Mr. Frank Noronha
Member
Shri Frank Noronha belongs to the Indian Information Service of 1982 batch. He retired in 2018 after rendering more than 35 years of government service. Shri Frank Noronha, having held different positions of office in Dehi , has had the privilege of working with the Prime Minister's Office for nearly six years when Shri Rajiv Gandhi, Shri. VP Singh, Shri Chandrasekar and four months of Shri Narasimha Rao were Prime Ministers. In his career spanning 35 years he has served in various media units of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. He was also Deputy Press Secretary to the President of India with Late Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma. Shri Noronha was the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Communications and worked closely with Shri Buta Singh, Shri Jagmohan, Smt. Sushma Swaraj and Shri Ramvilas Paswan who were the Cabinet Ministers. Post his transfer to Bangalore in 2001, he headed Press Information Bureu (PIB) and Directorate of Advertisement and Publicity (DAVP) in Karnataka. By virtue of being the senior most officer of the Government of India in Karnataka, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Karnataka Intermedia Publicity and Coordination Committee (IMPCC). He was later promoted as the Director General, DAVP, Delhi in 2009. Prior to his retirement, he held the post of Principal Director General at Press Information Bureau (PIB), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India and was also the principal official Spokesperson to the Government of India. During this time, he worked closely with the BJP Government led by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi looking after information Management and communication systems and Media. He played a key role in the dissemination of cabinet decisions and organized Mega media campaigns on the flagship policies of the government. Post retirement, he is settled in Bengaluru but continues to be associated with the central Government. Shri A.P. Frank Noronha was born in Hassan and did his schooling there at St. Joseph’s School. Later he was graduated in Arts from St. Josephs College, Bangalore. While in college he was a Gold Medallist in Political Science and Economics and was also a debater. His hobbies included reading, debating and athletics. He has been adjudged as one of the outstanding alumni of the college. Shri Noronha has deep interest in management and spirituality. He is an avid follower of the non-dualistic spiritual system enunciated in "A course in miracles". He has authored two books "Thought is your Enemy" and "No Way out" which contains conversations with the internationally renowned philosopher Shri U.G.Krishnamurthy. He is also a Landmark Forum Graduate and is trained to produce break through results in one's personal and professional life.
Dr. Freda Swaminathan
Member
Dr. Freda Swaminathan is an IIMA graduate, holds MS in Communications from Illinois State University and a PhD in Business Management (Marketing) from Banasthali University. She is a Professor in marketing with a unique mix of 25 years of industry experience and over 15 years of academics. She has worked in organizations like LINTAS, JW Thompson, Goodyear India Ltd., DSS Mobile Communications
(a Dalmia Company) and more.
Dr. Freda Swaminathan has recently retired from FORE School of Management as a Professor in Marketing after working in academics for over 15 years. Her areas of interest include the study of creativity and culture in brands and advertising. She has published papers and chapter in many corporate books, and has undertaken a number of workshops and seminars. Currently she is a visiting Professor in select Business schools, and is involved in NGOs.
Narendhar Ramasamy
Member
Mr. R. Narendhar is the Executive Director of Alzheimer’s Related Disorders Society of India since 2009, he is actively engaged in public policy and advocacy for a comprehensive country strategy on Dementia.
He is in the arena of development for over 27 years now. He served few funding organizations in leadership positions touching lives of entire gamut of social fabric comprising, children, adolescent girls, youth, women and elderly.
He is the Vice Chair of the Indian Alliance of Patients’ Group which is affiliated to International Alliance of Patients’ Organization and is also the founding member of Healthy India Alliance, which advocates for non-communicable diseases in India and is affiliated to the Global NCD alliance.
Mr. Narendhar is also the Vice President of a Delhi based largest NGO, Society for All Round Development-SARD working for quality education of marginalized children and their rights.
He is a post graduate in social sciences and has a PG diploma in NGO management besides being qualified in electronics engineering.
Bishop Eugene Joseph
Member
Most Rev. Eugene Joseph obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Nagpur University, Maharashtra and a Bachelor of Education Degree from Gorakhpur University, U.P. In addition to a Master’s Degree in English from Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith University, Varanasi, lie also holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Townsend School of Business, New York, USA, specializing in Organizational Behavior & Leadership. He speaks English, Hindi and Tamil; he is a lover of nature, classical music, art, books and sports.
Well known for collaborative skills and organizational excellence, Bishop Eugene has been involved in the Diocesan Administration as member of College of Consultors, member of Finance Committee, Vicar General and Secretary of Education Society of the Diocese. From December 2013 he served as the Diocesan Administrator of the Vacant See of Varanasi.
His Interests: Training in Effective Teaching and Leadership
Talks on Educational Management and Leadership
Producing & Directing Indian classical music & dance
Designing print journals and magazines
Reading and eco-maintenance,
Playing soccer and basket ball.
Focused, responsive and collaborative teacher, principal and organizational leader, having 39 years of experience with various organizations. Recognized for ability in developing people for organizational excellence and social effectiveness. Competent in collaborative decision making for leading organizational culture and development.
