Education Plants the Seeds of Change

Dilnavaz Variava is one of the first graduates of IIM Ahmedabad and has served as a director of several companies. Since 1973, she has been a pioneering voice in environmental conservation, serving as CEO of WWF India, Vice President of the Bombay Natural History Society for 20 years, and a member of key national committees including the National Committee for Environmental Planning & Coordination, the National Conservation Strategy Committee, and the National Board for Wildlife. She chaired the Working Group on Ecological Foundations for Sustainable Agriculture for the Government of Maharashtra. Currently, she is President of an educational trust running schools for over 3,500 rural children. Dilnavaz has retired from business to fully dedicate herself to these causes.

Dilnavaz Variava

Founder & Managing Trustee

Firdaus holds a B.Com from Mumbai University and an MBA in Marketing from The College of William & Mary’s Mason School of Business. He is a Trustee of two educational trusts that run schools and vocational training programs in Nashik District, Maharashtra. He also serves as Vice-Chairman of Bharat Floorings and Tiles, a heritage company founded during the Swadeshi movement, known for its artisanal and custom-made floorings. A long-time advocate of organic food, fitness, and sustainability, Firdaus is passionate about healthy living, and enjoys cycling and hiking as part of his lifestyle.

Firdaus Variava

Trustee

Naira Jeejebhoy holds an LL.B. from Mumbai and an LL.M. from Columbia Law School. She is an independent legal counsel, enrolled with both the Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa and the New York State Bar. Naira primarily practices on the Original Side of the Bombay High Court, with a focus on domestic and international arbitration. At Columbia, she served as Vice President of the International Arbitration Association and Editor of the American Review of International Arbitration. She is also a Trustee of an educational trust running schools and vocational training programs in Deolali, Nashik district, Maharashtra.

Naira Jejeebhoy

Trustee

Nidhi holds a degree in Economics (Hons.) from Shri Ram College of Commerce and an MBA from the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad. She spent over a decade at Aon (formerly Hewitt Associates), followed by a leadership role in HR at Teach for India, where she was instrumental in recruiting and placing the organization’s first cohort of Fellows. She is currently the Co-Founder of Peel-Works Pvt. Ltd., a grocery-focused B2B e-commerce company, blending technology and supply chain innovation to empower small retailers.

Nidhi Variava

Trustee

Jehangir has done Bachelors in Arts from Columbia University, USA; LLB from Mumbai University. He is a Solicitor and Counsel at Bomaby High Court, Special Counsel on Panel of liquidators and an arbitrator. He is a trustee of several charitable trusts.

Jehangir Jejeebhoy

Member

Dr. Rupal Dalal (MD, FAAP, IBCLC) is a renowned pediatrician and public health expert in maternal, infant, and young child nutrition. She is Associate Professor (Adjunct) at CTARA, IIT Bombay, Founding Medical Director of the Foundation for Mother and Child Health (FMCH), and Project Leader of the Health Spoken Tutorial initiative at IIT Bombay. With over 15 years of field experience, she has worked extensively in urban slums and rural/tribal areas to prevent malnutrition. She trains UNICEF fellows, mentors nutrition research across India, and advocates for breastfeeding support, early childhood development, and community-based behaviour change through training and counselling.

Dr. Rupal Dalal

Member

Dr. Gogulwar is a medical doctor (MBBS, Nagpur University) with over 35 years of experience in the health sector. He has served as a trustee of Kailash Health Foundation, Mumbai and SEARCH, Gadchiroli, and coordinated several health action committees. Since 2010, he has been the Convener of Aamhi Aamchya Aarogyasathi (AAA), an NGO working in 200+ tribal and rural villages and 45 slums across Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, and Nagpur. He trained 120 women health workers through the Ambuja Cement Foundation and helped form 70 adolescent girls’ groups in Kurkheda Taluka. He was also an invited member of the State NABARD Committee in 1996. His contributions have been recognized with the M.B. Gandhi Trust Puraskar (2000) and the Lifetime Achievement Award by IMA Nagpur (2010).

Dr. Satish Gogulwar

Member

Ms.Madan holds a Master’s in Economics and a Post Graduate Diploma from IIFT, New Delhi. She began her career in international marketing, managing operations across the Middle East, Far East, Europe, and Sri Lanka. After two decades in the corporate sector, she transitioned to the development sector, joining BNHS and later leading the Light of Life Trust in the field of education. Passionate about scaling sustainable social models, she has taught Social Entrepreneurship at TISS and continues to advocate for development solutions rooted in sustainability and community impact.

Ruby Madan

Member

Dr. Shelgaonkar has done her PhD in Medical Pharmacology. She works as free Lance policy maker in prescription monitoring, ADR, drug-drug interactions, infection control, generic prescriptions, medication error, patient counselling, on-line procurements, research activities and Intellectual property rights. She has also developed a medical software for clinical pharmacology, she has Worked for Care hospitals, Nagpur as clinical pharmacologist for NABH approval – 1 year. She was also an Associate professor at ICRI, (Institute of Clinical Research affiliated to Cranfield UK) Mumbai – 18 months and Lecturer (Selection Grade) at Institute of Diploma in Pharmacy, Nagpur- 25 years.

Dr. Meena Shelgaonkar

Member

Distinguished Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer with more than 35 years of leadership experience across public administration, public health, finance, disaster management, governance reform, and institutional development. Served as the first woman Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, leading one of India's largest state administrations. Recognized for leading transformational reforms in public health systems, fiscal governance, digital administration, disaster risk reduction, and citizen-centered governance. Former Principal Secretary of Public Health for Maharashtra, with leadership responsibility for a statewide health system serving approximately 113 million people. International experience includes senior assignments with United Nations missions in Cambodia and Kosovo. Brings extensive experience in complex project and program leadership, cross-department coordination, performance monitoring and reporting, policy implementation, process redesign, stakeholder engagement, change management, equitable resource allocation, and service delivery for vulnerable and underserved populations. Harvard Takemi Fellow and currently pursuing doctoral research at Keio University, Japan, focused on urban climate resilience and heat governance.

Dr. Sujata Saunik IAS (Retd.)

Member

Development professional with over two decades of leadership experience in India’s social sector across health, nutrition, livelihoods, and skill development. Currently serves as Director of The Sahayak Trust (since 2019), guiding initiatives that support adolescents, women, and marginalized communities. Focuses on advancing grassroots programs in nutrition-sensitive agriculture, anaemia reduction, and education-led empowerment. Expanded institutional partnerships and university collaborations to strengthen field implementation. Background includes capacity building, research-driven programme design, strategic execution, sustainable systems-building, community engagement, and outcome measurement. Holds a Master of Social Work, bridging grassroots realities with scalable strategies.

Rajesh KR

Director