FOUNDERS' PROFILES

Percy Barnevik

Percy Barnevik has been active in philanthropic work in Tamil Nadu, India, since 2000 and is presently Chairperson of Hand in Hand International. He is advisor and chief donor to Hand in Hand, and ex officio Chairperson of our new bank. Barnevik was President and CEO of ABB from 1980 to 1996, and Chairperson of Skanska, ABB, Investor AstraZeneca and Sandvik. He is a former board member of American Du Pont and General Motors.

Kalpana Sankar, CEO and 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.