Appointments of Manu Sood as Chief Technology Officer and Hetal Patel as Head of Product reflect continued investment in technology, AI and product innovation
FAIRFIELD, Conn., Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Foundation, nonprofits, institutions, and the wealth advisors who serve them, today announced the appointments of Manu Sood as Chief Technology Officer and Hetal Patel as Head of Product, as part of the company’s continued investment in technology, AI and product innovation to support the growth of its PhilTech platform
Foundationations, donor-advised funds and planned giving. The appointments of Ms. Sood and Ms. Patel represent the latest investment in the technology, talent and capabilities supporting that growth, including an increased focus on AI and the addition of a dedicated Head of Product role
“Technology and product are central to how we continue to evolve Foundation Source and create new value for our clients and partners,” said Joseph Mrak III, Chief Executive Officer of Foundation Source. “Manu and Hetal bring deep experience across financial technology, wealth management and enterprise platforms and their appointments add to the talent and expertise we have across the organization. With their leadership, we’re continuing to invest in our technology platform, expand how we leverage AI and build new capabilities that create value for the clients and partners we serve.”
Strengthening Technology Leadership
Ms. Sood brings 26 years of technology leadership experience across fintech, digital banking, and enterprise technology. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at AvidXchange, where she led enterprise technology operations and AI transformation for the B2B payments platform. Previously, she held technology leadership roles at Varo Bank, Western Governors University and Rio Tinto, leading large-scale modernization, cloud transformation and digital platform initiatives.
As Chief Technology Officer, Ms. Sood will lead Foundation business leaders to advance the company’s technology strategy and support the continued evolution of its PhilTech offering. Her focus will include driving technology innovation and identifying new opportunities to leverage data and AI across the business
“Foundation a broad and growing philanthropic offering,” said Ms. Sood. “I’m excited to build on that foundation and explore how technology, data and AI can open up new possibilities for our clients and partners
Advancing a Unified Product Vision
In the newly created role, Ms. Patel brings 18 years of product leadership experience across fintech, private wealth, and enterprise SaaS. Most recently, she served as Managing Director of Product Strategy at CIBC, where she led a $20 million portfolio of wealth management platforms serving ultra-high-net-worth clients and family offices. Previously, she launched AI-driven solutions at Northern Trust and held product leadership roles at AT&T.
As Head of Product, Ms. Patel will lead product strategy and execution across Foundationape the continued evolution of the company’s offerings across private foundations, donor-advised funds and planned giving. She will oversee the company’s product leadership team, with a focus on innovation and new opportunities to create value for Foundation
“The breadth of Foundationrspective,” said Ms. Patel. “I’m excited to help shape what comes next for our product portfolio, with a focus on innovation and creating new ways for clients and partners to achieve their philanthropic goals.”
“Manu and Hetal bring tremendous experience across technology, product and financial services, as well as a strong understanding of the needs of sophisticated clients and institutions,” said Sabrina Bailey, President of Foundationn the people and capabilities that will support Foundationto innovate for our clients and partners.”
Together, the appointments reflect Foundationt expertise supporting its growth as an enterprise-grade PhilTech provider. The company’s solutions span private foundations, donor-advised funds and planned giving, serving donors, nonprofits, advisors and financial institutions across the philanthropic ecosystem
About Foundation Source(foundationsource.com)
Foundation Source is the leading provider of philanthropic software and services. A pioneer in philanthropic technology, we are the partner of choice for integrated, enterprise-grade solutions spanning private foundations, donor-advised funds and planned giving programs. Our flexible suite of tools and resources include end-to-end administrative support for the most popular charitable vehicles, specialized compliance, tax, development and consulting capabilities, and deep domain expertise to help maximize impact, mitigate risk, and improve efficiency for all parts of the philanthropic ecosystem. We work with donors, nonprofits, wealth advisors and financial institutions to launch, enhance or augment charitable initiatives with turnkey, white-label and outsourced offerings that meet a wide range of philanthropic objectives quickly, professionally, and compliantly.
As of December 31, 2025, we support more than 5,600 private foundations, 20,000 DAF accounts, and 1,700 nonprofits, administer more than $55 billion in charitable assets and facilitate more than 190,000 grants and planned gifts representing more than $4 billion in charitable aid annually.
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