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Meet Our TEam
Burton Li, CEO + FOUNDER
Burton founded Sutro Li in 2009 to live out his values as both an activist and entrepreneur.
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Burton likes making accounting elegant, clear, and easy to use. He studied at UC Santa Cruz in the Community Studies department, graduating in 2003. He founded Sutro Li in 2009 in San Francisco and Sutro Li Private Limited in 2016 in Pune, India. Burton lives between San Francisco and Truckee with his wife Trupti, two children Vera and Cassian, and two dogs, Chooch and Rey. He is an avid fly fisherman and musician, and likes to go on 3 mile runs with the dogs. @btronlazer and @sutro.li on Instagram
Krissa Nichols, Director of Accounts
Krissa Nichols joined the Sutro Li team after 7 years as the Finance and Operations Director at the Edible Schoolyard Project. She brings extensive experience in donor and development database management, human resources, and cloud SAAS applications. As Director of Accounts, Krissa manages not only her own clients, but also a team of Account Managers.
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A natural teacher and innate problem solver, Krissa is a master at creating simple, elegant and trustworthy systems to streamline routine tasks with input from multiple stakeholders. Pictured here with her son, Krissa balances her work with motherhood, as well as her passions for reading sci-fi and fantasy and cooking delicious India-inspired meals for large groups.
Capt. Ajay Badamikar, India Managing Director
The captain of the metaphorical ship that is our office in Pune, India, is quite literally a captain. Capt. Ajay Badamikar spent 25 Years of his career running a successful marine services company, after competing at the national level in sailing regattas during his college years.
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After Burton and he met through personal connections, it was Ajay who laid the foundation for our Pune office, and he continues to play a key role in supporting the infrastructure and growth of our team. A passionate lover of Indian Classical Music, Ajay has been studying tabla for the last few years, continuing a lifetime of learning even as he has become a proud grandfather.
Nat Smith, Director of Accounts
Originally, Nat came to accounting as a former grassroots fundraiser and organizer. Discovering their aptitude for the work, and enjoying the impact strong accounting systems and financial understanding have on growing organizations, Nat has flourished as a nonprofit accounting expert.
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They’ve brought to Sutro Li a broad range of experience and skills, having helped found nonprofits, served as a Board Treasurer, as program staff, as development staff, as a volunteer, as well as serving a wide variety of organizations as an outsourced bookkeeper.
Nat views their work as an Account Manager as a pathway to building autonomy for disenfranchised communities. Since joining Sutro Li, Nat has stepped into the role of Controller/CFO for their clients, when required, and continues to develop their skills in new ways. In addition to their passion for providing a strong foundation for nonprofits to thrive, Nat is a Licensed Veterinary Technician, and loves spending their free time rehabilitating wildlife.
Chris Dunn, Chief Operating Officer
Chris brings over 20 years of experience serving the nonprofit sector to Sutro Li. He began his career as a grassroots organizer, knocking on doors and making phone calls, passionately building the movement for a more sane and just foreign policy.
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Since then, he has channeled his talent for leadership and financial administration into roles as a fundraising program director, a founder/director/ringmaster of an international social circus and arts education organization, a volunteer board treasurer, a nonprofit tax preparer, and foremost as a finance director of mid-sized nonprofits.
Settling down with his wife, two children, and two cats, Chris brings his wealth of experience and meticulous care to dozens of nonprofits from his home office in Eugene, Oregon.
As Sutro Li’s Chief Operations Officer, he is responsible for updating and maintaining the standards of Sutro Li’s accounting services, a task for which his ringmaster skills are very much put to use.
Yash Gupta, Head of India Bussiness Operations
With over 22 years of diverse work experience across various industries and functions, Yashpal has spent nearly 19 years working with international BPOs on multiple domains, such as F&A and Insurance, serving various clients globally. As a management expert, he gained valuable insights and expertise in functional areas such as Operations, Transition, Project Management, Transformation, RPA, Quality, Audits, Learning & Development, Workforce Management, and Client Management. His strong reporting and data analytics background further complements his skills, which he leverages using Six Sigma methodologies. Throughout his career, he established a proven track record in delighting even the most demanding clients in the world and their customers. He also excelled in building and developing passionate, best-in-class teams at multiple levels for effective client management. Moreover, his ability to build domain-specific training modules and facilitate training at multiple levels has helped him in creating best-in-class training programs for employees as well as for clients. Looking at his 2 decades of contribution, 'Indian Achievers Forum' ( IAF India ) awarded Yashpal as "Man of Excellence" for the year 2021 to recognize his outstanding Professional contribution and efforts towards nation building. Overall, his extensive experience, expertise, and a strong record of successful results make him a valuable asset to any organization seeking a professional with exceptional management skills and client-focused mindset.
