The Board
Kavita Anand
Founder Director
Kavita Anand is catalyzing a committed learning community of educators across India, to transform the learning of students. For more than three decades as an educator, researcher, funder, school, and system leader, and now edupreneur, she has worked towards ensuring a good school for every child. Her work has taken her to every state in India. Kavita’s work in the Aga Khan Education Service, India, and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust was a launchpad for her play school, Kidz@Play, and for setting up and leading the now renowned K10 School, Shishuvan for private management in Mumbai. Over the last decade with her partner Spokey Wheeler, Kavita provided support for The UK Open University’s (OU) programmes ‘Teacher Education through School-Based Support’, (TESS-India); ‘English in Action’ (EIA) in Bangladesh; and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy for 266 schools of Zimbabwe. Kavita was part of the international delivery team for the School Leadership Development Programme (SLDP) curriculum with the National College of Teaching and Leadership,(NCTL) Nottingham and the National University for Education, Planning and Administration (NUEPA), which trained 7000 government school leaders across 5 States of India. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), UK, Kavita was awarded an Ashoka Fellowship in 2015 for her single-minded determination to improve the quality of education in India.
Nita Luthria Row
Executive Director
Nita’s passion for education led her to pursue a career in teaching after initially starting out in hospitality and marketing. Prior to joining the social sector, she worked at the Bombay International School first as a teacher and eventually, as the Head of Junior School. During her tenure at BIS, Nita was an active advocate of inclusion and community service. Nita has been associated with Adhyayan Quality Education Services since 2016, working as an assessor and conducting technology workshops for Adhyayan’s partner schools. She also serves on the boards of Qimpro Foundation and Down to Earth India (an NGO working with the Cuffe Parade community). Nita was selected by ASCD, to which Adhyayan is affiliated, to join the Emerging Leader Class of 2021. In her free time, Nita enjoys reading, sketchnoting, playing word games, baking sourdough bread and taking long walks.
Advisory Board
Bhawani Singh Shekhawat
Co-Founder
Bhawani Singh Shekhawat is a co-founder of the Adhyayan Quality Education Foundation. He brings a wealth of passion and expertise to Adhyayan, as a seasoned corporate executive who has led large multinational business units globally as well as in Europe, EMEA and Asia. He is also the CEO of The Akshaya Patra Foundation (Europe) and supports a range of companies as a Non-Exec Director. Bhawani is a speaker with London Bureau of Speakers and speaks on Leadership, Purposive Strategy and Innovation.
Priya Panikkar
Founder and CEO, PQ Consulting
Priya has over two decades of experience in fundraising and related operations. She is the founder and CEO of PQ (Philanthropy Quotient) Solutions. The company helps nonprofit organizations make a positive difference in their communities by providing knowledge, consulting, and software services. She also provides proposal-writing sessions and leads training workshops.
Priya holds Master’s degrees from Old Dominion University and the University of Kerala. She earned her executive education in nonprofit leadership and management from Harvard University.
Priya is a faculty member at the Indian Leaders for the Social Sector (ILSS) and the Naropa Fellowship. She has a long tenure at Old Dominion University, where she currently leads the fundraising operations team.
Monica Pachori
Marketing Manager, Amazon India
With a decade of experience in the FMCG sector, Monica is a skilled marketing professional. She has worked in sales and marketing roles across top brands, including Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble, General Mills, and Tata Motors. Monica is currently a manager in the marketing department for the grocery business at Amazon India. She holds an MBA from IIM Kozhikode and is passionate about access to quality education and women’s empowerment. Monica volunteers her time to these causes, along with her day job.
Natasha Joshi
Associate Director, Nilekani Philanthropies
Natasha Joshi is an education specialist with over ten years of experience in the sector. She has worked on education programs, policy, governance and financing for organisations like UNICEF, NITI Aayog, and most recently Tata Trusts. She holds a Master’s degree in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University and writes for the India Development Review where she has the two most-read pieces of all time on IDR. Natasha curates Desi Writers Lounge, a writers collective promoting South-Asian writing, and has set up readers clubs in Mumbai and Bangalore in her free time.
Raghunandan Maluste
Honorary Secretary & Treasurer, Mumbai First
Raghunandan Maluste has been in the top management of profits and not-for-profits since the early 1980s. He is currently an Independent Director, angel investor and Founding Member of IITians for Influencing India’s Transformation. Nandan was Chair of CRY-Child Rights & You and CSO. Nandan has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Manchester Business School, England, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales as well as of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He is also an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
Samir Somaiya
Chairman and Managing Director, Godavari Biorefineries Ltd
Samir Somaiya is the Chairman and Managing Director of Godavari Biorefineries Ltd and the President of Somaiya Vidyavihar. He is also the Chairman of K. J. Somaiya Trust, K. J. Somaiya Medical Trust, K. J. Somaiya Institute of Applied Agriculture Research, The Girivanvasi Pragati Mandal, and Research Innovation Incubation Design Laboratory (Riidl) (Technology Business Incubator). Samir is the owner of Kitabkhana.