be confined to tech fields. Inspiring speakers include ‘Dosa Man’ Thiru Kumar who started with a tiny food cart in Manhattan and has been featured widely in international media, and Hemalatha Annamalai, who makes battery operated motorcycles at low cost and her firm may turn out to be India’s future Tesla.
At the Tefcon some startups will make a pitch to investors, who would include Arvind Swamy, N. Chandra of TCS, and Jet Blue’s Eash Sundaram. So Tefcon also acts as an incubator. Fittingly, the conference theme is Link Learn Lead.
About the stereotypical image of Tamils being the service class in India, Nagappan says the community had great entrepreneur zeal before the British rule. Then, being educated, they got into government jobs and became complacent. But after Independence, thing have been changing again. In Silicon Valley, many Tamils hold top technology positions today.
FeTNA (Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America) convention is expecting about 2,000 attendees. Performers will include Carnatic singer T.M. Krishna, playback singer Vijay Prakash, and Super Singer title winners Hari Priya and Jesica Jude