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Yash describes himself as a family man, husband of a beautiful wife and father to a lovely daughter. His hobbies include raising his daughter, traveling, long drives and being a foodie.
Randi Hopkins, Operations Specialist
Seen here with Krissa, sporting saris gifted by our India office, Randi handles several roles at Sutro Li. The back office guru to our team, she maintains and reports on many of Sutro Li’s own admin needs, including our contracts and services agreements, in addition to managing clients as an Account Manager.
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Perhaps our most experienced team member, she’s been in the field since 1969, combining skills in scientific research, computer programming, and accounting. Her Excel skills are epic. She lives in Santa Monica with her husband, and has two grown sons, who, from time to time, share the stage with Burton, as they all play music together.
Maureen Graney, Onboarding Strategist
Joining Sutro Li in April 2019, Maureen Graney brings more than twenty years of nonprofit financial management to the team. Her early career experience includes accounts payable and expense tracking in the dynamic world of nonviolent direct action environmental organizations. Effective resource use and audit accountability allow Maureen to keep in action while accounting for the great causes that Sutro Li serves.
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Her dual role as a mom has enhanced her patience and drive to stay ahead of the curve. Fascinated by glow worms and night rainbows she is in nonprofit mission-driven work for both joy and purpose.
Sarvesh Bhandare, Senior Associate
Sarvesh first gained experience working with overseas teams while working independently for a leading UK-based advertising company. This experience has served him well at Sutro Li, and he is now one of our strongest staff accountants, handling the day to day for a wide breadth of US-based organizations. Sarvesh has completed his MBA degree in finance management.
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Born and raised in Pune, Sarvesh strikes an impressive figure on his motorcycle, and spends his free time exploring the delicious cuisine of Pune. He loves to organize events and programs for the office, and recently organized a badminton tournament for his coworkers. A self-described travel geek, he has dreams of traveling to Las Vegas, Greece, Scotland, and Italy, amongst other destinations. Sarvesh’s social media game is on point. We try to limit him to only one selfie per meeting, but with a face like that, who can blame him?
Navin Mohanani, Team Leader
Navin joined Sutro Li with seven years of experience in accounting, auditing and taxation. He has worked with US based companies with Fortune 500 clients, as well as an investment banking company. He has also completed his Masters with the top university of India and is now near completion of his Chartered Accountancy (equivalent to a CPA).
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On the weekend, Navin loves to travel solo and explore beautiful places.
Seema Gupta, Account Manager
Seema has 15 years of experience in accounting and auditing. She is also a certified accounting technician and commerce graduate. Seema was our first team member in India and has been instrumental in growing our Pune-based team.
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After leading the accounting team in India for years and taking on the hardest accounting issues our clients could throw at us, she now focuses her talents on directly managing the accounting services of select US-based nonprofits. You would be hard pressed to find a nonprofit accounting problem that Seema hasn’t had to solve.
In her free time, Seema enjoys watching movies, listening to songs, and solving number puzzles like Sudoku.
Vikram Raje, Assistant Senior Associate
Vikram is a dedicated accountant; he has proven himself to be able to handle anything we throw at him. An incisive mind, with a breadth of experience across various industries, we are happy to have him on the team. A lifelong student, Vikram is pursuing post-graduate courses with the Institute of Cost Accountants of India.
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Vikram enjoys reading biographies of famous people, watching historical documentaries, and is also something of a fitness guru, fastidiously maintaining a healthy diet, and working out to keep strong. When he’s able to get away, Vikram enjoys exploring the natural world, finding peace and beauty among the wild places of Maharashta.
