Board Members
Anu Aga, Chairperson
Anu Aga is the former Executive Chairperson of the Thermax Group. She is currently on the Board of Directors of the Akanksha Foundation and the Thermax Social Initiatives Foundation. Aga has also been very active in various national and local associations like the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and was the first woman chairperson of CII’s Western Region. She has written extensively and given talks on the subject of women’s empowerment, corporate governance, value-based management and corporate social responsibility. Anu is keenly involved in the causes of communal harmony and human rights, especially for women and children. She also supports various organizations that promote education, in particular education of underprivileged children from slums.
Shaheen Mistri, Chief Executive Officer
Shaheen Mistri is the Founder CEO of Teach For India. She is also the Founder and Chairperson of the Akanksha Foundation, a non-profit organization with a mission to impact the lives of less privileged children, enabling them to maximise their potential and change their lives. Shaheen is an Ashoka Fellow (2001), a Global Leader for Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum (2002), an Asia Society 21 Leader (2006) and serves on the boards of Ummeed, The Thermax Social Initiatives Foundation and is an advisor to the Latika Roy Foundation. She also serves as a committee member for National Council for Teacher Education.
Ashish Dhawan, Board Member
Ashish is the Co-founder of ChrysCapital, a private equity fund that manages approximately $450 million and has offices in New Delhi, India. Ashish has also worked at the Proprietary Investment Group in Goldman Sachs (New York), at GP Investments (Brazil), at McCown De Leeuw & Co. and in the Mergers Group at Wasserstein Perella. Ashish received an MBA with distinction from Harvard University in June 1997 and a dual bachelors degree (BS/BA) in applied mathematics and economics from Yale University in June 1992.
Deepak Satwalekar, Board Member
Deepak has been the Managing Director and CEO of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd. since 2000. Earlier, he served as the Managing Director of Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) since 1993. He has been a consultant to the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (HABITAT).
He holds a degree in Technology from IIT Bombay and is a recipient of the ‘Distinguished Alumnus Award’. He is an MBA from The American University, Washington D.C.
Meher Pudumjee, Board Member
Meher has been Chairperson of Thermax Limited, holding company of Thermax Surface Coatings Ltd. since October 5, 2004. Mrs. Pudumjee served as Vice Chairperson of Thermax Ltd. until October 5,2004. Mrs. Pudumjee holds Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College of Science & Technology, London.
Nandita Dugar, Board Member
Nandita is a former Boston Consulting Group consultant and she also serves on the board of the Akanksha Foundation.
Neel Shahani, Board Member
Neel is a Director, Global Distribution, Barclays Securities. He was a senior vice president and head trader at India Infoline Ltd. He also serves on the board of the Akanksha Foundation.
Nisa Godrej, Board Member
Nisa is the President, Human Capital & Innovation for Godrej Industries and associate companies. Nisa instituted a design and innovation cell in 2010 and is working very closely with the Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) team on the innovation strategy for the company. She has also led the creation of a strategy cell for the group and the development of the FMCG strategy for the Group. Nisa drives the Group’s CSR strategy and is the point person for the operations of the Godrej Family Council. She is on the Board of Directors of Godrej Consumer Products, Godrej Agrovet, Teach For India and the Heroes Project. Nisa has a BSc degree from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Nita M. Ambani, Board Member
Nita Ambani is the Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, Chairperson of Dhirubhai Ambani International School and Chairperson of IMG-Reliance Joint Venture. She has made significant contribution to the social sector especially in education, healthcare, environmental protection and sports. Nita Ambani provides leadership to 12 schools which educate 15,000 children and is leading the new world-class university being set up by Reliance Foundation. The ‘Drishti’ project initiated by her has accomplished over 9,400 corneal transplants. She is leading the modernization of Sir H N Hospital in Mumbai and transforming it into a world-class hospital to provide quality and affordable healthcare. She is the architect of the cricket team ‘Mumbai Indians’ and spirit behind the Mumbai Indians’ Education for All initiative which supports five partner NGOs: Akanksha, Nanhi Kali, Pratham, Teach for India, and Ummeed.
S.Ramadorai, Board Member
Mr. Ramadorai is the Advisor to the Prime Minister of India in the National Council on Skill Development, holding a rank equivalent to an Indian Cabinet Minister. He is the current Chairman of Tata Elxsi and Vice-Chairman of TCS. His tenure as CEO and MD of TCS ended in 2009. Among his many accomplishments are the Padma Bhushan, which he was awarded in 2004, winning Business India’s “Business Man of the Year” award, and receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He has recently written a book about his 43 year long journey at TCS, titled “The TCS Story..and Beyond”
Zia Mody, Board Member
Zia Mody is a prominent Indian legal consultant. Zia studied law at Selwyn College, Cambridge University, followed by a masters degree from Harvard Law School. She passed the New York State Bar examination, and qualified as an attorney in the State of New York. She worked for five years with Baker & McKenzie in New York City, before returning to India. She started her own practice in Mumbai in 1984, which she merged twice with other firms to form AZB & Partners, now India’s second-largest law firm, where she is a senior partner.
Advisory Board
Wendy Kopp
Wendy Kopp is CEO and co-founder of Teach For All, which is fueling a global movement for ensuring educational excellence and equity by accelerating the impact of national organizations that are enlisting their nations’ most promising future leaders in the effort.Wendy founded Teach For America in 1989 . She was recognized as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2008 and is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards for public service. She is the author of A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesn’t in Providing an Excellent Education for All (2011) and One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach For America and What I Learned Along the Way (2000). She holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University.
Girish Bhakoo
Girish Bhakoo is an investment analyst with Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb (RCG), Inc. and a partner at Acacia Partners. At RCG, Girish identifies long-term investments on a global basis while primarily helping to oversee Acacia Partners. Girish joined RCG in 2001, having spent the prior 6 years at global investment manager Equinox Partners and its sister firm Mason Hill Asset Management. Girish joined Mason Hill / Equinox as an intern investment analyst during college and then full-time in 1995 and was a partner there prior to his departure. Mr. Bhakoo graduated from Williams College in 1995 and holds the CFA designation. He resides in New York City.
Mallika Singh
Mallika is a Principal with Omidyar Network, an impact investment firm which has deployed over $500 million globally. Previously, Mallika served as the first country head for Endeavor India. Prior to joining Endeavor, Mallika had a career in investment banking where she worked in the leveraged finance group at Citi, provided M&A advisory services at Broadview, and worked in the fixed income division at Goldman Sachs. Mallika earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BA in mathematics and economics from Smith College, where she graduated magna cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Ajit Rangnekar
Ajit Rangnekar is the Dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB).
As the Dean, Rangnekar steers the School’s vision to be among the globally top-ranked, research-driven management institutions. Prior to taking charge as Dean, he was the Deputy Dean of the ISB from March 2003 to January 2009. Rangnekar has a background spanning over thirty years in Consulting and Industry across different countries in Asia. Before joining the ISB, he was the Country Head, first for Price Waterhouse Consulting and then for PwC Consulting, in Hong Kong and the Philippines. He was head of the Telecom and Entertainment Industry Consulting practice for PwC in East Asia (China to Indonesia). He worked with Associated Cements Companies, India (1970 to 1981) prior to moving to Hong Kong.
Rangnekar holds an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, before completing his post graduation in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
