It is with heavy hearts that the MIYFS Foundation Board and staff pay tribute to Mai Krishnaswamy, our fellow board member and friend. Mai passed away on October 6 after a long illness. We will miss her and her vibrant contributions to our board and our community immensely.
Mai joined the MIYFS Foundation Board in 2018, making an immediate and profound impact within the organization, serving as the co-chair of the Strategic Marketing Committee, an indispensable member of the Breakfast Committee and as Vice President of the Board. She brought a wealth of professional expertise from the private sector, including a strong skill set in marketing and organizational management. Mai was a visionary, who strove to analyze every detail of our organization and succeeded in improving the processes by which we would clearly and broadly communicate the value of MIYFS essential services to our community.
She always elevated discussions beyond the particular issue at hand to develop strategic goals and concrete steps to improve every aspect of our performance. Mai started by recruiting professionals to create (for free) a modernized Foundation website and enhancing our social media presence. She encouraged the Board to hire and develop professional staff, a prescient pre-COVID goal that allowed us to respond nimbly once the pandemic hit. Mai was tireless and continued to offer valuable input to our Board until her final hospitalization.
Mai was much more than a talented professional. She was the consummate colleague, well known to sit back in a meeting and listen. Once everyone else had spoken, she integrated the best of suggestions into a coherent path forward, always injecting warmth, compassion and humor and deflecting credit for herself by appreciating the contributions of others.
Mai brought people together in every realm. She hosted celebratory luncheons and exuded joy in sharing the rich traditions of her Indian heritage. She extended friendship to new neighbors and spread a message of equity and inclusiveness in all her endeavors. Mai appreciated beauty in all things – art, flowers, music, dancing, a catching graphic — and reveled in sharing beautiful things with her friends.
We extend sympathy to her husband, Suresh; children Divya and Ashwin, as well as her parents, sister and extended family. Our loss is immeasurable, but her legacy lives in our hearts, inspiring us to see clearly, act decisively and be kind in all that we do.
Sincerely,
The MIYFS Foundation Board of Directors & Staff
