Meet our Community

Avinash is an international fintech & payments leader with over 20 years of experience. He is currently the Co-promoter, MD & CEO of Zaggle and has been leading the organization as the CEO since Feb 2012. He has worked in leadership roles in digital payments, fintech & cash management businesses in product, sales, marketing, strategy, technology and operations roles. Avinash has done his electrical and electronics engineering from Bangalore University and a full time MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Avinash’s interests include a variety of sports, reading, current affairs, travelling, running and spending time with friends and family.

Ayushi Sabharwal brings a unique combination of expertise in the energy sector and a deep commitment to social impact. Currently serving as Manager at Schneider Electric, UAE, she plays a pivotal role in the company’s initiatives focused on sustainability and digital transformation. With a strong background in project management, strategic planning, and client relations, Ayushi is driven by her passion for creating efficient energy solutions and empowering communities through innovative approaches. In addition to her work at Schneider Electric, Ayushi is a Lead Partner at the Shakti Foundation, where she focuses on advancing the foundation's mission of promoting gender equality, education, and women's empowerment. Engaged as a Lead Partner for Shakti Foundation in SVP Delhi NCR Chapter, she aims to strike a balance her corporate goals with social responsibility.

Director - B.P. Poddar Group

Babar is an investments manager with 24 years of experience. He is currently working as Director of Investments at Khazanah Nasional. He began his career as a management consultant (McKinsey) and thereafter switched to investing in private equity and public markets (SAIF partners and Khazanah Nasional). He holds a B Tech in Computer Science & Engg from IIT-Delhi and a PGDM from IIM-Ahmedabad.

Bala Srinivasa is the Managing Director at Arkam Ventures, an early stage VC fund. As an investor, Bala helps companies with go to market strategies drawing from his own experience in operational, sales and marketing roles. Prior to founding Arkam, he was a Partner at Kalaari Capital, and has held business development leadership positions at Copal Amba and New Jersey-based Vistaar Technologies. He started his career as an equity analyst in the financial and investment banking space in the US. He has a BS degree from BITS, Pilani and an MBA from the University of Toledo in Ohio.

A post graduate from IIM Ahmedabad and CFA charter holder, Bama has 20 years' experience in financial services sector, with 10+ years of C-Suite and board experience. Bama’s most recent role was ED & COO at Northern Arc. Northern Arc was established with a mission of enabling access to finance for the underserved. In her leadership role, Bama envisioned and executed a strategy that built the institution and catalysed the growth of the industry in India. Prior to Northern Arc, Bama was with ICICI for over a decade across multiple roles in India and abroad. Bama is an Advisor to the Board of Trustees of Swadha Foundation. She is particularly interested in the financial inclusion of women and education of the underprivileged. In her free time, Bama likes to read extensively. She is also a Carnatic music aficionado and is learning to play the Veena.

B. Anand is a business leader with over 35 years of experience across investment banking, commodities, metals and mining, energy and large industrial businesses, including leadership roles at Trafigura, Vedanta and Nayara Energy. He is currently building Meridian Partners and has a growing focus on social development and environmental sustainability, particularly water, resource productivity and technology-enabled solutions to real world problems. At this stage of his career, Anand is keen to apply his operating experience, strategic perspective and networks to support social entrepreneurs and scalable impact initiatives, while continuing to learn from practitioners working closely with communities and the development sector.

Sethu is the Managing Director of Celanese India, a US-based Chemicals and Plastics company. He enjoys organisation and talent building, and cultural integration of company acquisitions. He’s proud of the work Celanese does in the sustainability space and with recycled engineering plastics. Sethu is exploring alternate working identities in the social space with SVP & NGO Mann. He is a certified executive coach. On the home front, Sethu is parent to 13-year-old twin girls, Anjali and Apoorva, and husband to Madhuri. Covid has brought the family even closer, and Sethu and Madhuri now enjoy games like Heads Up, introduced by their daughters. Sethu enjoys immersive travel and cooking (judged by his discerning daughters!) - Japanese and Thai are his favorite cuisines.

