Mr. John Peter Nelson
Member
John Peter Nelson holds a Masters degree in Social Work from Loyola College, Chennai, Madras University. He has a working experience of over 25 years in national level development and program management. His expertise lies in social analysis and organization of people, coordination and networking of NGOs, process reporting and documentation and rapid assessment skills during disasters.
He actively participated in international consultation on Red Cross code of conduct for humanitarian operations in Netherlands and partnership discussions with most of the European countries which he visited.
His expertise lies in social and community development project management, organizational development and change management, result based management and quality assurance of programme delivery.
Abp. Elias Gonsalves
Member
Born in Chulna village, Maharashtra, on July 4, 1961, Bishop Gonsalves studied at St. Xavier's High School, Manickpur. After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in History and Economics from the University of Bombay in 1982, he joined St. Pius X College, Goregaon, Mumbai. Bishop Gonsalves specialized in Community Based Development and Leadership from St. Francis Xavier University, Coady Institute, Canada, and did studies in Counselling. As a priest he was engaged in various capacities in parishes, youth ministry, social work and education.
He compiled the "AntarBhartiGeetmala" (In Seven Languages) Hymnal for Raigad Dist. He was the editor of the News Bulletin "CSA Impact", a Bulletin of the Archdiocese of Bombay from 2009. He has also written some articles in this bulletin. He has also written articles in “The Examiner”. He also wrote articles in Marathi in the Parish Bulletin and the Youth Bulletin when he served as a Priest.
He has been In Charge of Catholic Education in Western Region Catholic BishopCouncil.(Maharashtra, Gujrat, Goa). He was a main instrument in forming Western Region Catholic Foundation ForEducation ( WRCFE ) as Registered Company under Companies Act 2013.
Mr. George Koshi
Treasurer
George Koshi is a Chartered Accountant by profession. He is now a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He is also a partner in Koshi and George, Chartered Accountants (an accountancy firm). He has specialised in work relating to charitable organisations and professionally assists over 100 NGOs working in the charitable and religious sector.
George Koshi holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Madras Christian College, Tambaram, Chennai, in 1978. Thereafter, he completed his chartered accountancy in 1983.
Mr. Suresh Rao
Executive Director and Ex-Officio Secretary
Suresh Rao is a development professional with over 25 years of experience in domains such as Child Protection, Education and Disaster Response. He has been associated with organizations such as YUVA, CRY, CRS, ECUCO and Tata Power.
He started his career by building and developing a nationwide civil society campaign against child labour during the ‘90s; which culminated in the intensive advocacy around the Right to Education Bill in the 2000s.
During the decade starting 2001, he managed various disaster response projects through direct intervention, to address child safety, tracking, emergency helpline, education, etc.; in different disasters such as earthquake, riots, floods and tsunami.
Through leadership positions in CRS of Tata Power (CSR) and EDUCO, he has been instrumental in developing organizational strategy, including strategies for program development, NGO partnerships, volunteering, resource mobilization, impact and learning.
His most recent novel venture includes use of disruptive bamboo technology that can completely replace steel and cement, in building rural infrastructure such as water tanks, poultry sheds, cowsheds, etc. This venture is an aspirational Gandhian gram swaraj initiative.
Dr. Shailendra Awale
Member
Dr. Shalendra Awale is a medical graduate, management specialist and a policy analyst. He has more than 25 years of experience in the field of development and implementation of health policies and programmes with focus on women and children across India. His passion is working among youth adults and theatre. He has also done courses on Theatre Appreciation programme from NSD.
Dr. Cherian Joseph
Vice-Chairperson
Dr Cherian Joseph is an Organizational Sociologist who has engaged over the last forty plus years in research, training and consulting on organisational development, industrial relations, human resource management and organizational work reforms. He has worked with corporate, government, multilateral, INGOs and Indian social sector organisations. He was a Faculty of the V.V.Giri National Labour Institute, Delhi / Noida from 1979 to 1995. Subsequently he moved on to independent consulting, focusing on long term interventions focusing on change management in the corporate sector and on concerns of human and institution development with international and national development organizations.
