From Balwadi education to adult learning, The Sahayak Trust brings inclusive, doorstep education that uplifts entire communities.

She is one of the first graduates from IIM Ahmedabad, and has been a director of various companies. From 1973 she has played a leading role in environment conservation as CEO of WWF India, Vice President for 20 years of the Bombay Natural History Society and as a member of the Govt of India’s National Committee for Environmental Planning & Co-ordination, National Conservation Strategy Committee and National Board for Wildlife. She was Chair of the Working Group on Ecological Foundations for Sustainable Agriculture, Government of Maharashtra High Level Expert Committee. She is also President of an educational trust running schools for over 3500 rural children. Dilnavaz has retired from business responsibilities to focus on these interests.

Dilnavaz Variava

Founder & Managing Trustee

Firdaus has done B. Com from Mumbai University and an MBA from The College of William & Mary’s Mason School of Business with speicalisation in Marketing. He is a Trustee of two educational trusts running schools and vocational training programmes in Nashik District of Maharashtra. He is also the Vice-Chairman of Bharat Floorings and Tiles, which was started as part of the swadeshi movement and manufactures artisanal and custom-made floorings. He is, since many years, committed to consumption of healthy organic food and to cycling and hiking for fitness

Firdaus Variava

Trustee

Naira has done LLB from Mumbai and LLM from Columbia Law School. She is an independent Legal Council enrolled with the bar council of Maharashtra and Goa and the New York state bar. She mainly practices on the Original Side of the Bombay High Court with a special focus on arbitration, both domestic and international. She was vice president of the Columbia International Arbitration Association and editor of the American Review of International Arbitration. Naira Jeejebhoy is a Trustee of educational trust running schools and vocational training in Deolali, Nashik district of Maharashtra.

Naira Jejeebhoy

Trustee

Nidhi has completed Economics Honours from Shri Ram College of Commerce and an MBA from the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. She worked with Aon (then Hewitt Associates) for a decade. Thereafter in HR with Teach for India wherein she worked on recruiting, training and placing the first cohort of TFI Fellows. She is currently Co-Founder at Peel-Works Pvt Ltd – a grocery-focused B2B ecommerce company.

Nidhi Variava

Trustee

Jehangir has done Bachelors in Arts from Columbia University, USA; LLB from Mumbai University. He is a Solicitor and Counsel at Bomaby High Court, Special Counsel on Panel of liquidators and an arbitrator. He is a trustee of several charitable trusts.

Jehangir Jejeebhoy

Member

Dr. Rupal Dalal (MD, FAAP, IBCLC) is an Associate Professor (Adjunct) at the Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas (CTARA), IIT Bombay. She is also the Founding Medical Director of the Foundation for Mother and Child Health (FMCH) and Project Leader at Health Spoken Tutorial at IIT, Bombay. Training UNICEF Fellows on the technicality of Maternal Infant & Young Child Nutrition and guiding them on research topics on various nutrition projects all over India. She has 14 years of experience working in urban slums and rural and tribal areas of India to prevent malnutrition. Her research interests are in Maternal, infant & young nutrition, early childhood outcomes, the importance of correct breastfeeding techniques, behaviour change of caregivers through counselling and training.

Dr. Rupal Dalal

Member

Dr. Gogulwar did MBBS from Nagpur University. He has been working in the Health sector since 1987. He was a trustee of Kailash Health Foundation Mumbai (1992 – 2005) and SEARCH Gadchiroli (1994 – 1997). He has also coordinated many action plan committees. He has been the convener of Aamhi Aamchya Aarogyasathi (AAA), an NGO working in the health sector, since 2010. AAA has been working in 200 tribal & rural villages of Gadchiroli and Chandrapur districts and 45 slums of Nagpur city. He has trained 120 women health workers in the Community Health Project run by Ambuja Cement Foundation in the Gadchandur area of Chandrapur District. AAA is also working with adolescent girls. They formed about 70 adolescent girls groups in Kurkheda Taluka of Gadchiroli district.He was an invited member of the State NABARD Committee in 1996. In 2000 he received M.B.Gandhi Trust Puraskar. In 2010 he was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award by Indian Medical Association, Nagpur

Dr. Satish Gogulwar

Member

Ms. Madan did her Masters in Economics and PGDP from IIFT New Delhi. Thereafter pursued a career in International marketing and handled geographical areas like the Middle East, Far East, Europe and Srilanka. After two decades of corporate life switched to the development sector and joined BNHS, thereafter headed Light of Life Trust working in the field of education. Her passion is to see sustainable social models scaled up in critical need areas. Taught Social Entrepreneurship students at Tata Institute Social Sciences (TISS) and advocates similar models for sustainability.

Ruby Madan

Member

​​A developmental professional with over 20 years of work experience in the social development sector, especially in designing, developing, and executing programs. Experience in managing various programs at different levels with different partners, stakeholders, and multidimensional teams across India. He holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work. Experience in working with different groups, including sexual minorities, truckers, fisherfolks, women and children, adolescents, and youth in the field of health, livelihood, road safety, and skill development. He was a Master Trainer of Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) and also worked in the area of Maternal, Adolescent Reproductive Child Health, HIV/AIDS, Substance abuse, Capacity building, Programme Evaluation, Research, and data analysis.

Rajesh KR

Director