Sarita James is an Indian American entrepreneur and the wife of founder and CEO of the homeownership company Better.com, Vishal Garg, who bagged the headlines for firing 900 employees via a Zoom call.
Wiki/Biography
Sarita James was born in 1976 (age 45 years; as of 2021) in India. Sarita went to Homestead Senior High School, Florida for her primary education. She primarily studied mathematics and computer science for higher education at Purdue University Fort Wayne, Indiana. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Harvard College, Massachusetts, and an MBA from the University of Oxford, England. [1]
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 8″
Weight (approx.): 55 Kg
Eye Colour: Black
Hair Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Sarita James belongs to an Indian family.
Husband & Children
Sarita James is married to an Indian-American entrepreneur, Vishal Garg, who is the chief executive officer of mortgage lending company Better.com and also the co-founder of MyRichUncle, a student loan company. The couple is blessed with three children, two boys and a girl. The name of their daughter is Uma.
Sarita James’s husband Vishal Garg
Sarita James’s daughter, Uma
Career
Microsoft Corporation
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Program Manager
In 1998, Sarita James began her corporate-sector career by joining Microsoft Corporation. Working as a program manager, she developed technical specifications for Microsoft Office 2003, managed feature work and scheduled driving the work of 15 full-time engineers. She also worked closely with the divisional management department as the point person for product overviews presented to Bill Gates and executive staff. On the technical front, she received patents for two technologies core to Microsoft’s .NET development platform.
- Technology Consultant
In 2003, she again joined the Microsoft Corporation, but this time as a Technology Consultant. Her service included translating business needs to technology solutions for executives and their staff at two major financial services clients: Bloomberg, L.P. and Deutsche Bank, A.G. Sarita, after working for more than a year, left Microsoft in 2004.
McKinsey & Company
- Management Consultant
Sarita James, in 2005, started working as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company. She served media clients on issues of growth strategy, operational efficiency, and communications. Later, she transitioned into government leadership with McKinsey’s full support as part of the firm’s sabbatical program.
New York City Economic Development Corporation
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Executive Vice President, Strategy and Policy Division
In 2006, Sarita James was employed as the Executive Vice President, Strategy, and Policy Division at the New York City Economic Development Corporation. She worked to strengthen and grow New York City’s economy and job base for which she executed a 50-person strategy and policy team. Some other initiatives included strategising the congestion pricing for cars entering NYC, legislative reform in support of the financial services industry, and a revitalization strategy for New York’s fashion district. Her quality performance let her be promoted from Vice President of the Strategic Planning department to Senior Vice President (manager) of the department to Executive Vice President of the division.
U.S. Small Business Administration
- White House Fellow
Sarita James, in 2008, was appointed under the President’s one-year, mid-career nonpartisan leadership program under President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. She was amongst 14 White House Fellows selected from a pool of more than 1000 applicants. During the program, she served as the Acting Branch Chief of SBA’s Microloan Program, which provides 100 million in small business loans, empowering low-income women and people of colour through non-profit microlenders. She also led the program through the financial crisis and scaled funding from $100 million to 150 million.
Citi
- Chief Operating Officer, Citi Ventures
In 2010, Sarita James started serving in the leadership team of Citi’s corporate venturing unit. She managed the investment of 100 million alongside Tier-1 VCs in start-ups related to strategic growth areas for the firm.
- Product Manager and Director, Citi Enterprise Payments
In 2011, she was promoted as the Product Manager and Director for Citi Enterprise Payments. She did product management within healthcare payments.
Embark Corporation
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CEO
Sarita James became the chief executive officer of the online application and admissions software “Embark” in 2014. According to Harvard alumni, Sarita Embark has powered over 13 million student applications from more than 150 countries.
Marathon Digital Holdings
- Independent Board Director
In August 2021, Sarita James joined Marathon Digital Holdings as the Independent Board Director and Audit Committee member.
Facts/Trivia
- After working for 3 years, in 2001, Sarita took a break on the professional front to pursue a Master of Business Administration from Oxford University.
