BOARD OF INDIA
Kalpana Sankar, Managing Trustee
Kalpana Sankar has been involved in the women’s self-help group movement in Tamil Nadu for the last 13 years. She is an expert in self-help groups, rural appraisal, gender differentiated impact, and project monitoring. She has served as Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), assisting the Tamil Nadu Women’s Development Project (Mahalir Thittam). Among other things, she prepared the concept note for the Tamil Nadu Empowerment and Poverty Reduction Project, which was included in the World Bank lending programme. She has been a consultant on gender and microfinance issues to UNDP, UNOPS, Christian Aid, and Wetlands International.
S. Chinnappan
S. Chinnappan has long experience in gender work, microfinance, self-help groups, and rural development. He founded the Tamil Nadu-based NGO Kalvi Kendra in 1982 that works for the empowerment of Dalits. He is also the editor and publisher of Muttram, a monthly magazine for self-help groups sponsored by the government of Tamil Nadu. He was a member in a policy-making team for Dutch development organisation Cordaid.
Mangala Ayre
Mangala Ayre has 30 years of experience as a teacher, and specialises in kindergarten and pre-school teaching. In 1988, she established the renowned Inner Harmony Holistic Learning Centre for children in the 2-5 year age group. She is a counsellor for teachers and parents, and a consultant in various schools in Tamil Nadu. Ayre has developed various alternative teaching methods using music, storytelling, dance, and drama for children with disabilities.
R. Venkat Reddy
R. Venkat Reddy is Project Coordinator at M V Foundation, an institution that works to eliminate child labour and promote universal education. He works to strengthen youth volunteer groups and local government bodies at the village level to build an environment in favour of children’s right to education. Under him, M V Foundation has expanded from three villages in 1991 to 6,000 villages in 2005, from 30 children in 1991 to 650,000 children now. More than 300,000 children have been taken out of labour and enrolled into schools.
P. Kottaisamy
P. Kottaisamy holds a graduate degree in Electrical Engineering and a master’s degree in Business Administration in Finance and Marketing. He is IT Advisor and Consultant. He has earlier worked with UTI Bank and Aviva Life Insurance, where he designed rural insurance products. Kottaisamy also worked for six years in microfinance at the Development of Humane Action (DHAN) Foundation.
K. P. Kasturi
K. P. Kasturi was Deputy General Manager at the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in Tamil Nadu. With over 38 years of experience in the banking sector, Kasturi has a profound understanding of the Indian microfinance sector on a macro level and has extensive field-level experience and knowledge. His areas of specialisation include financing, monitoring, and appraisal, as well as institutional development and policy formulation in microfinance.
Amuthasekaran Nachiappan
Amuthasekaran Nachiappan, a postgraduate in Sociology, started his development career with Vivekananda Kendra, a social service organisation based in Kanyakumari, India. His experience spans grassroots action, education, and monitoring and evaluation. Nachiappan has project experience in watershed management, promotion of renewable energy such as biogas, solar and wind energy in rural areas, rural development, and natural resource development. He has monitored several NGO projects for the Ministry of Rural Development.
K. N. Krishnamurthy
K. N. Krishnamurthy is a former General Manager and Special Director in automotives major Ashok Leyland. With over 38 years of experience in the manufacturing industry, Krishnamurthy has also served with CII in various capacities, including as Project Head, Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation. Among many awards, he has also won the Mother Teresa Award for outstanding contribution to society, given by the Institute of Economic Progress.
N. Srinivasan
N. Srinivasan is former Chief General Manager of NABARD. An expert in microfinance and livelihood development, he has worked with World Bank, IFAD and UNOPS on various projects. Srinivasan is a founding member of Alliance for Fair Microfinance, and a member of the governing board of the Human and Institutional Development Forum, Bangalore. He is the chief author of the State of the Sector Report 2008 on microfinance.
P. Shankar
P. Shankar retired as Central Vigilance Commissioner of India in 2006, after nearly four decades in the Indian Administrative Service. Among various distinguished roles, he headed Tamil Nadu Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation, and was Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles. He is now an Independent External Monitor in Integrity Pact, a joint initiative of the Central Vigilance Commission and Transparency International India. He also chairs a government Task Force on public policy, governance, and development.
Arun Vasu
Arun Vasu is a grandson of the famous T. T. Krishnamchari, industrialist and first Finance Minister of free India, and belongs to a strong business family of the south. He is the Honorary Consul General for Sweden in Chennai. He runs various companies, such as TT Travels, TT Enterprises, TT Services, TT Holdings and Services, and TT Insurance & Broking Services. He is also on the board of Comfort Leisure Tours and Laxmi Cargo, and is a Trustee of the Public Health Centre and Bala Mandir Kamaraj Trust.
