Leadership Team
Leading the way with
Innovative Learning Solutions

Amit Garg

Founder and CEO

I got my first taste of workplace learning at a shop floor of an up and coming chemical plant. I realized that on the shop floor, the workers learned only through doing their job and observing others doing theirs. After a few humbling experiences during my stint in automobile sales, I landed – almost by chance – into the workplace learning industry working in a dotcom start-up in 2000. Here, I noticed the similarities between Instructional Design and advertising. This fascinated me, and I got myself certified in Instructional Design.A few years working in leadership roles growing that start-up propelled me to start Upside Learning in 2004 with the tagline - ‘Better Learning, Improved Performance’. And there was no looking back.I have been fortunate to work with clients all over the world helping them achieve tactical and strategic goals on this wonderful journey. Over the last 2 decades, it has become my passion to help organizations derive real business impact from their learning and training initiatives.I continue to learn everyday in the field and feel obliged to share my experience through speaking sessions, blogs, webinars and eBooks. I am humbled to have been included in the eLearning Industry’s movers and shakers list for a few years.On the personal front, I am very excited to see my 11 year young daughter pick Tennis as a sport and commit herself to learning it and sweating it out on the court.

Sonal Sheth

Chief Operating Officer

With over 18 years of experience in the eLearning industry, Sonal heads the content services team of 100+ eLearning specialists at Upside and is responsible for successful execution of all projects and solutions delivered by the team.Sonal builds on her earlier experience of working in different domains including Graphic Design, Instructional Design and Project Management to innovate and create better learning. She has been instrumental in augmenting Upside's portfolio by introducing innovative solutions and services.Sonal holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from Symbiosis (her most recent achievement), a Post Graduate diploma in Journalism & Mass Communication from Symbiosis, a Dual Diploma in Web Engineering from Arena Multimedia, and a Bachelor's degree in Physics specialising in Photography & Mass Communication from Fergusson College in Pune, India.

Clark Quinn

Chief Learning Strategist

Clark Quinn, Ph.D. is an internationally renowned learning consultant, speaker, and author. He has been involved in the design, development, and evaluation of a wide variety of educational technology for over 40 years. He integrates creativity, cognitive science, and technology to develop award-winning learning and performance support systems. Clark has authored multiple books on learning and also holds the honor of being awarded as eLearning Guild's first Guild Master in 2012. He currently also shoulders the responsibility of being the Executive Director of Quinnovation and a Co-Director at the Learning Development Accelerator (known colloquially as the LDA).

John Gravanis

VP – Business Development

John brings to this position over 25 years of experience in business development, partner, and sales enablement in companies like Hewlett Packard Enterprise and AVAYA. For the last ten years, John has focused on the corporate learning and workforce transformation industries co-founding elearningindustry.com, and before joining Upside Learning, he led InfoproLearning's Workforce Transformation SaaS go-to-market and business development efforts.

John has studied, lived, and worked in the US, Italy, Greece, and the UK, helping numerous startups take their first steps. He is actively mentoring small business owners and currently holds Advisor roles to a few select CEOs seeking to enter the L&D space. Additionally, he volunteers his time to Junior Achievement, educating children on business and entrepreneurship principles, and is currently working on his second book on the topic of K12 kid's entrepreneurship.

Isha Sood

AVP
Marketing

Isha is a seasoned marketeer with experience spanning content marketing, advertising, and communications. With experience in leading marketing for retail, technology, and learning content services in the past, Isha is driven by the dynamism that marketing brings along every day. A lifelong learner, Isha believes in hands-on learning and constant upskilling to be on top of her game.Her formal educational experience includes an MBA in Marketing and Information Technology and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Applications. She has a number of accomplishments to her credit including multiple academic and professional awards and recognitions.

Kiran Aradhye

AVP
Finance

I have been responsible for the day-to-day control and administration of Upside Learning's fiscal operations and statutory compliances since 2009. I also support the management in budget development and handling long term financial planning for the company.With over 20 years of finance and accounts experience, I began my career in 1998 working for a Public Accounting firm that specialized in local government auditing, accounting and consulting services, where I worked for seven and a half years. I also worked for various MNCs and handled the finance and audits for them.I hold a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting and Taxation and enjoy travelling and reading in my free time.

Mahesh Shinde

Senior Manager
Visual Design

With over 9 years of graphic design experience, Mahesh Shinde currently leads Upside Learning's Graphic Design team.Mahesh is responsible for the graphic design function. He is responsible for delivering and maintaining the high standard of graphic and visual design across all projects executed by Upside Learning. He is also responsible for training his team and keeping them abreast of the latest technologies and trends.Bachelor's degree holder in Applied Art, Mahesh enjoys travelling and watching movies in his free time.