Ms. Marita Ishwaran
Member
Marita Ishwaran’s purpose in life is to enable a just and equitable society through engaging and contributing to social change. The trajectory of her professional growth and development in the Education and Development sector spans almost three decades. Her work ranges from classrooms and field micro interventions, to macro roles of facilitating, and steering organizations. Her thematic priorities are-education, community development, strategic participatory planning and visioning, program management, leadership and team building, communication skills and evaluations.
As Executive Director of NEG-FIRE from Sept 2005 to Jan 2014, together with the Board and the team, she steered it from its embryonic stage into a purposeful, and professional educational organization of repute, recognized for its focus on innovation, quality education and marginalized communities.
As an independent consultant, since 2014, she continues her mission as a facilitator, trainer, an OD mentor and an evaluator. She is on the Governing Board of the Institute of Community Research and Training (ICOR) Mumbai and Campion school, Mumbai and contributes to Institutional strengthening, and good governance practices.
With a Bachelors in Education (B.Ed), a Masters in Social work (MSW) coupled with three decades of learning and practice and values of social justice, she continues in her social and education transformation mission.
Ms. Meenu Venkateswaran
Member
Meenu Venkateswaran is an alumnus of Delhi School of Economics and IIM Bangalore and has over 30 years of experience with leading organizations in the corporate and social sectors. She is a founder member and board member of Pravah and Community—The Youth Collective. She is a Trustee of Spanda – a performing arts Trust set up by Ms Leela Samson. In 2018 she co-founded Indicult, a social enterprise which works with artisans and slow fashion designers to promote Indian crafts and hand made. She is co-author of ‘Ocean In A Drop – Inside Out Youth Leadership’ (Sage 2013). Other co-authors are Arjun Shekhar, Kamini Prakash and Ashraf Patel.
From 2003, she has worked in several capacities in Pravah —including as head of Teacher Training and as the CEO. Currently she works part time with them, supporting the leadership team. As an independent consultant, she has undertaken assignments with national and international organisations including CII, Fresh Water Action Network, South Asia, Global Health Strategies Institute, IPPF, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and Vyaktitva.
Meenu served as Vice-Chairperson the NEG-FIRE Governing Board till 2019.
Ms. Bharti Ali
Member
Bharti Ali is a development professional and social activist working on issues concerning the rights of women and children for over 28 years. She is one of the Co-Founders and currently the Executive Director of HAQ: Centre for Child Rights, a Delhi based NGO working towards the realisation of human rights of children. She is also the Trustee and President of the Child Rights and Sustainability Trust (CRST), a Bangalore based non-profit focussing on children’s ecological rights and a Member of the Governing Board of Jamghat, a Delhi based NGO working for creating an enabling environment for the growth and development of street and homeless children. While her area of expertise is research, training and advocacy on child protection and justice for children, some of her other critical research has been on involuntary displacement due to development, women’s participation in local self-governance, right to adequate housing for women and children, reproductive health, gender based violence and right to education. She has authored several publications, articles and reports, and developed training and education materials and modules for police academies, judicial academies, National and State Legal Services Authorities, the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Tezpur University, UNICEF and other civil society organisations. Bharti has engaged with both Central and State governments in the drafting of laws, policies, plans and programmes for children. She has been part of various government committees and statutory bodies such as the Supreme Court’s Gender Sensitization and Internal Complaints Committee, the Delhi State Legal Services Authority and the NHRC’s NGO Core Group on Child Rights
P. B. Sajeev
Member
Sajeev is a development worker since 1996 with diverse experience of working with a spectrum of INGOs, NGOs, Government bodies & programmes, Corporates and Institutions. With more than fifteen years of Senior Management & Leadership experience across sectors like Child Rights, Gender Equality, Skill Development, Primary Education, Early Child Care Education, Inclusive Education, Local Governance and Disaster Response, he is specialised in designing, implementing and managing small, medium and large multi-thematic impactful projects across India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan and proficient in Research, Knowledge Management and Participatory Development & Governance. He is an avid reader who loves to travel!
Yogesh Kumar
Member
Dr. Yogesh Kumar completed his Ph.D. from the Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow as an ICSSR Doctoral Fellow in Development Economics in 1990. Dr. Kumar is the founder member and Executive Director of “Samarthan – Centre for Development Support” working in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. He has an experience of more than 25 years in the development sector and is a professional of international repute on the issue of participatory governance and development.
Dr. Kumar has active engagement in local governance, accountability and transparency discourses with expertise in participatory planning, social audits, citizens report card, community score cards etc. He facilitated emergence of a network of elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions in Madhya Pradesh.
In initial years, he worked to strengthen capacities and institutional mechanisms of voluntary development organisations by designing and conducting trainings on various themes viz. development management, organisational development and participatory training methodologies. His training of trainers in participatory planning, monitoring and evaluation and process documentation has been widely recognised. Dr Kumar facilitated promotion of various networks of CSOs including a national campaign of CSOs on MDGs known as Wada Na Todo Abhiyan.
