People on the Move highlights the career advancements of high-level trailblazers working professionally in diverse areas of standardization, contributing every day to the strength and success of the U.S. standards and conformance community.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced that Pravina Raghavan is the new director of its Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP).
Raghavan brings with her more than two decades of experience as an advisor to businesses in the startup, growth, expansion, and maturity stages of development. Most recently, she was executive vice president in the Division of Small Business and Technology Development for Empire State Development. Raghavan has also worked at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as deputy associate administrator of investment and innovation, and as director for their New York District Office. Other roles she has held over the course of her career include senior advisor to then-Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce H. Andrews, a vice president with MTV and BET Networks, a founder and owner of a global strategic advisory firm, and a business development director for Misys PLC.
“We are excited to welcome Pravina to NIST to lead the Manufacturing Extension Partnership as it helps to ensure our country has a strong manufacturing base,” said James Olthoff, who is performing the nonexclusive functions and duties of the under secretary of commerce for standards and technology and NIST director. “She has extensive experience connecting companies with the resources they need to succeed, which is exactly what MEP’s public-private partnerships do for manufacturers across the United States.”
The American Petroleum Institute (API), a member and accredited standards developer of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), has promoted Anchal Liddar to senior vice president of Global Industry Services (GIS). In this role, Liddar will oversee more than 100 safety and engineering professionals, and guide the natural gas and oil industry’s standards development and suite of programs that drive safety, environmental protection, and sustainability.
Previously, Liddar was vice president of GIS's business services department, where she oversaw communications and marketing, global business development, and the organization's technical services. Before coming to API, Liddar was with Boeing, where she held several roles over nine years in supply chain, finance, and program management.
“The safety and reliability of our operations are the cornerstone of our industry,” API president and CEO Mike Sommers said. “We’re thrilled to have Anchal lead such a foundational division of API, where she’ll continue to expand our innovative safety and operational services and build upon environmental and safety initiatives like API’s Energy Excellence that have made API an industry leader.”