Robin Smith, Account Manager
Robin has found that nonprofit accounting is the most effective way for her to contribute to the activist community, and we are grateful to have her on the Sutro Li team. She brings a passion for social, economic, and environmental justice as well as over two decades of accounting experience. She enjoys the goal of financial transparency and sees the true benefit that it can provide to organizations, no matter their size.
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Robin also has a number of certifications as a librarian, and enjoys living in the cultural gem that is New Orleans. She's an avid meditator, a bike enthusiast, and a vegan foodie. She and her husband are often seen walking their two dogs and three cats.
Emma Gelino, Administrative Assistant
Emma has volunteered at many non profits and is happy to be part of such an amazing community of organizations. She is passionate about Sutro Li clients' causes and wants to help promote them as much as possible. Emma provides support to the team by accounting for a wide array of tasks, assisting with everything operations related. She is also a student at Fairhaven, an interdiciplanary program at Western Washington Univeristy.
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Emma spends every free moment hiking in the Mt. Baker wilderness, swimming in the Salish Sea, and foraging for various plants and mushrooms. During the dark days in winter she spends time cooking, baking, and knitting. She is often spotted with her border/heeler pup, Beso.
Ranna Majithiya, Account Manager
Ranna joined Sutro Li after three and a half years working for Australian clients where her accounting skills thrived. She is a Chartered Accountant (equivalent to a CPA) and has completed her Bachelor’s degree in Commerce. She has always felt drawn to numbers and arithmetic, and her passion has made accounting an easy choice. She is skillful in a variety of industries and capable of leading a team to success with care and precision.
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She describes herself as a rational, independent and caring person. She is extraverted, and finds it impossible to imagine her life without family and friends. She works for her satisfaction and dances for her creativity. In her leisure time, she enjoys spending time in nature, traveling and watching movies.
Jenny Rathmell, Account Manager
Jenny joined Sutro Li in March 2020 with an immense passion for clean, useful, and efficient data that empowers nonprofit organizations. She brings with her almost twenty years of for profit and nonprofit accounting and finance experience. Her career includes a few side quests in information systems, knowledge management, and eLearning. She looks for opportunities to leverage these skills every chance she gets.
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In her free time, you can find Jenny dancing, bookbinding, or picking blueberries in her yard with some old jug band music playing in the background.
Shriram Gurav, Associate
A driven and ambitious team player who thrives in a challenging environment, Shriram enjoys setting goals for himself so he has something to strive towards. He is not comfortable settling. He has six years of experience in accounting, taxation, and audits. He’s completed his Bachelor's degree in Commerce in addition to completing three years of internship at a Chartered Accounting firm. Before joining Sutro Li, he gained a strong skill set through his work with the multinational company, Capita India Pvt. Ltd.
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When Shriram has free time, he enjoys music, cricket, and traveling. Shriram is someone who enjoys dedication and devotion to anything he does whether it’s personal or work related. He truly has strong values and he sticks to them.
Prachi Kulkarni, Associate
Prachi graduated with a degree in mathematics and completed a Corporate Account Manager course from Nilaya ICATS Institute of Commerce in Pune, India. She then started working for IBN Technologies where she received the opportunity to work with US Certified Public Accountant clients. Sutro Li is excited to have a brilliant accountant like Prachi on our staff.
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In her free time, Prachi immerses herself in books and music. She has been writing poetry since she was a child but is currently challenging herself to learn classical music. Prachi is not only an artist but also an adventurer who loves travelling and hiking.
Priya Ojha, Assistant Account Manager
Priya is a highly organized, self-driven individual, who is passionate about developing her career. She joined Sutro Li with over four years of experience after working for two US-based companies. She has completed an MBA in Finance, an intermediate course of Chartered Accounting, and an executive course to become a Company Secretary. In addition, Priya has been part of management training programs and buddy programs to help new joiners to incorporate smoothly with the organization.
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Priya considers herself open to anything that will help her develop her skills and persona. She is also patient and good at analyzing before coming to a conclusion. In her free time, she enjoys reading motivational and best selling books as well as playing sports. Listening to music and cooking helps her to deal with stressful situations.
