Who We Are
At Synergies Work, we believe that every person has a gift to offer the world – a gift of hand, a gift of heart, or a gift of head. For people with disabilities, those gifts often go unnoticed or ignored due to systematic obstacles erected over centuries.
If we do not create a path for their success, then we risk leaving millions of people behind. We risk forcing the most vulnerable of our population into hidden poverty – where they live distanced from the community, marginalized, and isolated. As our world flourishes, theirs dims.
Our Mission
To inspire people with disabilities to discover their talents and turn ideas into sustainable businesses. We provide opportunities, create opportunities, and help level the playing field for equal talent and close the network gaps.
Our Vision
Synergies Work, envisions an equitable world where ALL individuals have opportunities to tap into their boundless talent, spread their wings, test their curiosity and expand their vision of what is possible and positive.
Our Reason Why
We believe that everyone has something to offer the world – a gift of hand, a gift of heart, or a gift of head. By meeting individuals where they are, we help them discover their true passion and translate their talents into a meaningful business venture.
Founded by the parent of a young adult with Down Syndrome, Synergies Work believes in raising the bar for individuals with disabilities by challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations. The work is slow and deliberate, but we are ready to do it because for us, every individual matters. Like a caring parent, we nurture each individual and their business with faith and patient while creating a “holding environment” for their business that buffers them against distress and creates room for experimentation.
Our Board
Aarti Sahgal
Aarti is the founder & CEO of Synergies Work. As a parent of a child with Down syndrome she is constantly challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations that excludes people with intellectual disabilities from living their true potential. In the past 15 years she has worked as a diversity consultant in the disability field. Before that she worked in the marketing & advertising field for 14 years.
Ashish Thakur
Ashish Narayan Thakur is a recovering global banker, failed tech startup and currently an Executive Director and Board Member of the Atlanta CEO Council (ACEO) connecting later stage product and technology CEOs to capital, customers and talent. Ashish has extensive private company board experience advising companies up to $100mm. Before ACEO, he raised several million dollars to grow the Atlanta chapter of TiE Global, one of the world’s largest entrepreneurial organizations.
Arjun Sahgal
Arjun Sahgal is the general manger at Future Labs, NYU. Arjun Sahgal is the General Manager for Investments and Programming at Future Labs and a board member at Synergies Works. He started his career at Silicon Valley Bank before transitioning to co-founding his startup Eazel. After growing Eazel, he exited in 2019 and started working on the other side of the table at the Future Labs Accelerator. Outside of work, Arjun is a marathoner, wannabe triathlete, and squash player. Synergies Work is close to his heart as his younger brother, Angad who has Down syndrome.
Steven Hartman
Steve Hartman is currently vice president at GE Gas Power focused on decarbonization. Steve has more than 34 years of experience in the power generation industry for both GE and a startup, with a career focused on building teams to grow businesses by providing solutions to customers. Steve is currently on the Advisory Board for the Engineering Department at University of Georgia, with past board support for Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute, Cobb County Chamber, and GE Inspection Robotics. Steve tries to live by his mother’s advice “Work hard, be good, help others”, and is excited to help others with disabilities learn and grow and realize their goals of being an entrepreneur.
Alpa Sutaria
Alpa Sutaria is currently the Vice President and General Manger, Sustainability for The Coca-Cola Company in North America. Over a 30-year career with Procter & Gamble, Deloitte Consulting and the Coca-Cola system, Alpa has followed her passion to solve challenging problems and create sustainable business growth while fostering an inclusive working culture. She believes deeply in the power to create positive change by supporting and empowering people to help themselves.
Athar Khan
Athar Khan is the Director, International Specialty Sales, Delta Airlines. He oversees Delta’s relationship with accounts in Asia Pacific, Latin and EMEAI Consolidator business, within the United States. Athar and his team coordinate joint selling activities with their partners AeroMexico, Air France/KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Korean Air, and China Eastern. Athar is a graduate of Marlboro College in Vermont and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and sociology.
Peter Baron
Although Peter began his career in NYC, he ultimately found his way to the sunny South and made it home. True to our agency name, he is one connected guy—some think he knows pretty much everyone in the Atlanta tech community. While Peter drives agency direction, he also consults on accounts and offers campaign strategy. Fun fact: You may not realize it since he dropped the accent years ago, but Peter is an expatriate of the U.K.
Carrie Stimmel
Carrie Stimmel is Executive Vice President, Advertising Sales and Partnerships at NBCUniversal. In this position, Stimmel leads sales teams managing national advertising and partnerships. Stimmel is a graduate of Michigan State University and received a B.A. in Telecommunications. She resides in Pelham with her husband and is most proud of their 9 year old son and his best friend, their dog Ruby. As the mother of a son on the Autistic Spectrum she is very passionate about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Zen Kramer
Zen Kramer is a Packaging Engineer turned marketer with a keen interest for innovation, data-driven insights, and sustainability. He has a relentless passion to help brands and organizations create stories worth sharing and deliver consumer-centric solutions that drive business results. Zen is a servant leader and inclusion champion that believes in empowering change through volunteering, education, and mentorship.
