Charu sharma

Charu is a Silicon Valley-based Indian explorer, serial entrepreneur, and author. With 5 National Awards, expeditions to all 7 continents, over 600 stage shows, and three books published, Charu was enlisted as a “Power Woman alongside such notables as Oprah Winfrey, Sonia Gandhi, and Melinda Gates by Youth Incorporated magazine in March 2012.
She has dedicated all her savings and her last four years to create a global movement Go Against the Flow to educate 1 million women to take risks and build their own businesses. She has screened her documentary film all around the world – from the Empire State building in New York to the National Gallery of Singapore.
Charu built two-award winning startup companies out of her college dorm room before getting recruited to LinkedIn to grow their Talent Solutions revenue. Charu is currently building her third startup venture Next Play, which is an artificial intelligence software product that helps women in the workplace to advance in their careers through 1:1 mentorship.
In 2003, Charu and brother Chinmay were awarded the National Bravery Award by the Prime Minister of India for fighting with two goons in a train robbery and saving lives of women, making them ‘national heroes’ overnight. Charu went on to achieve black-belts in Karate and Taekwondo, represented India in Taekwondo in South Korea, and has been an advocate for self-defense training for women. The education board has dedicated chapters to her in the 10th grade English textbook and the 9th grade Hindi textbook in high schools in Maharashtra, India.
Charu has been involved with startups and VC firms in Silicon Valley and New York City, holds business certificates from the Stanford GSB and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and she has previously worked with NASA Scientists, researchers in Antarctica, Bankers at Wall Street, senior journalists and top politicians. She has contributed to Huffington Post, Venture Beat, Business Insider, The Times of India and Youth Incorporated among other publications. She organized TEDxRiverNorth in Chicago, and she has spoken at two TEDx conferences on risk-taking and entrepreneurship respectively.