Kathleen O'Day, Account Manager
Kathleen brings over 25 years of US and international accounting experience to our team. A native of Belgium, she began her accounting career in Big Four firms in Canada and the US and then moved on to Controller/CFO roles in a variety of entrepreneurial private sector ventures. Holding her CPA in both the US and Canada and a Diploma in International Reporting from the UK, she made a conscious pivot several years ago to the Not-For-Profit sector to utilize her finance skills to have a positive impact in the areas of social and environmental change. She joins Sutro Li after 5 years as Finance Director for the Global Ecovillage Network, an international NGO based in Scotland.
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Pictured here with the canine crew Potato and Sebastian during Kathleen's recent Atlantic crossing somewhere off the African coast. Kathleen is passionate about the outdoors and is an experienced bluewater sailor. She recently completed a 5 year voyage – living and working WAY off the grid aboard her sailboat.
Amrita Ghanekar, Asssistant Senior Associate
Before her employment at Sutro Li, Amrita worked at an Austrian-based multinational corporation. She was responsible for the entire India branch’s accounting. She has completed her Bachelors of Commerce and Intermediate Course by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. With her nine years of accounting experience, Amrita came to Sutro Li with enthusiasm to learn, take on challenges, and continue to stay current with her knowledge.
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When Amrita isn’t hard at work, she enjoys singing old Hindi Bollywood songs. She also has a passion for cooking and loves to experiment with new dishes. To this day, her favorite Indian dish remains gulab jamun, a fried dough soaked in a sweet rose flavored syrup.
Akshay Pandit, Senior Associate
Akshay joined Sutro Li with more than 6 years of experience in the field of accounting and finance. He has completed the coursework required to become a Chartered Accountant as well as finishing his Master’s degree in commerce. While working at various organizations, Akshay has gained strong knowledge in day-to-day accounting and finalization of books of accounts.
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Akshay is very interested in reading historical books and also loves to spend time in nature. He thrives to execute everything in his life with passion and compassion, as well as some humor and style.
Harshada Shah, Associate
Before joining Sutro Li, Harshada worked at a California based firm for 3 years where she gained a deep knowledge for US accounting. She has also completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from Pune University and has a postgraduate degree in taxation law.
Harshada is eager to grow professionally and is excited to work with US-based nonprofits.
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In her free time, Harshada loves to read novels, watch movies, and listen to music. She is proud of her stress management techniques and finds it easy to get back to her work routine with a fresh mindset and enthusiasm.
Yogesh Parmar, Senior Associate
Yogesh brings over seven years of versatile experience. He has worked with multiple multinational corporations as well as UK and US-based clients, as a management accountant, a treasury/corporate accountant and playing an instrumental role in process transition. He graduated with specialization in accounting and finance and aspires to take the US CMA course. Yogesh is zealous about work, learning new skills and honing his leadership abilities.
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Yogesh is an enthusiastic traveler who enjoys visiting new countries. He invests his time towards community service in hopes to bring positive change to society. He also enjoys swimming, cooking, spending time with family, and reading books.
Sayali Sabale, Assistant Senior Associate
Sayali has more than six years of experience in the field of accounts, auditing & taxation, and has completed a Bachelor's Degree in Commerce and Master’s Degree in Personnel Management from Pune University. Before joining Sutro Li, she worked with a manufacturing and non-trading organization as an accountant. During her years of experience, she has utilized a variety of accounting softwares such as Tally.ERP9, QuickBooks, Peachtree, Sage 50, and Xero.
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In her free time, she loves to participate in social events, travelling and enjoys learning new things.
Yogesh Dumbre, Associate
Yogesh joins Sutro Li with experience in audits, accounts and taxation. He has a Masters in Business Administration with a finance focus and a separate degree in taxation and law from Pune University. He has worked as a finance assistant and account manager for over two years at one of Pune’s oldest chartered accounting firms. Yogesh believes that analytical skills are not only a fundamental part of finance and accounting but also the building blocks for critical thinking.
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Yogesh loves to help people and often visits orphanages and nursing homes to volunteer.
Amol Gole, Senior Associate
A highly qualified accountant, Amol joins Sutro Li with over seven years of experience in the industry and a Master’s degree in Commerce from BMCC. Previously, he worked for Genpact as a Senior Associate where he successfully managed a team to handle the day to day and finalization process of a US and UK based project.
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In his free time, he loves to travel and spend time with his family. He also likes photography and enjoys capturing an image to freeze a moment and reveal how rich reality truly is.