G. Hymavathi
Member
G. Hymavathi holds a Master Degree in Political Science. She possesses two decades of rich experience in social development sector focusing on women and children among the marginalized communities. She is heading NATURE Organization as Secretary and implemented several development initiatives and projects towards Sustainable Tribal Empowerment, Strengthening of Community based Organizations, Health and Nutrition interventions, Child Welfare and Community Home Based Care, Child Protection Mechanisms in North Coastal Districts of Andhra Pradesh.
During 2017 to 2020, she was the Chairperson for Andhra Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
She also promoted and nurtured 1200 Volunteers as a Social Capital – Strong Rights activists to lead the Child Rights Protection and Tribal Empowerment in North Coastal Districts of Andhra Pradesh, covering 25000 vulnerable children. She has participated in various state and national seminars and workshops pertain to child rights, networking of women organizations, health, nutrition and livelihoods.
V.K. Swamy
Member
Dr. V. K. Swamy is General Secretary of TCBC Commission for Education in Telangana- Andhra region. He comes with a vision to empower the downtrodden and the marginalized to excellence through their Knowledge and Skills.
Dr. Swamy holds two Ph. Ds -Research Degrees from Osmania University: Ph D in Education and Ph D in Business Management and holds three PGs- M. Sc (Mathematics), M. Ed and M.B.A and two M. Phil degrees. He has earned the bachelor degree in Theology (B. Th.) from Magna Cum Laude from Urbanium University, Rome.
He is one of the NAAC Assessors of Peer Team members of NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) till this date. On 31st October, 2018 retired as Director of Skill Development in TASK (Telangana Academy for Skills and Knowledge), Department of ITE &C, Govt of Telangana.
He has experience over 32 years in the field of Education- offering Educational Leadership. He also served as Principal and Secretary of St. Joseph’s High School and Junior College, Trimulgherry, Secunderabad for 14 years.
Salil Kumar
Member
Mr Salil Kumar has over 25 years of professional experience in the social sector. His work has revolved around three broad themes – institutional growth & sustainability, program design & implementation, and operations management. Mr Kumar currently has an independent consulting and advisory practice. He also serves on the boards of Centre for Catalyzing Change (C3), FXB India Suraksha, Unniti Foundation, all Indian NGOs. He is an avid traveler, biker and sportsperson.
Meenu Venkateswaran
Vice-Chair Person
Individual Member
Meenu Venkateswaran is a co-founder of Pravah and currently the Director of Resource Management and Partnerships. Before her stint as director, she was the CEO from 2005 to 2010. Prior to this, she was responsible for leading and mentoring the Teacher Training intervention at Pravah into a very powerful programme for schools. She is also a founding member of Commutiny, the Youth Collective – a collective of individuals and organisations advocating for mainstream youth development. Venkateswaran has over 20 years' experience in the corporate and development sectors and has worked as a consultant at development organisations. She has been the head of the resource generation function and member of the Management Committee at CRY- Child Rights and You. She has done Masters in Economics and has completed her post-graduation in management from IIM, Bangalore.
S.P. Selvi
Treasurer
Individual member
S. P. Selvi is responsible for giving strategic direction to Credibility Alliance and guiding its overall development through the role of Executive Director. Previously she was the Head, Programme Desk of the Financial Management Service Foundation, which is involved in financial monitoring and capacity building of voluntary organizations in South Asia. She has also worked with Caritas India during her 25 years career. Selvi has a Bachelor's degree in Commerce and an MBA in Financial Management. She holds Post Graduate Diploma in Management (DIM) and Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Management. She has facilitated a number of workshops in India and abroad for voluntary organizations in the areas of financial management, reporting and related governance. She has also been involved in providing Mentoring Accompaniment support to partner organizations of many international agencies in India in developing financial management systems and reporting and is proficient in the financial and governance aspects relating to Voluntary Organizations. She has also undertaken evaluation of organizations, which involved assessment of governance and financial management related aspects of voluntary organizations.
Rudolf C. Heredia
Individual Member
Rudolf C. Heredia was a visiting fellow at Boston College for the summer of 1997. He has his doctorate in Sociology from the University of Chicago (1979) and was the founder director of the Social Science Centre, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai from 1980-1992 and Director again in 1994-2003. In 1992-94, he was the Director of Department of Research at Indian Social Institute and edited the Institute's journal, Social Action in 1993-95. From 1998-2003, he was the rector of St. Xavier's College. His interests include issues related to religion, education and globalisation. He has been published in various journals like the Economic and Political Weekly, Contributions to Indian Sociology, New Frontiers in Education, Vidyajidyati Journal of Theological Reflection and in some national newspapers like The Times of India, The Hindu and The Indian Express. His published work consists of a book titled Changing Gods: Rethinking Conversion in India by Penguin India in 2007 and his most recent book was published by Penguin again in October 2012 called Taking Sides: Reservation Quotas and Minority Rights.