Board Members

Suman Srivastava

Suman Srivastava is the Founder and Innovation Artist at Marketing Unplugged. He is also the author of Marketing Unplugged: Spotting the elephants in the room.

Suman Srivastava enjoys doing new things. A graduate of Delhi University, IIM Ahmedabad and IMD Lausanne, he is an advertising man, strategist, author, marathon runner, teacher, social worker, sports fan, creative bartender and an entrepreneur.

Suman has been the CEO of Euro RSCG India for 5 years and also Chief Strategy Officer for Euro RSCG Asia Pacific. He was the Chairman of Euro RSCG’s emerging markets planning council and a member of the global management committee. Lastly, he was Vice Chairman & Chief Strategy Officer of FCB Ulka Group in India.

In 2011, he started an innovation firm called Marketing Unplugged. The focus of the company is to help Indian companies create marketing innovations and thus achieve extraordinary growth. In this capacity, he has been associated with brands such as Raymond (suitings), CaratLane (online jewellery), Network18 (media), Sweekar (cooking oil), Spuul (entertainment app), Johnson & Johnson (OTC), Navneet (stationery) and FCB Ulka to name a few.

Priya Naik

Samhita Social Ventures evolved from Priya’s work with the Nadathur family’s social initiatives in the areas of nature conservation, art, education for differently-abled children, and livelihood generation through microenterprise.

Prior to working with Nadathur’s family office, Priya co-founded The Spark Group, an education company that delivered affordable education to low income communities. At Spark, Priya helped define strategy, created the business plan and was also instrumental in raising funds from IFMR Trust.

Priya’s interest in social entrepreneurship began when she worked as a Researcher at the Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA. At MIT, Priya was part of two student-led start-ups – Aerovax, a company that created safe, inhalable aerosol vaccines that could be delivered without the use of needles and Kalpataru, a company that delivered innovative, low-cost technology to increase the efficiency of microfinance institutions. Kalpataru’s pilot was tested with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and was presented to Nobel laureate, Dr Muhammad Yunus. Both social enterprises won several awards at MIT.

Priya has worked as a consultant with the International Finance Corporation in Africa. She started her career in Accounting at Arthur Andersen in Mumbai. Her career is an interesting fusion of on-the-ground grassroots solutions through enterprise and strategic consulting experience with established companies, a perfect combination for understanding and implementing CSR projects across the board.

Priya has a Masters in Economics from Yale University, USA, a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA and a Masters in Commerce from Mumbai University where she stood first in the entire graduating class.

Advisors

N.S. Raghavan

N.S. Raghavan is a co-founder and former Joint Managing Director of Infosys who took voluntary retirement from Infosys in the year 2000 to promote his vision of entrepreneurship and India-based global companies on a broader scale.

Nadathur Holdings & Investments was incorporated with the aim of nurturing knowledge-based and innovation-driven ventures that either target the Indian market or leverage Indian resources to target the global market.

Similarly to encourage entrepreneurship in the country and help incubate start-ups, he set up the N. S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) with a contribution of around Rs 12.5 crores.

N S Raghavan was selected by a reputed panel of international judges to receive the Dhirubhai Ambani Award for the year 2004 on the 57th India’s Independence Day banquet held in Los Angeles on Aug 15th. This award was given to him for his outstanding contribution to Entrepreneurship by FOIAC, the City of Los Angeles, County of Los Angeles and Orange County, State of California and the Congressional offices of the USA.

Luis Miranda

Luis is the Managing Trustee of the Collective Good Foundation. He is Senior Advisor to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure and Advisor to the Nadathur Group. He has been involved in setting up two successful companies – HDFC Bank and IDFC Private Equity. He was earlier a partner at ChrysCapital and has worked at HSBC, Citibank, KPMG and Price Waterhouse. He is a member of the Global Advisory Board of Chicago Booth. Luis advises and supports many not-for-profit organisations in India, using his networks to help these organisations. He is also the Chairman of Centre for Civil Society and CORO. He writes a regular blog for Forbes India. He received an MBA from the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Amita N. Vyas

Dr. Amita Vyas is an Assistant Professor & Director of the Maternal & Child Health masters in public health program in the Department of Prevention and Community Health at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, and holds an adjunct appointment with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Vyas is a public health scientist whose primary research focuses on reproductive and sexual health. At George Washington University, Dr. Vyas teaches Reproductive Health: US and Global Perspectives, Adolescent Health & Development, Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health, and Management Approaches to Public Health. Dr. Vyas has given lectures and speeches around the country including Capitol Hill and was the Chair for “Partnerships in Health,” an advocacy briefing and event on Capitol Hill aimed at promoting public-private partnerships to address HIV/AIDS in India.

