ALUMNI
A HELPING HAND
T
he shy student from India learned about what he calls the “dignity of labor” while working and studying his way through graduate school at USC Viterbi. To support himself while earning a master’s degree in electrical engineering in 1985, Narendra Narayanan toiled away in the cafeteria, in the library and in the computer center. He also graded undergraduate papers and worked odd jobs. The variety of work opened Narayanan up to a world of people from diverse backgrounds. Never once, he said, did he feel like he was doing menial work. And those three years helped shape how the now-highly successful entrepreneur conducts business. “USC was a game-changer for me,” said Narayanan, 54, who returned to India in late 1986. Today, Narayanan is managing director of Vinyas Innovative Technologies Pvt Ltd., a group of global electronics manufacturing companies that together generate more than $100 million in annual revenues. Based in Mysore, India, Vinyas has become a corporate champion of employing the disabled. Since 2007, the privately held company has dedicated itself to training and hiring at least two people a year who are either hearing impaired or have a mental disability. Today, more than 10 per-
cent of Vinyas’ global workforce of 1,000 employees is disabled. Of those workers, 80 are hearing impaired, 14 are mentally challenged and 10 have other disabilities. Creating work opportunities for the disabled is a mission Narayanan said was reinforced during his years at USC when he realized firsthand the value
“I LIKE THE ENVIRONMENT AND W O R K I N G C U LT U R E , ” SAID ONE HEARINGIMPAIRED WORKER AT VINYAS INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES. “MY SUPERVISORS ALWAYS ENCOURAGE AND SUPPORT ME TO DO V E R Y W E L L I N M Y J O B .”
Working his way through graduate school helped inspire a USC Viterbi alumnus to employ the disabled in his native India. By Greg Hardesty
of putting in an honest day’s work. But the roots of that mission go back to his childhood. “My father was a psychiatrist and research scholar who did a lot of work with the mentally challenged,” said Narayanan, who was born in Bangalore and earned his undergraduate degree from Bangalore University in 1981. “He would always come home from work and tell me, ‘If these people could work in a “normal” environment it would definitely make a difference in their lives, but that opportunity is not available to them.’” When he launched Vinyas in 2001, Narayanan made it a priority to create work opportunities for the disabled. Prior to forming Vinyas, he established an electronics manufacturing services company for an industrial group in Mysore. Working with local schools for the disabled, Vinyas developed a training program for potential
employees. And the company prodded some of its supervisors to learn sign language. “It’s not been difficult at all,” Narayanan said of the extra investment in time and money required to hire the disabled.
36 Spring 2015