Bharat is one of those few humble individuals who wears multiple hats and juggles his work as President Vishwakarma University, Managing Director- Aakar Foundary and Executive Director and Managing Trustee, VIT. Always ready to help he has his own way of making sure he is always working towards the betterment of the society.

B Harish is a 1986 graduate in B.E. - Industrial & Production Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology, Mangalore. He started his career as a shop floor engineer with David Brown Greaves Ltd. – Pune and worked with them till 1989. He joined Delphi TVS in 1990 as Senior Engineer and was deputed for specialized training at the filter plant of M/s. Lucas Diesel Systems – Spain for manufacture of CAV 296 filters. He was the Project leader responsible for establishing the Filter Element manufacturing plant at Delphi TVS. He subsequently joined Voltas Ltd. in the year 1995 as an Assistant Sales Manager in the Machine Tool Division. He subsequently joined Micromatic Machine Tools Pvt. Ltd., the marketing arm of Ace Micromatic Group in April 1999, as Branch Manager. He has played several roles during various stages of his career progression as Regional Manager, General Manager, VP and now as Chief Executive Officer. He has worked in Market & Business Development, Branding, Channel Partner development, New Projects, Business Planning, Strategy Deployment, Customer Satisfaction, Employee engagement and Digital Transformation. Vanamala is a dedicated home-maker who loves travelling, cooking and playing the Veena. She is passionate about social causes and contributing to society.

B Harish is a 1986 graduate in B.E. - Industrial & Production Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology, Mangalore. He started his career as a shop floor engineer with David Brown Greaves Ltd. – Pune and worked with them till 1989.He joined Delphi TVS in 1990 as Senior Engineer and was deputed for specialized training at the filter plant of M/s. Lucas Diesel Systems – Spain for manufacture of CAV 296 filters. He was the Project leader responsible for establishing the Filter Element manufacturing plant at Delphi TVS. He subsequently joined Voltas Ltd. in the year 1995 as an Assistant Sales Manager in the Machine Tool Division. He subsequently joined Micromatic Machine Tools Pvt. Ltd., the marketing arm of Ace Micromatic Group in April 1999, as Branch Manager. He has played several roles during various stages of his career progression as Regional Manager, General Manager, VP and now as Chief Executive Officer. He has worked in Market & Business Development, Branding, Channel Partner development, New Projects, Business Planning, Strategy Deployment, Customer Satisfaction, Employee engagement and Digital Transformation.Vyshali completed her master's in computer science from University of Southern California. She worked for Mu-Sigma and Amazon Inc. for eight years before heading back to Bangalore last year.Through her work, she has focused on using data to solve difficult problems. She currently works for the NGO Navsahyog and is passionate about creating a lasting impact for our society.

Bhaskar has 27 years of corporate experience across banking, information technology, and engineering and has worked in different geographies including India, Netherlands and Singapore. In 2017, he transitioned into social sector volunteering, driven by a strong commitment to uplifting underserved communities. He has worked directly with a few NGOs in education, livelihoods, disaster-relief before joining SVP in 2024.

Bhaskar has spent last almost 40 years in emerging markets across India, SE Asia & Greater China, with FMCG companies like Red Bull, Unilever & Bestfoods, as a business leader and marketer. He is currently Director on the Boards of Polycab India, HDB Financial Services, and European Business Group Federation, and Business Adviser to multiple brands. He is also on the Board of Studies at NMIMS Mumbai, for MBA- HR. As CEO of Red Bull India, he joined the Indian subsidiary at its inception and had a fun run for over 16 years. Bhaskar holds double master’s degrees, and currently based in Mumbai with his wife Poonam, a Special Educator. He loves to travel, explore from landscapes, cultures, history to wildlife, and capture them through his lens

Bhuma has been in the field of accounting and auditing for more than 30 years, guiding and nurturing the talents in the interns. She is very comfortable with software skills and presentation. She has the aptitude to learn things and is always looking for opportunity to learn and share the same with others. She is excellent in PR skills and is very open minded and a good team worker with ability to solve problems and in the process learning many new things as well. She considers herself as a go getter. Right now, she is focusing on giving back to the society. Her signature statement is - “A winner never quits and quitters never wins”.

