Nithya Ramanathan

Nithya Ramanathan is the CEO and Co-Founder of Nexleaf Analytics, a non-profit technology company that partners with countries to make sure they have the data they need to improve the health of people. Nexleaf’s unique approach brings together sensor design, data analysis, software engineering, and field engagement to identify and address big problems. Nexleaf technology currently protects the vaccine supply for 1 in 10 babies born each year. Nithya and her team have achieved this outsized impact by working shoulder-to-shoulder with Ministries of Health — rather than attempting to bypass governments — to scale cutting-edge technologies refined through close collaboration with personnel at every level of the health system, from top-tier government officials to last-mile health care workers.

A computer scientist specializing in sensor technologies and data analytics, Nithya is a tech-for-good pioneer and a leading thinker on global vaccine distribution. Nithya’s career started in Silicon Valley, and continued as Research Faculty in sensor technologies at UCLA. She holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from UCLA and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from UC Berkeley. Her work has been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals. Nithya is a TED Fellow, PopTech Social Innovation Fellow, Switzer Environmental Fellow, and a Rainer Arnhold Fellow. She is the winner of the 2017 Hedy Lamarr Award for Female Tech Pioneer, was named a Gavi Got Life! Champion in 2018 alongside world leaders, and received the Tällberg Foundation/Eliasson Global Leadership Award in 2020.