Sooch Foundation was founded by Navdeep Sooch, co-founder and chairman of the board of Silicon Laboratories, a mixed-signal chip design company headquartered in Austin, Texas. As a tech entrepreneur, Nav continues to develop ventures in this arena. Nav was born in Punjab, India. He moved to Detroit, Michigan at age ten, where he attended Detroit public schools and the University of Michigan. He completed his graduate work at Stanford University. Nav credits his personal success chiefly to the educational opportunities afforded him. He believes that education can be the single biggest factor in an individual reaching a level of full self-sufficiency. For this reason, when Nav decided to start his own private charitable foundation, he made it a highest priority to find entities willing to help open the doors of better educational opportunities to the poorest of the poor. As a product of US public schools, Nav acknowledges that the public and private school system in the US is still among the best in the world, while at the same time realizing that an equal education is not available to all. The foundation is committed to helping economically disadvantaged people achieve better access to the strengths of the system, with the ultimate goal of helping them reach financial independence for themselves, their families and their descendants through betterment of their education. As Silicon Laboratories is founded and centered in Austin, Sooch Foundation limits its funding to educational programs located in this community and serving Austinites. Previously, the foundation supported projects in India to honor Nav’s heritage.