Krishnan Neelakantan

Krishnan Neelakantan is Senior Director – Investments & Growth strategy at Ankur Capital, a Mumbai-based early stage venture capital fund that invests into high-impact startups in agriculture, education/skill development, healthcare and rural business sectors. He has extensive experience in financial markets and investment research, as well as social development consulting. He spent 17 years as an equity research analyst, market strategist and Head of India Research at ICICI Securities and CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets as one of the leading advisors to foreign institutional investors (FIIs) investing in Indian equities, he and his team were regularly rated at the top in leading Investor Polls. He then changed tracks to join Samhita Social Ventures as Managing Director to build-up the organization’s profile as a specialised social consulting firm. Krishnan remains on the Board of Directors at Samhita, is on the Board of Mentors for IvyCapital Ventures, is a founding member at Social Venture Partners, Mumbai and is a Patron of Adarsh, a Kochi-based NGO focussed on children with disabilities. He has a B.Tech degree from IIT, Bombay and a Post-graduation in Business Management from the XLRI, Jamshedpur. He has also completed executive development programmes of London Business School and University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.

Paresh S. Parasnis

Paresh Parasnis in his current position as Head of Piramal Foundation is responsible for all the CSR activities of Piramal Enterprises Limited. Paresh is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a graduate of Mumbai University. Paresh started his career with Hindustan Lever Limited. He then moved on to HDFC Limited, where he handled various responsibilities. His last assignment in HDFC Ltd was business development and overseeing the operations in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. In November 2000, Paresh moved to a new venture in the HDFC fold to set up the life insurance company, HDFC Standard Life Insurance (a joint venture with Standard Life plc, UK). In November 2008, Paresh was appointed as a full time member of the Board of Directors of HDFC Standard Life and served as the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer till July 2012. During his tenure with HDFC Standard Life, he was a Member of Board Committees and Chair / Member of internal management committees. He also has a vast experience in the area of consulting and has been a Project Manager / Financial Analyst in programs funded by multilateral agencies. He brings with him a rich experience of 30 years with major strengths in strategy formulation, project management, time-bound execution and building robust and customer-friendly servicing models.

Noshir Dadrawala

Mr. Noshir H. Dadrawala is the Chief Executive of the Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy. He has been with the Centre since its inception in 1987. Currently, he serves on international boards as; Member, Asia Pacific Philanthropy Network which is a part of Give2Asia based in San Francisco, member of the Coordinating Committee of Brazil based Worldwide Initiatives & Network of Grant-makers (WINGS), Fellow of the Centre for Study of Philanthropy (New York) which is affiliated to the Graduate School & University Center of the City University of New York, member of the Advisory Council of the U.S. based International Centre for Not-for-profit Law. He is also a trustee of; Resource Alliance (India), India Sponsorship Committee, Make A Wish Foundation – India, V Care Foundation, Chronic Care Foundation, Forbes Foundation, Happy Home and School for the Blind, Junoon Foundation initiated by Sanjana Kapoor and the Jai Ho Trust which he established with the Oscar Winning Director, Danny Boyle. He is a permanent invitee on the Board of the Bombay Community Public Trust that CAP helped to incubate in the year 1990. He was earlier also on the Board of Resource Alliance (UK) and also served on the Ethics Committe of Indian Co-operative Oncology Network (ICON). He was until recently on the Board of the J.D. Bharda Education Society. He also serves on the advisory board of Altamount Capital and Seva Sadan Society. In March 2008 he was appointed by The ‘Planning Commission’ (Government of India) as a member of an Expert Group on feasibility of a New Central Law to serve as an alternative All-India Statute for Voluntary Organizations in India. He serves on the Ethics Committee of the Foundation for Medical Research. He is also on the Audit Committee of the Family Planning Association of India. Mr Dadrawala is also the regional contributing editor of the ‘International Journal on Non-profit Law’ and is Co-author of an internationally acclaimed publication titled, “Philanthropy & Law in South Asia”. Other books he has authored include; The Art of Successful Fund-Raising, Management of Philanthropic Organizations, Laws Governing Voluntary Organizations in India, Merchants of Philanthropy and FAQ on Trusts Act, Income Tax & FCRA. He also co-authored APPC’s Philanthropy & Law in South Asia. He has contributed research papers on not-for-profit law for the Johns Hopkins as also Harvard Universities. He was invited in June 2001 by the London School of Economics to participate in the International Seminar on Charity Laws. Back home, he was a regular contributor to the Bombay Chartered Accountants ‘Association’s Annual Referencer. He conducts seminars and workshops for nonprofits all over the country. He is visiting faculty at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, SNDT University, Nirmalaniketan College (of Social Work), Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, the S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research and SIES College of Management Studies. He is invited regularly by the Rotary & Lions Clubs to address their members.

