How an undisclosed investment, an abrupt leadership change, and unanswered governance questions set the stage for TiE New York’s current crisis
(This story is part of an ongoing series on TiE New York by Darmin Bachu, a community activist with expertise in nonprofit governance and entrepreneurship.)
By Darmin Bachu
For TiE New York, one of the most influential nonprofit entrepreneurship networks in the United States, the current leadership crisis did not begin with a lawsuit, a gala loss, or a threatening text message.
It began, according to multiple sources and documentary evidence reviewed by this reporter, with a quiet but consequential power shift in 2023 — one potentially shaped by a $500,000 private investment that blurred the line between nonprofit governance and personal financial interest.
At the center of that shift: the unexpected 2023 TiE NY presidential election.
By late 2022, TiE New York insiders widely understood that Harjit Singh was the incoming president. Multiple sources, including former board members and chapter leaders, confirmed that Singh had been introduced internally as the next president and had begun informal transition conversations.
Then, abruptly, the plan changed.
In March 2023, outgoing president Dharti B. Desai announced that Manjusha Tipre, a New Jersey resident, would become the new president of TiE New York — and that Jignesh Patel, a close associate of Tipre, would join the board.
No formal explanation was provided to members for why Singh was passed over.
The decision stunned longtime TiE participants.
The role of the outgoing president
Desai publicly claimed that she was pressured by TiE Global to appoint a woman as president. But that explanation quickly unraveled under scrutiny.
TiE New York had already elected women presidents in prior years, long before 2023. Diversity was not a novel concern, nor was the chapter under any known compliance mandate at the time. More notably, in 2025, TiE NY — again with Desai’s support — elected Jignesh Patel, a man, as president.
The inconsistency raised an obvious question: If gender was the decisive factor in 2023, why was it irrelevant two years later?
A $500,000 investment hidden from members
What TiE NY members were not told in 2023, according to three independent sources granted anonymity due to fear of retaliation, was this:
- Manjusha Tipre and Jignesh Patel had jointly invested approximately $500,000 in Thimble.io, a startup founded by Dharti Desai.
- This reporter reviewed an investment deck listing Tipre and Patel as directors, a designation typically reserved for significant investors.
- Thimble.io was actively soliciting investments from within the TiE community during Desai’s presidency.
The financial ties between the outgoing president and the incoming leadership were never disclosed to the membership prior to the election.
Thimble.io: Claims versus reality
Thimble.io markets itself as an educational technology company selling products to schools. Desai has claimed publicly that the company reached over 50,000 customers.
However:
- Despite New York’s requirement that all public school contracts be publicly disclosed, this reporter could find no confirmed government contracts associated with Thimble.io.
- Multiple individuals familiar with the company’s finances stated that sales were minimal relative to capital raised.
- Two sources stated that Desai and her CFO paid themselves salaries exceeding $200,000 annually, despite limited revenue.
None of these facts were disclosed to TiE NY members while Thimble.io was promoted within the organization.
Desai’s leadership role at TiE NY has long drawn scrutiny.
As previously reported, Dharti B. Desai was a principal of Mail Order Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. (MOSI), a company that was permanently enjoined by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in a federal civil enforcement action targeting international mail-fraud schemes that preyed on elderly and vulnerable Americans.
The Department of Justice action barred Desai and MOSI from participating in mail-fraud-related activity, reflecting what federal prosecutors described as serious and systemic misconduct.
Yet Desai served as TiE NY president and later played a decisive role in selecting her successor.
The current turmoil at TiE NY erupted after Jignesh Patel, now president, allegedly sent a threatening message to a charter member who later became the plaintiff in a lawsuit.
According to court filings, Patel stated:
“Dharti Desai is so powerful that she can shut down any business you are having with Ranu Vohra.”
He is later accused of adding:
“I can shut down any business you have with Ashish… I can do the same with Ranu.”
The references were to Ashish Chauhan, president of India’s National Stock Exchange, and Ranu Vohra, cofounder of Avendus Capital—figures with significant influence in Indian and global financial markets.
The plaintiff brought the matter to the TiE NY Board, providing screenshots of the messages. Despite the written evidence, the board cleared Patel of wrongdoing.
Court filings cite two reasons:
- That Ranu Vohra was no longer TiE Mumbai president at the time.
This is factually incorrect. Records confirm Vohra was still in office when the threat was made. - That Patel said “I can” rather than “I will,” and therefore the statement was not a threat.
Governance experts contacted by this reporter described the reasoning as “legally indefensible” and “ethically incoherent.”
The Gala, the Loss, and “No Standing”
The 2023 TiE NY gala—where Desai prominently promoted herself and Thimble.io—ultimately resulted in a reported loss exceeding $40,000.
When the plaintiff later cited the gala as part of a broader pattern of mismanagement, TiE NY responded in court that the plaintiff had “no standing” to complain about events from 2023.
According to the plaintiff’s attorney:
“Standing is a legal term concerning the right to bring an action. It has nothing to do with a member raising concerns about prior mismanagement by ongoing leadership.”
The question that will not go away
Taken together, the undisclosed investment, the abrupt leadership change, the promotion of a private startup through a nonprofit platform, and the board’s handling of alleged threats present a stark question:
Did a $500,000 investment corrupt the 2023 TiE New York election—and set the stage for the organization’s current crisis?
That question is now at the center of an ongoing lawsuit and a broader reckoning for TiE NY.
TiE New York faces a defining moment. How it addresses allegations against its own leadership will determine whether it remains a values-driven institution—or becomes an example of what happens when nonprofit governance yields to private influence.
Dharti Desai, Manjusha Tipre, Jignesh Patel, Vaibhav Parikh and Joe Carbonaro, attorney for TIE NY either did not return messages for comment or refused to comment.
This reporter will continue to seek comment from all parties named and update this story as additional facts emerge.
Here are previous articles in this series:
TiE New York pushes back in court as judge lifts temporary restraining order (December 30, 2025)
Lawsuit against TiE New York filed weeks before gala, with most defendants served during event (December 28, 2025)
Backdated demands, witness conflicts, and escalating legal stakes: New documents intensify scrutiny of TiE New York leadership (December 27, 2025)
New documents raise fresh questions about TiE New York leadership and board oversight (December 25, 2025)