Bhuvana holds an undergraduate degree in Accounting and Computer Science from Bharathiar University, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Science from Aptech. Bhuvana has 28 years of experience in the IT industry. She led internal operations at Enquizit: HR, recruitment, finance, and business strategy. Bhuvana volunteers as a Kuchipidi dance instructor and also enjoys yoga, meditation, hiking, and reading. Bhuvana is co-founder of the Collective Global Impact Foundation (CGI), a US-based nonprofit dedicated to creating scalable and sustainable solutions for critical societal challenges. Bhuvana is passionate about initiatives that empower women and provide children with access to better opportunities.

Bijita has over 16 years of experience in development, working on Child Rights, Education, Gender, and WASH. She has led evaluation studies for various organizations and most recently served as MEL (Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning) Specialist for the RiseUp! Leadership Initiative Asia-Pacific at World YWCA, managing MEL across eight countries with a gender-transformative approach. Bijita holds a Master’s degree and an M.Phil. in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics. She is a Board Member of CoE-SA and a core member of GENSA. Outside of work, she enjoys baking, Indian folk art, and watercolor painting.

Biju is a corporate executive with deep experience in Strategy, Go to Market, and Technology development. Biju has recently returned to India after living in the USA for 25 years. Biju is particularly passionate about the education sector in India and serves on the Board of the American School of Bombay. He looks to learn more about this area from SVP interactions. He is an avid road cyclist and loves to go on long rides.

Bindu has been a dedicated homemaker for the past 25 years and is a proud parent of two children. She is trained in yoga and chanting, which she practices regularly. Her diverse interests span a wide range, from sketching and sports to fitness, cooking, reading, and gardening. Always eager to learn and explore new things, Bindu is excited to now channel her passions and skills into new endeavors as her schedule allows.

Binita is an artist and enjoys running. Having found her love for painting as a child, she started exhibiting in group shows since the last 15 years. Her journey with running started passionately and still continues. This year she ran the esteemed Boston Marathon. Her involvement with a local school in Gujarat made her realise that there is so much more to be given back to society.

B S Shantharaju retired in 2016 after serving as CEO of a few large companies for 17 years. He is the Chairman of the Board of RE Sustainability Ltd and Director on the Board of Apraava Energy Pvt Ltd. He is also an advisor to CDPQ, one of Canada’s most significant pension funds, for their infrastructure investment in India and an Advisor to Space Tele Infra, owned by Brookfield Invit. He spends time on his family Trust, which sponsors poor but deserving students who want to pursue Engineering or Medicine. Currently, 119 beneficiaries are studying in well-known colleges in Karnataka, and 39 have already graduated with excellent jobs. He is an avid golfer. On the personal side, he is married to Sudha, who are parents to two well-settled sons.

Catherine attended Arizona State University’s WP Carey School of Business for a BS in Economics. After choosing to homeschool her two daughters and deepen her impact in the education sector, she returned to ASU to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Education. Since coming to India, Catherine has assisted her husband with his NGO, Karma Corps. In this role, she has performed outreach and advocacy work for underprivileged families utilizing the Right to Education law. She continues overseeing the educational experiences of the 100+ children served by the organization. Catherine’s hobbies include designing the best learning experiences for her two daughters and reading foreign affairs, sewing, and chess.

Chakradhar Gadde is an entrepreneur and investor with experience across the pharma and medical devices supply chain, warehousing, and grid-connected solar power projects. Prior to his entrepreneurial journey, he worked in data architecture and consulting roles in the US, at ABN AMRO, Blue Cross Blue Shield, H&R Block, PepsiCo, Sallie Mae, and Sapient Corp. He is a member of Hyderabad Angels, TiE, and Social Venture Partners (SVP). His interests include travel, reading, and golf.