From 2013 to July 2019, he was Advisor Learning and Institutional development for LOGIN Asia, a knowledge and learning network (supported by Swiss Development Cooperation) on decentralization and local government. This multi-stakeholder, multi-country network on decentralisation and local government covered twelve South and East Asian countries. He participated in various assignments to some of these countries. In late 2018 he led a UNDP team for a Mid Term Review of a Project of UNDP Mongolia with the Parliament of Mongolia on “Strengthening Representative Bodies in Mongolia.” He is currently Institutional Advisor to Transform Rural India Foundation ( TRIF) since 2015.
He was on the Governing Board of NEG-FIRE from 2011 to 2017, during which he was Chairperson of NEG-FIRE from 2013 – 2017.He returned to the Board of NEG-FIRE in 2020 and is currently Vice Chairperson. He is also Vice President of Indo Global Social Service Society and on the Governing Council of ETASHA Society.
He holds a Ph.D. and Postgraduate Degree in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University. He is trained in the use of Moderation for dialogue management and has extensive exposure to behavioural process training skills, shaped and internalised during his work at National Labour Institute.
P.V. Krishna Rao
Individual Member Rao is a Post Graduate in Labor Management from Tamil Nadu Institute of Labour Studies and Bachelors in Philosophy from Ramakrishna Mission's Vivekananda College Chennai.
Work Experience: 25 years of work experience in organizations and Indian Companies like Ashok Leyland, Karvy Consultants, Dr Reddy's, AstraZeneca, Chevron (India, Lanka and Singapore), Mylan (India & China).
Presently working with: Indian School of Business Hyderabad, as Director HR Areas of Key expertise: Performed diverse roles, Organization Development, Talent Acquisition, Planning, Human Relations, and Leadership role. Led organizations from 500 to 15000 employees in India and overseas.
Brother Abraham Kadliyil Abraham
Member
Abraham Kadliyil Abraham is member of the Religious Society of Franciscan Missionary Brothers. He has his MA and Doctoral Degree from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California. After his studies he has rendered servicesin various capacities to religious and human developmental activities of his Religious Society including the principal of Vidya Deep College, Bangalore, the provincial of Delhi province of the Religious Society, Chairman of ChildLine Jhansi, and the vice-president of Conference of Religious India. At present, Abraham Kadliyil Abraham is the Director of St. Francis School, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
Lourdes Peter Baptista
Individual Member
A graduate in Law and a post-graduate in Commerce, currently Lourdes Peter Baptista is the Chief Executive of WaterAid in India and Jal Seva Charitable Foundation. Earlier he was the Chief Executive of the Don Bosco Development Society, Associate Senior Faculty with the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India and Finance Executive, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India). His major contribution has been in programme development and management, finance management and organisation development. He has developed the Post Graduate Diploma in Management of NGOs at EDI in the year 2000, set up Don Bosco Development Society in Mumbai and now Jal Seva Charitable Foundation.
Charles Irudayam
Individual Member
Charles Irudayam is currently Secretary, Office for Justice, Peace and Development, Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, New Delhi. He holds a Master's Degree in Psychology (MA) from Annamalai University, India and a Master's Degree in Religious Studies (MRS), a Licentiate Degree in Theology (STL) and a Doctorate in Theology (Ph.D., STD.) from Catholic University, Leuven, Belgium. He has been the Secretary of the Center for Liberation Theologies, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium from 2003 to 2007. After his doctorate in Belgium he was teaching Moral Theology for three years (2007-2010) in St. Peter's Pontifical Institute, Bangalore. He was the associate Editor of Indian Theological Studies, St. Peter's Pontifical Institute, Bangalore and the Business Manager of Indian Theological Studies and Studies in Church Law, St. Peter's Pontifical Institute from 2008 to 2010. He has authored three books and written many theological articles both in the national and international Journals of Theology. He is a visiting professor at VidyaJyoti College of Theology, New Delhi. He is the member of International Advisory Committee for Hotline Asia from September 2010.
