COVID-19 Task Force

Monika Samtani

Founder, Ms. Media and The Fem Word

Monika Samtani is a media and entertainment professional. She is a producer for film/television/entertainment productions creating meaningful, authentic stories and culturally relevant content.

Monika is the co-founder of The Fem Word – a virtual newsroom and storytelling platform broadcasting stories of bold women through a wide global lens. She is a co-producer of ‘Power of Priya’, India’s first female animated superhero named UN Women’s ‘gender equality champion’.

Well known in the Indian American community as a trailblazer for her achievements in the media industry for 25+ years, in the early 1990s she was the first professional South Asian broadcast journalist in Washington, D.C., ranked the top 7 news market in the United States.

Monika is an award-winning producer/director of a documentary short, and has consulted for multiple international organizations such as Etsy, Girl Rising, SOLD (the movie), Wipro, and Sahasra Deepika Foundation for Education. She was the voice of the Melwood radio spots, the largest organization in the Mid-Atlantic region dedicated to enriching the lives of people of differing abilities and veterans.

Rohit Bharghava

Founder & Chief Trend Curator, The Non-Obvious Company

Rohit Bhargava is on a mission to help the world be more open-minded by teaching anyone how to be a non-obvious thinker. He is the founder of both the Non-Obvious Company and Ideapress Publishing, as well as the #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of seven books. Before becoming an entrepreneur, he previously spent 15 years in leadership roles at two renowned ad agencies: Leo Burnett and Ogilvy. As a popular keynote speaker, Rohit has been invited to deliver non-boring presentations in 32 countries around the world (and more than 150 virtual talks over the past year). He is an expert in trends, marketing, storytelling and building trust – and his insights + signature workshops have been used by the World Bank, NASA, Intel, Disney, Colgate, Swissotel, Coca-Cola, Schwab, Under Armour, NBC Universal, American Express and hundreds of others large organizations. Outside of his consulting and writing, Rohit is a popular Adjunct Professor of Storytelling and Marketing at Georgetown University and also writes a monthly column for GQ magazine in Brazil. Every week he also interviews fascinating people on his Non-Obvious Insights Show. Rohit believes in listening before talking and his friends (and clients!) always describe him as a nice guy. He lives in the Washington DC area with his wife and two young sons, loves everything about the Olympics (he’s been to five so far and plans to go to the postponed Tokyo Olympics too), and actively hates cauliflower (yuck!).

Chhavi Arya Bhargava

Co-Founder, Ideapress Publishing; COO/Producer, Non-Obvious Company

Chhavi Arya Bhargava is the Co-Founder of Ideapress Publishing, an independent publisher of popular and insightful business books. She is also the COO of the Non-Obvious Company, an award-winning firm that creates content and trains professionals to be more innovative and see what others miss.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, she spent 10 years teaching elementary school where she pioneered the first-ever multicultural curriculum to teach diversity and inclusion to children in Ontario, Canada. Through her many recent projects, Chhavi has a reputation for creating magical moments and experiences to inspire people to see the world differently and bond deeply with those around them.

In the past year, she has hosted the Non-Obvious Beyond Diversity Summit (a virtual event with more than 200 speakers), grown Launch Network (a popular networking organization for women entrepreneurs), and prior to the pandemic worked on dozens of publicity events to promote major Hollywood and Bollywood films — including premieres. Chhavi also led the marketing strategy and social media for the Global India Fund with the Girl Rising Campaign.

She lives in the Washington DC area with her husband and two teenage boys, loves an adventure, and lived through a close encounter with two leopards while on safari in Africa

Sumedha Mongia, MD

Founder and CEO, WellUp

Dr. Sumedha Mongia is Founder and CEO of WellUp Health, a Digital Platform helping schools and students connect to each other and manage their health data. She is a pediatrician, entrepreneur, and innovator who is passionate about advancing health care systems to improve the overall health and wellness of the community.

Prior to WellUp Health, Sumedha served as Cofounder and Chief Physician Executive for Sovrin Health360. Professionally, Sumedha is a member of a number of organizations like the Women’s Health Innovation Coalition, Rehabilitation Health, Society of Physician Entrepreneurs, TiE DC, TiE Silicon Valley, and the HL7 Patient Empowerment Group. Most recently, she became a reviewer for NSF SBIR/STTR grant proposals and joined the Fairfax County Medical Reserve Corps.

Sumedha has also been committed to serving her community through a number of nonprofit organizations. She is Cofounder and a director of Sayva, a teen service organization, providing teens with mentorship, advocacy, leadership skills, and service opportunities. She has also served on a Community Board at Inova Life with Cancer for the past 15 years and serves as a member of the Business Women’s Giving Circle through the Community Foundation of Northern Virginia, ensuring female students have the opportunity and resources to pursue STEM education.

Vaibhav Jain

Board Member

Vaibhav Jain is an Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Organizer and Community Engagement Specialist. Detail-oriented and analytical Research Associate with over eight years of experience in areas of clinical dental medicine, health data management, project management, and data analysis. Recognized for improving the health and wellbeing of people around the world by establishing strong partnerships with national and global organizations providing technical assistance on programs benefiting marginalized communities around the world. A Project Manager with proven success in leading research projects and health programs aimed at helping people, their families, and their communities stay healthy.