We include below a selection of CARTHA Founder Usha R. Balakrishnan’s Presentations, Speaking Engagements, Publications, and Workshops.  In her attempt to share CARTHA’s vision and work with a wide range of audiences in meaningful ways, Usha has imaginatively constructed niches of interdisciplinary dialogs in immersive, action-oriented settings whether at conferences, courses, social service club meetings, or kitchen-table discussions. 

(Please note that pre-CARTHA presentations are included at the end to simply indicate the trajectory of conversations and discussions that eventually led to the founding of CARTHA based on Usha’s experiences as the founder of the Technology Managers for Global Health group in 2003).

2022

  • (Scheduled) Presentation at Rotary District 6000 & 5970 Annual Conference: “Healing through Musicality in Parks: Singing Nooks as Social Innovation
    • in Urban Planning,” Hyatt Regency in Coralville, IA (April 23, 2022)

  • Invited Presentation: “Envisioning Iowa as a Land of A Hundred Musically-Diverse Parks!” at Leadership Iowa Alumni Society’s NEXT Event at Iowa Hall of Pride, Des Moines, IA. (January 13, 2022)

    • 2015-2021

    • Guest speaker for Cornell College Prof. Misha Quill’s global health class: Sharing our Aspirations for Humanity (September 2019)
    • Collaborative Doing in the context of public leadership and skills development: Luncheon speaker (along with CARTHA Board Member Judy Leavitt and past Board Member Assata Caldwell) at University of Iowa’s WRAC-Iowa N.E.W. Leadership Institute (May), a program aimed at first-time college-goers. Usha served as a Faculty-in-Residence for this week-long Institute. (May 2019)
    • Loneliness during End-of-Life Phases: organized as a Glocalizer (September 2018)
    • Keynote at Cedar Rapids Noon Lions Club on CARTHA’s programs connecting people through music and memories (April 2018)
    • Serving as 2016-17 President of the Iowa City Noon Rotary Club (which became during her Presidency year, the largest Rotary Club in the State of Iowa in terms of membership size of over 335), Usha took care to organize several programs and speakers in partnership with Rotary.
    • Connecting Writers to Humanitarian Volunteers, Carthans and Rotarians: a Glocalizer (October)

    2008-2014

    • Panelist at a session on newer US immigrants (with audience being 16 college-exchange students from Denmark) at Kirkwood Community College, Iowa City (September 2014)
    • CARTHA-Rotary partnership events organized with visiting Rotarian Guna Sadasivam and his wife Paddhu as part of the Sister Affiliation Agreement between the Iowa City Noon Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Madras (August 2014)
    • Panelist at a session on community linkages for undergraduate and graduate students to design and pursue cutting-edge research projects locally and globally; Panel organized by SROP (Summer Research Opportunity Programs) for students of color, University of Iowa (June 2014)
    • CARTHA events organized for visiting collaborator Harriet Vidyasagar and co-sponsored event “Saree Conversations” with anthropologist Professor Meena Khandelwal the University of Iowa’s South Asian Studies Program (April 2014)
    • Singing Lecture on South Indian Singing Cultures: Lullabies-Nilambari Raga, at ethnomusicologist Trevor Harvey’s class, University of Iowa (February 2014)
    • Singing Lecture titled “What KRISHNA means to me” at South Asian Studies/Hindi Professor Philip Lutgendorf’s class, University of Iowa (October 2013)
    • CARTHA and Rotary partnership to launch new community-based Rotaract Club of Iowa City Area (September 2013)
    • Programs of CARTHA, a presentation to the Multicultural Business Students Association at the University of Iowa (March 2013)
    • Luncheon Keynote at Iowa City Noon Rotary Club: “Giving More Without Counting: A Fusion Philanthropy Model,” (May 2012)
    • Discussant at Indian diaspora philanthropy seminar at the University of Iowa (March 2012)
    • Speaker, “The Challenge of Managing Aspirations,” at Project Management Institute, Quad Cities-IA Chapter meeting (October 2011)
    • Speaker at the Hello Humanity Global Humanitarian Summit, Emory University, Atlanta (April 2011)
    • Chair, 8th annual meeting of Technology Managers for Global Health, Las Vegas (March 2011)
    • Speaker, “Transnational Transformation: Being a Rotarian in Iowa,” at the Iowa City AM Rotary Club (January 2011)
    • Publication: “Carrots and Sticks”– Making the Case for Executive Compensation Audits: Moving from Risk Management to Rewards Management, by Sri Ramamoorti and Usha R. Balakrishnan, Internal Auditor (Risk Watch Section, Pg. 61-63). (October 2010)
    • Singing Lecture at UN Day of Older Persons event, Johnson County Senior Center (September 2010)
    • Chair, 7th annual meeting of Technology Managers for Global Health, New Orleans (March 2010)
    • Interviewed about CARTHA on UI radio show WorldCanvass hosted by Joan Kjaer (February 2010)]
    • Seminar (on post-tsunami water, sanitation, housing issues), with CARTHA Fellow/Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar Luke Juran at Indian Inst of Technology-Madras, Chennai, India (May 2009)
    • Singing Lecture, Tales & Traditions of My Singing to Krishna, at UI class offered by Philip Lutgendorf in South Asian Studies course on “Indian Literature in Translation,” (April 2009)
    • Speaker, Collaborative Doer Networks, at World Health Organization’s “South-South” (Latin America, Africa, Asia) Tropical Diseases Research Mtg, Bellagio, Italy (February 2009)
    • Organizer & Chair, Thirsting for Daily Sustenance: Public-Private Partnerships for Global Water-Access, panel at AAAS 2009, Chicago, (February 2009)
    • Chair, 6th annual meeting of Technology Managers for Global Health, Orlando (February 2009)
    • Co-planner, First Workshop on Health Technology Innovation funded/sponsored by Brazilian Health Ministry; & Speaker, Tech Transfer & Collaborative Doers, Recife, Brazil (November 2008)
    • Keynote Speaker, CARTHA: Global Entrepreneurship with Iowa Roots, Iowa City Foreign Relations Council’s Luncheon Meeting (April 2008)
    • Seminar Speaker, Collaborative Doers Going Glocal: Promoting Innovations for Positive Social Change, Society for International S&T Policy, George Washington University (April 2008)
    • Speaker, Collaborative Doers in Global Health Technology Transfer Partnerships, Global Health Studies Program annual conference, UI, Iowa City, April
    • Chair, 5th annual meeting of Technology Managers for Global Health, San Diego (February 2008)
    • Speaker, inaugural “Women in Academic Licensing” forum, New York University (February 2008)
    • Organizer & Chair, Humanity at the Nexus: Academic Partnerships/Entrepreneurship in Science & Global Health, at AAAS 2008, Boston (February 2008)