S. M. Haider Rizvi
Individual Member
Haider Rizvi has M. Phil & Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Post Doctorate in Participatory Designing for International Development from Sheffield Hallam University, UK. A recipient of Manthan South Asia Award 2009, Haider has been managing national and international development programmes and research projects for the empowerment of poor and marginalized and has worked extensively in areas of strengthening of local self-governance institutions and civil society organisations; education agriculture extension and livelihoods empowerments; labour issues; health; ICT4D; poverty alleviations and gender mainstreaming. He has been published extensively on development issues in international and national peer reviewed journals. Currently, Haider is working as Director (Policy Analysis) at School of Good Governance and Policy Analysis of Government of Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, he has worked with national and international organizations of repute such as Sheffield Hallam University, UK; Azim Premji Foundation, India; Aga Khan Education Service, India; Sahbhagi Shikshan Kendra, India; V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, India; PRAYAS – Juvenile Aid Centre, India and provided consultancy to various national and international organizations. He is member of various national and international professional bodies.
Dr. Asha Singh
Chairperson
Dr.Asha Singh is an independent consultant. She served as Associate Professor in Delhi University, Dept. of Human Development and Childhood Studies. Former Director, Education & Research, GalliGalliSimSim (Preschool Television in collaboration Sesame New York).She has also been a part of Azimpremji University, Bengaluru as a guest faculty. Currently, she is a visiting faculty at Theatre and Education Course at National School of Drama unit at Tripura and School of Vocational Studies,Ambedkar University, Delhi In early years of her professional experience, she has done extensive ethnographic work with the weaver community in Varanasi and with the farming community in the Terai region of Pantnagar. In her associations with NGOs have travelled to areas in Orissa, Uttrakhand besides extensive field work in riot affected communities in Delhi in Sultanpuri and TilakVihar. She also worked with teachers of young children using the dramatic medium to propagate the use of theatre as a classroom resource. She has been a regular panellist for NCERT talks with teachers in different states on satellite television as a Member of the Focus Group on ECCE of National Curriculum Framework 2005. Dialogue and enactment with other children has contributed in initiating processes of healing, recuperating and reconciliation an area of work with children who were witness to political disturbances in different parts of India. She was actively involved with a preschool television programme visualizing its curricular mission and guiding its content.
Joseph Bara
Individual Member
Bara was till recently working with the School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and is a historian on the subject of 'Education in Modern India.' He is a former Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. He has published about 20 research articles on education of the tribals and other marginalized groups of India in professional journals in India and abroad, besides editing three books. He is associated with several professional bodies in India and abroad in various capacities. Presently, he is conducting a study of the educational status and challenges of Scheduled Tribes in Jharkhand and Bihar, sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi. His areas of interest are popular and tribal education in India, colonialism and nationalism in Indian education, Christianity and educational development and history of tribes in India.
Sudha Varghese
Individual Member
Sudha Varghese is a member of the Notre Dame Sisters Congregation. She is active in 50 villages of Danapur and Phulwari Sharif area, about 40 km from Patna. She was awarded a Padma Shri in 2006 and is popularly known as Cycle Sister because in this jet age, she is heralding a revolution on a cycle. Her only belongings are her cycle and a bag. She has been living and working at a village named Jaur in Patna District. For the past 20 years, Sudha Varghese, has untiringly devoted herself to the service of Musahars (Musahars are the rat-eating community. They are also the agricultural labourers and are very hardworking people, who are completely landless and marginalised) and the Dalits of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. She runs centres for Musahar girls and works on bringing them into mainstream society. Varghese's organisation called 'Nari Gunjan' works for empowerment of women and girls from Dalit communities. The organisation runs 50 educational centres, conducts over 100 non-formal, functional literacy centres for the Mahadalit communities, particularly for the Musahars. She fights court cases for those against whom crimes have been committed.
