Katha's Leadership

Without our leadership, Katha would not be where it is today. Our board members hail from the upper echelons of a diverse range of industries and sectors. Their guidance and strategic decision-making—as well as their commitment—inspire us and help steer Katha toward our goals.

 

Leadership

Geeta Dharmarajan

Founder-President

Geeta Dharmarajan is an inspirational writer, editor, social entrepreneur, educationist and Padma Shri awardee. She believes in a world where every child can fulfil their potential and none is stunted by material, emotional or spiritual poverty.

R Balasubramanian

R Balasubramanian is a practicing Chartered Accountant, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors of India, and is on the Panel of Arbitrators of Bombay Stock Exchange Limited.

Parvinder Kaur

Executive Director

Parvinder Kaur joined Katha as a volunteer in 2000 and played a key role in institutionalizing the Katha’s innovations and scaling up the various initiatives at Katha while maintaining the highest standards of quality.

Management Team

Anand Rana

Director, Support Services

Shilpi Sarkar

Director, CPAR

Devraj Pandath Ramakrishnan

Assistant Director – Sales & Marketing

Reeta Sutradhar

Director of Schooling, Katha Lab School

Katha Governing Council

Anshu Vaish

Anshu Vaish is a former IAS officer, having served as the Secretary of School Education and Literacy, MHRD, GoI. Her extensive experience is in the social sector in the Departments of Culture, Women & Child Development, Health, Social Justice and Empowerment.

Dhruba Hazarika

A novelist and short story writer, Dhruba Hazarika is the founder-secretary of the North East Writers’ Forum established in 1997. Previously as a member of the Assam Civil Service, he has had experience in the sectors of Tourism, Sports & Youth Welfare, Environment & Forests.

K Dharmarajan

Previously as a member of the Assam Civil Service, he has had experience in the sectors of Tourism, Sports & Youth Welfare, Environment & Forests. He is a voracious reader of both adults and children’s books, and is keenly interested in science and technology.

Kapila Vatsyayan

Dr Kapila Vatsyayan is the author of over 15 books. She has been conferred several awards for contribution to the arts and culture including the Padma Vibushan, Sangeeta Natak Akademi Fellowship, and Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award.

R Govinda

Prof Govinda is the JP Naik National Fellow for Studies in Education and Culture, Indian Council for Social Relations. His current areas of interest cover primary education, decentralised management, policy analysis, human rights and democracy.

Shantha Sinha

 Prof Shantha Sinha is an anti-child labour activist of international reputation.She has strived hard for eliminating child labour, focussing on the development of the girl child, and has played a pivotal role in universalizing elementary education.

Sudhir Narang

As Managing Director of BT India, Sudhir Narang heads business operations for BT Global services in the Indian subcontinent. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Accel Frontline, and former CEO of Tulip IT services.

Sudhir Singh Dungarpur

Currently a Partner with PWC in the advisory business, Sudhir Dungarpur has over 18 years of global experience working in both start-ups as well as multinational corporations in the areas of technology, education and consultancy.

Our Founding Members

Asang Machwe

Asang Machwe was the publisher and Managing Director of Wiley Eastern Ltd., a leading publishing house of books and digital solutions.

NS Jagannathan

NS Jagannathan was a noted journalist and former Editor-in-Chief of Indian Express and Financial Express. An extremely talented writer. He edited the English version of Kamba Ramayanam by Prof P S Sundaram.

P Shankar

An extremely able administrator, P Shankar is a senior Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer. He has held various positions both in the State and Central Government Ministries.

Rosalind Wilson

Teacher, journalist, editor—Rosalind Wilson was all these and more. Her heart was always with children and when Target was launched, she joined as one of the editors.

Sarala Gopalan

One of the early woman entrants in the IAS and an extremely able administrator, Sarala Gopalan had been occupying very high and responsible posts in government.

Saroj Pachauri

 Dr Saroj Pachauri is a distinguished scholar, having published extensively on family planning, maternal and child health, STD, HIV/AIDS, adolescents, and reproductive tract infections.

