Shaheen Mistri, Chief Executive Officer

Shaheen Mistri is the founder 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. Akanksha works primarily in the field of education, addressing non formal education through the Akanksha centre model and also formal education by initiating school reform. Over the past 19 years, the organization has expanded from 15 children in one centre to over 3,500 children across Mumbai and Pune. Mistri 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. Mistri has been working on the idea of Teach For India from 2007, and serves as its founding CEO and one of its founding Board Members.

Anu Aga, Board Member

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. Aga 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.

Girish Bhakoo, Board Member

Girish Bhakoo is an investment analyst with Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb (RCG), Inc. and a partner at Acacia Partners.  At RCG, Girish identifies long-term investment opportunities 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.  Bhakoo graduated from Williams College in 1995 and holds the CFA designation.  He resides in New York City and serves on various business and civic boards.

Rajat Gupta, Board Member

Rajat Gupta is the former Managing Director of McKinsey & Company worldwide. He is the chairman of the Board of the Indian School of Business. In addition to this, Gupta is on the advisory boards of Harvard Business School and the Kellogg School of Management. He is the co-chair of the American Indian Foundation (AIF), whose mission it is to accelerate social and economic change in India. Gupta is also on the board of trustees of the University of Chicago and the Rockefeller Foundation. He has advised McKinsey´s work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as well as acted as an advisor to former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.

Wendy Kopp, Board Member

Wendy Kopp is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Teach For America. Kopp proposed the creation of Teach For America in her undergraduate senior thesis in 1989 and has spent the last 18 years working to sustain and grow the organization. Under Kopp´s leadership, Teach For America is in the midst of an effort to grow to scale while maximizing the impact of corps members and alumni as a force for short-term and long-term change. Kopp serves on the board of directors of The New Teacher Project, and on the advisory boards of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Duke University´s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship and the National Council on Teacher Quality. She also holds honorary doctorate degrees from Mount Holyoke College (2007), Rhodes College (2007), Pace University (2004), Mercy College (2004), Smith College (2001), Princeton University (2000), Connecticut College (1995), and Drew University (1995). She is the youngest person and the first woman to receive Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson Award (1993), the highest honor the school confers on its undergraduate alumni.

In 1994, Time Magazine recognized her as one of the forty most promising leaders under 40; in 2006, U.S. News & World Report recognized her as one of America´s Best Leaders. Kopp has also been recognized with The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education Award (2006), the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award (2004), the Clinton Center Award for Leadership and National Service (2003), the Schwab Foundation's Outstanding Social Entrepreneur Award (2003), Aetna's Voice of Conscience Award (1994), the Citizen Activist Award from the Gleitsman Foundation (1994), and the Jefferson Award for Public Service (1991).

Deepak Satwalekar, Board Member

Deepak M Satwalekar has recently retired as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd. Earlier, Mr. Satwalekar was the Managing Director of HDFC, the country´s largest mortgage lender. Mr Satwalekar received a B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from IIT, Mumbai and a M.B.A. from the American University. Mr. Satwalekar has been a consultant to the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and other bilateral and multilateral agencies and has worked in several countries. Besides being a recipient of the “Distinguished Alumnus Awards from IIT, Bombay, he is on the Advisory Council of the IIT, Bombay. He has been a member of/chaired several industry, Reserve Bank of India and government expert groups. He also serves as an independent director on the boards of some companies in India.

Nisa Godrej

Nisa is the Executive Vice President, Business Development of Godrej Industries. She led a group wide portfolio strategy initiative and has been instrumental in setting up a strategy cell for Godrej. Nisa is also closely involved in the selection and development of top management and employee engagement with a specific focus on Godrej's Agri and FMCG portfolios.Nisa has a BSc degree from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is passionate about reading, trekking, equestrian and water sports.