Prof. K. Sujatha
Individual Member
Prof. K. Sujatha is the Professor and Head of the Department of Educational Administration, NUEPA, New Delhi. She has done her Ph.D. (Educational Anthropology) from Andhra University, Vishakhapatnam and an International Diploma in Development Administration from International Institute of Cooperation for University, Rome, Italy. Prof. Sujatha has been a Visiting Fellow at New England University, Australia and has been consulted by UNESCO, UNICEF, British Council, UNDP and UNOPS. She has authored eight books and several research papers; published articles in national and international journals and conducted several empirical research studies. She is the editor of Asian Network of Training and Research Institutions in Educational Planning (ANTRIEP) Newsletter and also the Convenor of NIPEA. Her specialisation is Education of the Disadvantaged Groups, Educational Policy Analysis, Comparative Education in Development Countries and School Management.
Meenu Chawla
Individual Member
A qualified Chartered Accountant with 20 years of experience, Meenu Chawla has worked in the NGO sector for the last 14 years managing accounting, legal compliances, audits, financial analysis in compliance with regulations, budgeting and grants. She has worked with an audit and taxation firm for six years, has prepared modules and conducted capacity building workshops for over 300 partners in the area of financial management. Chawla has also prepared reports for various government departments and donor agencies, and conducted financial reviews and evaluations of partners. She has a keen interest in developing Financial Management systeand procedures for NGOs, conducting trainings and contributing to the development sector as a whole.
Raymond Ambroise
Individual Member
Raymond Ambroise, one of the founding individual members of NEG-FIRE, was the Chairperson of NEG-FIRE from 2000. When NEG-FIRE was registered in 2005, he was elected to be the Chairperson for two consecutive terwhich ended in July 2011. Raymond is presently the Executive Secretary of Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences with its head office in Manila. His responsibilities include mentoring Radio VERITAS ASIA in 20 languages. He is also the Consultant of Andhra Pradesh Social Service Society.
Adrian Joseph Almeida
Individual Member
Adrian Joseph Almeida, is a Gold Medalist in M.Com, from the Madras University and Rotary Award recipient for Vocational Excellence, International Visitor Award, 1987 and Fulbright Scholar Award, 1989.
His key areas of expertise: is in Policy Planning, administration and Project management, formulate annual budgets, recruit, train and supervise personnel; Design, Administer core skills training program for employee empowerment programme for Industries and building linkages between Industry and Institutions etc.
Almeida is the Founder Director: Centre for Vocational Education and Workforce Development from 1990 till date. He held positions as Principal of Madras Community College, Director of A Director (1996-98) A.M. Jain Institute of Management (1986-1996),Director, M.C. Jain Industrial Training Centre (1986-2001).
Anirban Ghose
Individual Member
Anirban Ghose , is a Company Secretary (Inter) from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, New Delhi and a Bachelor of Business Studies, University of Delhi.
Presently he is the Program Director, PRADAN, New Delhi. PRADAN is India's premier rural development organization. Please visit PRADAN website for more information on the organization. ( www.pradan.net).
His key areas of expertise are around livelihood promotion for poorest, social mobilisation in difficult and remote regions, fostering linkages of marginalised groups with mainstream institutions and helping them access government schemes / programmes participating in grassroot democracy and in leveraging information and communication technology for development, etc. He has hands on experience of staying and working directly with tribal women in remote naxal affected regions.
Dr. Rekha Abel
Member
Dr Rekha Abel has a Ph.D in Applied Linguistics from the University of Hyderabad. Keenly interested in school education and child rights, she joined Catholic Relief Services in 1995 and worked with them anchoring the education and child rights programming for close to 15 years. She has also worked as a Senior Consultant to the Government of Andhra Pradesh on the implementation of RTE in AP. She has also assisted different organizations in developing strategic visions and plans, apart from conducting evaluations and assessments. She is currently based in Bangalore. Her key interests and strengths are in the areas of child rights, education and dalit human rights.