Suhas Misra

Suhas completed his MBA from IIM Calcutta (Class of 2003) and started his professional career with Coca Cola. In 2005 he moved to Nokia as a Regional Sales Training Manager and in 2006, started ChannelPlay- India’s first integrated Sales Process Outsourcing Company. Suhas was also the Chief Operating Officer of Hector Beverages Private Limited – It has quickly carved out a niche for itself, despite having to deal with deep-pocketed competitors with two unique functional beverages – Tzinga and Paper Boat.

Arun Maira

Arun Maira is a thought leader on social and economic development and transformational change and leadership. He is an author of several books including Shaping the Future: Aspirational Leadership in India and Beyond; Redesigning the Airplane While Flying: Reforming Institutions; and Transforming Capitalism: Improving the World for Everyone. His most recent book is Listening for Well-Being: Conversations with People Not Like Us. He is a frequent speaker at international forums on the reform of institutions.

Mr. Maira is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of HelpAge International and Chairman of the Foundation for MSME Clusters. He was a Member of the Planning Commission of India from 2009 to 2014, and of the National Innovation Council, besides being Chairman of The Boston Consulting Group in India from 2000-2008. Earlier, he worked with the Tata Group for 25 years in senior management and board positions.

Irfan Nooruddin

Irfan is the Director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council. He is also a Professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Dr. Nooruddin conducts research in the political economy of development, trade, and investment, and the challenges of democratization in the 21st century.

He is the author of Elections in Hard Times (Cambridge University Press, 2016) and Coalition Politics and Economic Development (Cambridge University Press, 2011) and more than twenty-five scholarly articles and book chapters. In 2012, he was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC., and is a Team Member of Lokniti: Programme in Comparative Democracy in New Delhi, India. He has received grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID.

Irfan has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan and a BA in Economics and International Studies from Ohio Wesleyan University. He was born and raised in Bombay where he studied at St. Xavier’s College and St. Stanislaus High School.

Nachiket Mor

Nachiket Mor has a PhD in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. His current work is principally focused on the design of national and regional health systems.

He was a member of the Planning Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on Universal Health Care, the Primary Care Task Force of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Health Commission for the State of Himachal Pradesh, and the Standing Committee on Health Systems Strengthening at the National Academy of Medicine in Washington DC. He helped create a new model for comprehensive primary care, pioneered by SughaVazhvu Healthcare in remote rural parts of Tamil Nadu.

He is currently a Visiting Scientist at The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health and a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Information Technology and Public Policy (CITAPP) at IIIT Bangalore.

Amit Garg

Amit Garg leads the regional program strategy, grants management and partnerships for the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS) in India and Bangladesh. GFEMS is a Washington D.C.-based fund backed by the US, UK and Norwegian governments in addition to private foundations and aims to combat human trafficking in all its forms. This includes labour exploitation, bonded labour & child labour in global supply chains (such as construction and apparel) and commercial sexual exploitation of children. Prior to this, he led the philanthropy portfolio for Credit Suisse (CS) bank aimed at education, financial inclusion and skill development. He also led a similar portfolio for Godrej Properties (part of the larger Godrej Industries Group) prior to CS where the grants were aimed at making rural to urban migration safer. Previously Amit has worked with UNICEF as State Coordinator – Monitoring & Evaluation for the state of Bihar in India.

 

He has been a development practitioner in the business and human rights space since 2010 including having been part of the foundation teams of two early-stage social enterprises in workforce development in the healthcare sector.
Amit is an alumnus of the United Nations University and Maastricht University and has a double Masters in Public Policy & Human Development.