Nithya Ramanathan

Brainstormer, Change Agent, Idea generator, Inventor, Social entrepreneur, Technologist

Nithya Ramanathan, Ph.D., is the Chief Executive Officer 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 build lasting solutions that improve the health of people. Nexleaf has created a platform of real-time sensors and data analytic tools that protects the vaccine supply for 1 in 10 babies born annually on Earth. Nithya and her team have achieved this outsized impact by working shoulder-to-shoulder with Ministries of Health — rather than bypassing 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. Nithya's unique approach brings together sensor design, data analysis, software engineering, and field engagement to identify and address the root cause challenges within complex global health systems. 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 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.

Leveling the playing field, music, decolonizing data, country self-determination across development, and truly dark chocolate.

A Covid vaccine is critical. But building a resilient health system that can deliver that vaccine to everyone, in a way that serves future generations, is the real “moonshot”.

Appropriate technology, Data analytics, Design of large-scale sensor systems, Global health innovation, Systems change, Tech for good, Working with ministries of health (government)

cooking (and eating)