Ajit Kumar, Senior Associate
Ajit, a commerce graduate pursuing the final stages of post graduation with The Institute of Cost Accountants of India, brings an in-depth knowledge of principles of accounting and taxation profiles to Sutro Li. Always patient, he enjoys helping others and possesses good management and supervisory skills.
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Ajit enjoys participating in events organized at various organizations, teaching academic subjects to commerce students and managing multiple cultural programs. In his free time Ajit enjoys singing, acting and reading various spiritual and self-help books.
Gaurav Bafna, Senior Associate
Gaurav brings over 5 years of experience in Accounting ,Taxation & Payroll by working in USA based accounting firms. He is familiar with multiple softwares like Quickbooks, Xero, ERP ADP & Wave navigation knowledge from his previous experience. He loves to adapt & update his knowledge & leverage his skills. In addition to Masters of commerce from Pune University, he has also completed PGDBA from Symbiosis, which is equivalent to Masters in business administration.
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Apart from work, Gaurav enjoys watching movies, travelling with family and interacting with people around him.
Radhika Goel, Assistant Account Manager
A lifelong student, Radhika accepts any difficult accounting and finance challenges while sharpening her analytical skills. With over three years of experience in finance and accounting, Radhika is known for her skills in account development, assessing client needs, and optimizing processes using analytical tools such as Quick-book, Xero.com, MYOB. In addition to pursuing her certification through the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, she holds a Masters degree in International Business from Curtin University Singapore and a Masters of Commerce.
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During the weekend, Radhika enjoys travelling with her friends and family or watching movies. She also enjoys savoring a good cup of coffee and eating vegetarian food loaded with cheese. Radhika is adventurous and dreams of exploring the world one day.
Chelle Amerson, Account Manager
Chelle is a nonprofit accounting maestro who loves to conduct business. She originally came to accounting as co-director of San Francisco State University's campus recycling program. From there, she had the good fortune to work with some of San Francisco's finest nonprofits, including American Civil Liberties Union, Public Policy Institute, and Burning Man Project. With over 20 years of experience, she enjoys streamlining accounting systems and functions for her clients, so that they can focus on achieving their vital missions.
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Chelle lives in Sacramento, CA with her husband, Byron and their cat, Moby. When Chelle is not crunching the numbers, she can be found recording music with her band, enjoying the great outdoors, or building-out her 4WD pop-up camper into a delightful getaway mobile.
Kass Rohrbach, Account Manager
Kass Rohrbach joined Sutro Li as an Account Manager in June 2022. She brings over twenty years of climate advocacy and nonprofit management experience. In addition to her work at Sutro Li, she also serves on the Board of Directors of Re-Volv, an organization that helps community-serving nonprofits go solar. Her previous work includes campaign management and organizational leadership roles at Sierra Club, GreenpeaceUS, National Wildlife Foundation, Walk Oakland Bike Oakland, and Energy Action Coalition (now PowerShift Network). She got her start organizing in 2001 while she was an undergrad at Connecticut College, where she led one of the first campaigns in the U.S. to power the campus with renewable energy.
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Kass lives in Oakland, CA with her wife, daughter, two awesome dogs, and an 18 year old cat who rules the house. In her free time, you’ll find her on the trail (dirt and snow), in her garden, or stargazing from anywhere with little light pollution.
Jess Wright, Account Manager
Jess joined Sutro Li as an Account Manager in the summer of 2022. With a background in finance, volunteer management, fulfillment, and operations, Jess is deeply connected to finding meaningful ways to engage team members while maintaining efficiency and productivity. They came to accounting by way of volunteering at a nonprofit in Queens, NY and quickly learned how critical operational and financial support systems are to developing organizations. Over the past 10 plus years, they have worked in nonprofits focused on early education, environmental justice, open science hardware, data democratization, and human rights.
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In their freetime, Jess is often getting creative in the kitchen, inhaling a book, knitting for a loved one, or hiking and exploring forests, deserts, mountains, and coasts. Their love to travel and spend time outdoors is so strong that in 2019 they hit the road full-time in a DIY custom-built van with their partner, cat, and dog.