Sushant Gore

Senior Manager
Business Development

I got my first insight into the eLearning domain quite by chance – a fortuitous meeting on a flight with a fellow passenger. This chance encounter was an eye-opener and it certainly piqued my interest. As I read more about the domain, it caught my interest and I took up my first stint in the industry 5 years ago.It has been an exciting journey full of learning since then. Having stayed in Europe for more than 2 years while pursuing my master’s degree in management, I developed a good understanding of the culture of the region and dynamics of the market. My association with Europe has continued since then, seeking business opportunities in the L&D market.At Upside Learning, I aim to explore further and expand our presence in the UK and Europe. I am well experienced in Business Development, Client Engagement and Account Management, having worked with customers across the world. Having a passion for solutioning and a keen interest in emerging technologies, I aim to assist customer’s in coming up with innovative solutions.On a personal front, I am an ardent Football fan and am fond of reading/watching Science Fiction. I love being outdoors and exploring places – whether it’s trekking, going on Safaris or going for road trips on my motorbike or car.

Neeti Sudumbrekar

Senior Manager
Instructional Design

My passion for learning goes back to my school days when my parents introduced me to learning and thinking tools. Mind-mapping my way through post graduation, I discovered my penchant for Instructional Design on the other side of a Life Sciences degree.Having stumbled upon ID, the last 8 years have seen me immensely appreciate the power of research and analytical skills in ID and learning design - right from analyzing business requirements to going beyond the stated challenges to crafting meaningful interactions - crucial steps towards making well-informed design decisions that remain relevant in the fast-changing workplace of today.This and the changing face of L&D and of the nature of work itself - all keep me hungry for innovative learning interventions rooted in human-centered design and smart ID. And I am thrilled that my role at Upside Learning feeds me opportunities to explore these and to contribute to impactful solutions.At Upside, I’ve had the chance to work on unique ID solutions involving scenario-based learning, microlearning, gamified learning, and campaign-based interventions. All different projects, approaches, industries, and geographies—yet each being driven by what I like to call the ‘People-Content- Environment’ triad, a common denominator for any learning intervention. The chance to co-author an eBook on Compliance Training has also broadened my understanding of perceptions in and of L&D as I continue to learn and work in this dynamic space.With a Master's in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Bremen, Germany), I'm certified in Advanced ID and Project Management (IT) from Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning (SCDL, Pune), and am currently excited to dive into some more learning programs.If not working or learning, you’ll find me perched over a drawing board working on my Mandala art, or over my Guitar strumming some (easy!) favorites.

Vidya Rajgopal

Senior Manager
Instructional Design

Even though I walked into the Instructional Design domain quite by accident, it has been 15 years in the making. Having worked across diverse functions like Operations, Learning and Development, and Human Resources, I found myself gravitating towards projects and initiatives that involved breaking down concepts to create models that were both actionable and measurable.Instructional Design allows me to focus on these solutions, and apply them to the area of adult learning. I'm deeply interested in “humanizing” learning experiences by designing for simplicity; and the past 6 years have given me the opportunity to apply this design philosophy to learning interventions across varied industry sectors like technology, banking, finance, aviation and NGOs.On the personal front, I enjoy exploring history and philosophy - whether it's through reading, or watching content online. My 13 year old – with his constant curiosity and novel perspectives – keeps me on my toes. Exploring the world through his eyes has been both my biggest challenge, and my go-to way of de-stressing.

Sandip Tawar

Manager
Quality

Sandip has over 10 years of experience in eLearning and software testing domain. He has worked on more than 70 projects with different technologies and tools, such as HTML, Flash, Articulate Storyline, Captivate, Lectora, etc. for multi-device platforms. His work experience includes web & mobile app testing, eLearning courseware compliance, and accessibility testing (SCORM, AICC, and xAPI) on different Learning Management Systems.Sandip is well-versed with all phases of software development & testing life cycle, and has hands-on experience in various testing methodologies like Functional Testing, GUI Testing, Database Testing, and Regression Testing.Sandip heads the team of Quality Executives at Upside Learning and is responsible for maintaining quality on all projects, and reviews all quality and audit reports to ensure that quality standards and consistency are maintained. He plays a key role in setting and improving internal standards and processes.Sandip holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from University of Nanded, India.

Suyog Shaha

Manager
Technical

As the Associate Technical Manager at Upside Learning I lead a team of talented and passionate engineers. With over 10 years of experience in eLearning development and an year’s experience in Web development, I work with technologies like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JQuery, TypeScript, Angular-JS, Flash, Flex, and Adobe AIR.I believe that technology is only as good as the people using it, so it’s my job to keep track of the company’s knowledge base and implement regular process improvements. My responsibilities also include; conducting project risk assessment and mitigation action planning with the project manager; using best practices and coding standards; conducting reviews and providing feedback; focusing the team to ensure an on-time delivery of the agreed products; monitoring progress on a day-to-day basis for all team activities; and ensuring deliverables are prepared to satisfy the project requirements, cost, and schedule.In my leisure, I like to unwind with trekking, photography, and music.