    2007

    • Speaker, The CARTHA Story, Business Ethics Conference, DePaul Univ., Chicago, November
    • Speaker, Academic-Practitioner Partnerships to Advance Global Health Causes, and moderator of panel at Universal Forum of Cultures, Monterrey, Mexico, October
    • Speaker (w/ Spanish translator), Rotary Club of Obispado, Monterrey, Mexico, October
    • Chair, 4th annual meeting of Technology Managers for Global Health, San Francisco, March
    • Speaker, Academic Innovations and Global Health Impacts, New curriculum/course on pharmaceuticals mgmt for underserved populations, UI College of Pharmacy, February

    2006

    • Chair, Technology Transfer: Making a Local and Global Difference, Annual Conference of the Alliance for Commercialization of Canadian Technology, Ottawa, Canada, November
    • Contrasting inhabitants of distinct cultures: Towards an academic-practitioner dialogue for real world problem-solving & decision-making, paper co-authored with Sri Ramamoorti and presented at the Virtual Global Forum, Case Western University, October 2006.
    • Surveying the need for “Technology Management for Global Health” training programs, by Usha R. Balakrishnan, Lisa Troyer, and Edwin Brands, Journal of the Association of University Technology Managers, (2006) 18 (2): 53-68. Reprinted in Industry & Higher Education (2007).
    • Speaker, Creativity in Academic Technology Licensing, Seminar on Advancing Vaccines: Innovations in IP Practice, Brooklyn Law School, New York, October
    • Speaker in a course on Biomedical Business Development & International Strategic Partnering, National Institutes of Health-Office of Tech Transfer, Washington DC, October
    • Luncheon Keynote Speaker, Global Health Technology Mgmt, Iowa City Noon Rotary, July
    • Organizer & Chair, New Technologies: The Role of the Private Sector, Global Health Council annual conference, Washington DC, June
    • Speaker, Challenges & Potential Solutions for Global Health Technology Transfer, Centers for Disease Control-CDC & Biosouth Technology Forum, Atlanta, March
    • Chair, 3rd annual mtg of Technology Managers for Global Health, Orlando, March
    • Co-planner, The Culture of Innovation in Science & Technology in India symposium & Speaker, Academic Tech. Managers as “Cultural Translators,” Hyderabad, India, January

    2005

    • Speaker, TMGH-MIHR Collaboration: Mobilizing IP managers, Promoting Global Health Equity, 2005 Gordon Research Conference, Queens College, Oxford, UK, September
    • Organizer & Chair, Innovative Approaches in Technology Transfer for Global Health, Biotechnology Industry Organization 2005 Annual Convention, Philadelphia, June
    • Speaker, A Journey of Discoveries, Program at Rockefeller Foundation, New York, May
    • Speaker, University IP, Licensing and Interdisciplinarity: Weaving Global Health Equity into an Evolving Managerial “Craft” for Public Good, at seminar of the UIowa Project on the Rhetoric of Inquiry & UI Law School, February
    • Organizer & Chair, Strategies: Seeking Financial Support for Diversity Initiatives, UIowa, February
    • Chair, 2nd annual mtg of Technology Managers for Global Health, Phoenix, February
    • Organizer & Chair, Mission Creep or Good Neighbors: Strategic Boundaries for University-Industry-Government-Nonprofit Interface Functions, AUTM, Phoenix, February

    2004

    • Organizer, Perspectives on the Impact of Science on Global Health and Humanitarianism, with 2004 World Food Prize winner (Monty Jones, Ghana), UI College of Medicine, October
    • Speaker, Health Product Development Partnerships: A US University Perspective, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India, July
    • Chair, 1st annual mtg and founding of Technology Managers for Global Health, San Antonio, March

    2003

    • Panelist (Life Sciences), US-India High Tech Cooperation Mtg, Bangalore, India, November
    • Speaker, Univ. Roles in Economic Development, Univ. of Hyderabad-Academic Deans’ Mtg, November
    • Organizer & Chair, Panel on Drug Discovery Partnerships, AUTM Annual Meeting, Orlando, March