Satya Bhushan Verma

 Prof Verma had been the first professor of Japanese language and literature in India and the founder chairman of the Centre for East Asian Languages in Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Srinath

Srinath served in the Government before becoming an entrepreneur. He was an established name in the Export business and entrepreneurship.

VB Eswaran

VB Eswaran was an excellent administrator and the doyen in research and development of policies on environment and ecological sustainability. He was the Executive Director of Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development.

Our Precious Past Members Of The Governing Council

Abid Hussain

Dr Abid Hussain served as India’s Ambassador to the United States of America. As an IAS officer, he was secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Heavy Industry, Member of the Planning Commission, and was also advisor to UNESCO.

Anees Jung

Anees Jung was the editor of Youth Times from 1973 to 1980 and has been a freelance writer and columnist since. She was also adviser to the Director-General of UNESCO in Paris from 1994 to 1999.

Mr Shashank

Renowned Writer and former Vice Chancellor of International Hindi University.

Arun Seth

Arun Seth was former Chairman of British Telecom UK and British Telecom India, and also headed BT’s corporate social responsibility activity.

Arvind Pande

Arvind Pande is the Chairman of Steel Authority of India Ltd., having started his career in the IAS in 1965 and since working in various governmental and corporate capacities.

Ashok Vajpeyi

Dr Ashok Vajpeyi is an Indian poet in Hindi essayist and literary-cultural critic, apart from being a noted cultural and arts administrator and a former civil servant

CP Sujaya

An able administrator, CP Sujaya was Joint Secretary in the Department of Women & Child Development; subsequently she held various positions in the ministries at both State and Central levels.

Gowher Rizvi

Gowher Rizvi has formerly been the Director of the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Krishna Kumar

Krishna Kumar is a professor at the University of Delhi, India. Noted for his writings in sociology and history of education, Prof Krishna Kumar has used the school curriculum as a means of social inquiry.

Leila Seth

First woman judge of the Delhi High Court and first woman Chief Justice of a State High Court, Leila Seth was a former Justice of the Supreme Court of India.

M Anandakrishnan

A civil engineer with a Doctorate from University of Minnesota, USA, M Anandakrishnan was a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers and a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences in India.

Mani Narayanaswamy

Mani Narayanaswamy was a Trustee at the UB Group.

NN Tandon

A retired IAS officer, NN Tandon was the Director at UNIDO, United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

Panna Bharat Ram

 Panna Bharat Ram was the Vice Chairman of Sri Centre for Performing Arts.

Preety Kumar

The Founding-Partner of Amrop India, Preety Kumar has more than two decades of experience across multiple industries and has a deep understanding of leadership matters and talent issues.

S Krishnamoorthy

S Krishnamoorthy has served as Financial Controller in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. He has also served as Financial Controller, National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).

Sanjana Kapoor

Sanjana Kapoor is an Indian theatre personality and former Indian film actress of British and Indian descent. She initiated India Theatre forum, an all-India network of theatre practitioners.

Sanjay Baru

One of India’s most respected and influential commentator on political and economic issues, Dr Baru was associated as an Editor/Chief Editor with a number of Financial Newspapers.

Shabana Azmi

Shabana Azmi is a national award-winning theatre and film personality, involved in various social movements and campaigns for rights and justice, particularly for women and minorities.

Sharmila Tagore

Sharmila Tagore is an Indian film actress known for her works in Hindi cinema as well as Bengali cinema. She led the Indian Film Censor Board from October 2004 till March 2011.

Syed Shahid Mahdi

Former Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia University, Prof Mahdi was also former Chairman of Delhi Education Society, Dr Zakir Husain Memorial Welfare Society, and Member of Council of NIPEA.

Tarun Das

Tarun Das is an Indian industrialist, corporate executive, writer and former Chief Mentor of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

UR Anathamurthy

UR Ananthamurthy was an Indian writer and critic. He wrote in the Kannada language. He was thought to be as one of the pioneers of the Navya movement.

Veena Das

An educationist and sociologist, Veena Das is Professor of Anthropology at John Hopkins University. Her areas of theoretical specialization include the anthropology of violence, social suffering, and the state.