Meet Srikar Potharaju | Executive Director – Checkmate Dementia

We had the good fortune of connecting with Srikar Potharaju and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Srikar, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I had time on my hands, and amidst all the craziness happening in the world around me, I decided to start some service projects to help better my community. For me, it made sense to start something based around chess – I had played the game since I was 10 and knew how much it had helped me; but more importantly, how much it could help others. After looking into the cognitive benefits of chess, I realized that it could be applied to helping senior citizens better their health while providing the opportunity for more entertainment at elderly homes. Soon, I came into contact with several elderly centers and started teaching chess to the residents. That’s how Checkmate Dementia came to be!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Checkmate Dementia has never just been a non-profit. I truly believe we are a community that connects citizens across generations. One of the focal points of our mission is that we are entirely volunteer-based and we rely on youth – particularly middle and high school kids – to take an initiative in service. However, what I’ve realized that Checkmate Dementia has done so well is how youth volunteers are able to connect with the elderly residents – which is an opportunity that is unfortunately diminishing today. Nevertheless, that is something that Checkmate Dementia prides itself on and I hope to see that connection grow brighter and brighter with every day.

Getting to where Checkmate Dementia is today was not easy at all. Since we started during the Pandemic, many centers have been reluctant to allow us to conduct chess lessons; however, by creating virtual models of teaching chess, I was able to teach without actually having been to centers. Since we’ve moved on from the pandemic era, expanding the mission has become a lot easier and we are currently starting to teach in other states as well.

If there’s one thing I’d like people to know about my story it is that service isn’t something you can do by yourself. It’s more important that you are able to share that passion for service with everyone around you and inspire more community service.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Arizona is an amazing place and for most people visiting the Grand Canyon is at the top of their agenda. However, when friends have visited in the past, I like to go hiking at South Mountain and follow it up at one of the plethora of amazing cafes. Another activity that has gotten increasingly popular in AZ is pickleball which as a tennis player, I love to play with visiting friends.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The person I’d like to shout out is one of the residents that I worked with. His name is Sammy and is a Navy Medical Veteran who has served for over 20 years. Having the opportunity to play with Sammy has been one of my greatest experiences and a great motivation for expanding my project. In fact, Sammy has inspired me to take on a path of service, and past academia, I hope to be able to join military service.

Additionally, I would like to thank my mom, Padmaja, for supporting this project and me for so many years.

Website: https://checkmatedementia.org/

Instagram: @checkmate.dementia