Amy Ali, Account Manager
Amy joined SutroLi as an Account Manager in August of 2022 with a strong background in tech and accounting. She began her career in non-profit accounting about three years ago and enjoys the detailed and meaningful work it requires. Amy has the precision to keep finances in order as well as creativity when introducing new and more efficient systems.
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In her spare time, Amy enjoys spending time on her hobby, photography. When she’s not taking pictures, she finds ways to stay healthy or spends time with her lovable pup, Bailey.
Rajesh Vaidhya, Assistant Account Manager
Rajesh has more than eight years of experience in accounting, auditing, and taxation. Before joining Sutro Li, he spent more than three years as a team leader and Senior Account Manager. He has challenged himself throughout his academic years and believes in continuing to learn and develop his skills. He has a bachelor’s degree in commerce, completed certification of NISM in Equity and Derivative research, and has completed the coursework required to become a Chartered Accountant. Rajesh believes that his academic background as a chartered accountant along with exposure gained while working with various clients and organizations has helped him evolve as an expert in his field.
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Rajesh says he is a simple person who believes in ethics, integrity, and respect. He practices yoga daily and loves jogging.
Gaurav Rathi, Senior Associate
Gaurav joined Sutro Li as a Senior Associate with over nine years of versatile experience. Gaurav is talented at communicating and has a track record of developing and managing strong relationships with both clients and Sutro Li staff. He is well versed with financial statements, budget, reconciliation, analysis, accounting, auditing, transaction quality, and outsourcing. Gaurav holds an Accounting Technician Certificate (ATC), MBA in Finance from Savitribai Phule Pune University and Government Diploma in Cooperation and Accountancy (GDCA).
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In his spare time, Gaurav enjoys exploring new places, reading books, photography and storytelling.
Chandrashekhar Kalegore, Senior Associate
Chandrashekhar joined Sutro Li with over seven years of experience in commerce, accounts, audits, and taxation. He also holds a masters degree, and belongs to a CA fraternity. Chandrashekhar takes pride in his attention to detail and his ability to help the team grow together in order to achieve objectives.
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In his freetime, Chandrashekhar loves to spend time sketching and writing.
Sayali Tendulkar, Assistant Senior Associate
Sayali joins Sutro Li with over 8 years of experience in finance and accounting while also pursuing a Chartered Accountants Degree. Sayali is dedicated, hardworking, focused and confident when it comes to processing accounts, meeting client needs, and continuing development in the accounting process. Before joining Sutro Li, Sayali worked for a real estate company where she handled an entire finance department and handled day to day accounting as well as finalization of books of accounts.
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Sayali has an interest in traveling, watching movies, art, and following Indian culture & tradition. During the weekend, she likes to visit her parents' place to spend time with them. Her continuous goal is to stay simple and stay happy.
Kalyani Havaldar, Senior Associate
Ever since Kalyani was a child she held an interest in accounting. She looked up to her mother who would maintain the books for her family's business. Kalyani would lend a helping hand by drafting bills and filling out deposit receipts which soon turned into the urge to pursue this interest further. She entered commerce, became a graduate and now furthers her knowledge by taking the last steps to become a CPA. Kalyani has accumulated five years in the Audit of Banks, NPO (India) Public and Private Limited Companies.
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On weekends, Kalyani spends her time in the kitchen cooking, furthering her baking expertise. She also loves to paint and dance.
Geetanjali Shakya, Senior Associate
Geetanjali joins Sutro Li from her home in Delhi. She has completed her Post Graduate Diploma in Finance and Accounting and has accumulated over seven years of experience with US clients’ analysis of balance sheets, bank reconciliation and variance.
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In her free time, Geetanjali loves to cook, travel and teach accounting skills.
Tarun Kalra, Account Manager
Tarun joins Sutro Li with over 15 years of enriching experience in the field of finance and accounting. Before joining Sutro Li, he refined his skills under various profiles in the accounting field. His diversified experience in transition support, management information systems, financial planning and analysis, project management, cost accounting, general accounting, etc. brings strength to the organization. Additionally, he has completed his masters in finance along with achieving his CA intermediate certification. Tarun prides himself in staying calm in high pressure situations.
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In his spare time, he spends time absorbing various national and international news updates. He also loves to travel and enjoys spending his free time with his family.