Irving, Texas: Elevate 2025, the fifth annual global conference of Tamil Entrepreneurs and Mentorship Services (TEAMS), was held on September 26–27, drawing more than 450 participants and featuring over 30 speakers from the United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada, Singapore, and Malaysia. 

The two-day event explored key issues in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, space technology, and cryptocurrency.

The conference was inaugurated by Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer, who served as chief guest. Council Member David Pfaff, Consul General of India in Houston, Manjunath Chenneerappa, Indiaspora founder MR Rangaswami, TEAMS Founders Yuva GKPathm and Senthilkumar Manoharan, Global President of TEAMS 2025, Saravanan Vivek Ananadan, Dallas TEAMS President Narayanan Ramaswamy, FEKKI.ai Founder Ganesh Radhakrishnan, TEAMS Chief Advisor Arumugam Murukiah, Srinivasan Radhakrishnan of Aroopa Apps and others also addressed during the conference. 

Both Mayor Stopfer and Council Member Pfaff expressed appreciation for the thriving Indian community and its contributions to local development, reaffirming “Irving as a welcoming home for entrepreneurs and professionals.”

In his address, Consul General Chenneerappa underscored India’s growth story powered by innovation and entrepreneurship, and also highlighted GST 2.0 reforms, Viksit Bharat Vision and the Run 2025 organized in Houston on Sep 28. 

In his special address, Rangaswami, who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s, reflected on his early experiences as a newcomer. He recounted losing his luggage during a Greyhound bus journey, only to be surprised when his American host family went to Kmart to replace his missing “pots and pans.” 

“I really saw the warmth of America, then. And today that’s become very different. In those days, America I knew was warm, welcoming, and supportive of immigrants. It’s upon us, immigrants who are in this room now to change that narrative,” he said.

Rangaswami emphasized the contributions immigrants make to the United States. “When immigrants come, they work hard, they make money, they create jobs. Immigrants don’t steal jobs. The whole narrative has to be changed,” he said, adding that immigrant communities often improve the neighborhoods they move into.

He pointed to the economic impact of Indian Americans, noting they comprise just 1 per cent of the U.S. population but contribute 6 per cent of federal tax revenue. “We’re not stealing jobs. We’re paying. Otherwise, the United States will have a bigger deficit. So, if people tell us to go home, we take the 6 per cent with us,” he said to applause.

To counter misinformation, Indiaspora recently launched an X (formerly Twitter) account, Real Indian American, which shares factual information about immigrant contributions, including homeownership, education, and tax payments.

Rangaswami also highlighted the growing presence of Indian Americans in Silicon Valley, where he first arrived in 1982. “At the time there were only 10,000 Indians. Now, there are 450,000,” he noted.

Sharing his own journey of community building, Rangaswami recalled organizing the Enterprise conference in the 2000s, which generated millions for nonprofits and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. “It became widely successful. I’ve done this for 15 years. We have given away over $2.5 million to nonprofits, and another $25 million through CSR from all the CEOs who showed up at the event. And that’s when I accidentally became a philanthropist.”

This spirit of giving led him to establish Indiaspora, which has since become a global platform uniting members of the Indian diaspora. 

Highlighting a few risks he took after founding the organization, he said “As entrepreneurs, you take risk. Even as nonprofit entrepreneurs, we take risk. So sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” underscoring “The way we won was we started becoming a political force in Washington.”

He recalled that through risk-taking and advocacy, the organization established itself as a political force in Washington, D.C. In 2017, during an Indiaspora gala, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several U.S. senators acknowledged the growing political influence of Indian Americans.

Rangaswami also spoke about Indiaspora’s role in humanitarian relief, including raising $15 million during the COVID-19 crisis, with $2 million directed to Tamil Nadu. The organization was also instrumental in securing a U.S. postal stamp commemorating Diwali in 2016.

Today, he noted, there are approximately 35 million people of Indian origin worldwide, with five million residing in the United States. In fact, he noted there are about one million diaspora members living in Australia and recently the country’s Prime Minister has called Indian Australians a “national asset.”

“Indian ethos is all about selfless service and giving to people,” he said, outlining Indiaspora’s initiatives such as Give Where You Live and Giving to India to encourage philanthropy.

The TEAMS conference also provided a platform for Tamil entrepreneurs to connect and collaborate. TEAMS Secretary and Elevate 2025 Director Vasan Ponnusamy explained that the group identifies “Givers,” established entrepreneurs who share knowledge, and “Takers, emerging entrepreneurs seeking guidance. “This conference is about bringing these groups together to collaborate, network, share ideas, and mutually benefit,” he said.

Founder of TEAMS Yuva GKPathm described how TEAMS began as a WhatsApp group, originally called the “Tamil Billionaire Community,” where Tamil-speaking entrepreneurs in the U.S. and India exchanged ideas freely. “We grew from 150 members to over 600 entrepreneurs now with eight chapters. Our very first meeting happened December 5, 2021. We coined the name Elevate, to help and uplift each other,” he said.

Despite challenges, the organization has expanded rapidly. “Over the last five years, we have encountered a lot of challenges, but it made us strong. The organization is run by volunteers, and we have not charged a penny from any participants. This is one of the largest conferences run completely by sponsors and well-wishers,” GKPathm added.

A number of panel discussions on important topics were also held during the event. 

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