Great Leaders Create Great Opportunities
At JSW Foundation, Every Leader is a Dreamer & an Achiever!
Key Persons
Mrs. Sangita Jindal is the driving force behind the JSW Foundation. Under her visionary leadership, the Foundation has embarked on the mission of improving the quality of life of vulnerable communities. With her passion towards art, Mrs. Jindal provides impetus to Jindal Arts Centre which strives to promote interdisciplinary arts activity in India. She also engages in philanthropic work, including vocational training, partnerships, and alliances with institutions, holistic development for the mentally challenged, and the empowerment of women through a rural BPO.
As a token of recognition of her unique approach and inspiring initiatives, Mrs. Jindal has been awarded the Women Philanthropist Award by FICCI.
Mr. Ashwini Saxena, Chief Executive Officer at JSW Foundation, comes with more than 30 years’ experience across India and Africa with reputed development organisations such as UNIDO, IFC (World Bank) and corporates. He holds Masters's degrees in Geology, Business Management and CSR Leadership from the University of Geneva. He has led MSME development/CSR/Sustainability programs and championed IFC’s Sustainability Tools in South Asia. He has more than 25 publications to his credit.
Advisory Board Members
Ashish Dhawan is the Founder-CEO of The Convergence Foundation (TCF). Ashish is also the Founding Chairperson of Ashoka University and Central Square Foundation and serves as a member on the governing board of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). Before his second career as a philanthropist, Ashish was among India’s most successful private equity investors. He founded and ran ChrysCapital, the country’s leading private equity firm. Ashish graduated from Yale University and received his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Dr. Chandrashekhar Biradar is an accomplished scientist with broad experience in executing agroecosystem research and outreach across diverse landscapes in Asia, Africa, and the Americas-focusing on a system approach and digital augmentation for landscape restoration while harnessing nature’s infinite potential for improving land and livelihoods. Dr. Biradar has a multidisciplinary educational background, with Forestry, Environmental Sciences and Earth Observation with a focus on Space Technology, Forest Ecology, and Functional Systems. Before joining CIFOR-ICRAF, he worked with other CGIAR centers, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Oklahoma, USA and IIRS-ISRO. Dr. Biradar has over 21 years of experience serving as a Researcher, Principal Scientist, Manager, Head of Units, Research Team Leader, and Country Director and has published over 400 research articles, tools, and products and received several national and international awards. His current research for development focused on system approach, and innovation incubators to restore functional agroecosystems towards green economic transition for ecologically sustainable and economically viable landscapes, livelihoods and lifestyle.
Padma Bhushan awardee Prof. K. Srinath Reddy is an Honorary Distinguished Professor at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI). He has been its past President and has formerly headed the Department of Cardiology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He is an advisor to several state governments on public health issues.
Dr. Mani, with a PhD & MPhil in Environmental Science from SES, JNU, MSc. Microbiology from Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai and an MPH from University of California, Berkeley, is a Public Health professional with over 35 years of international experience in public health practice in India and South Asia. As an expert in waste management in India and South Asia, she has evolved new methods, developed several technologies, implemented projects and helped in formulating Rules under the Environment Protection Act (EPA) 1986. Through her work with UN agencies and multinational institutions, she is actively involved in national as well international evaluation of projects, including Swachh Survekshan, plastic waste management implementation, policy advocacy and in the formulation of International Plastics Treaty. She also has several publications to her credit in reputed journals, books, websites and reports.
Mr. Tiwari is the CEO of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), set up by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. NSDC aims to promote skill development by developing and managing digital public infrastructure (DPI) for skilling - SIDH (Skill India Digital Hub); setting up and managing Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) for collaboration with industry; affiliating and accreditation of online/offline/hybrid skilling institutions; setting up and managing Skill India Centres (SICs) and Skill India International Centres (SIICs); advisory services to educational institutions for effective implementation of National Education Policy 2020; advisory services to governments abroad for designing and implementing skill policies and programs specific countries; and setting up, and/or affiliating skilling centres for skills training, assessment, and certification benchmarked to global standards; and collaborating with foreign universities, skilling institutions, and international certifications for skills based education/skilling pathways.
Mr. Kumar is the CEO of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, the apex body supported by the Ministry of MSME, Government of India to support khadi and village industries. It has supported JSW Foundation by providing agarbatti machines in Vijayanagar to facilitate women’s livelihoods across Self Help Groups.
Dipti Pardeshi is an accomplished executive with over three decades of experience, the last two of which have been dedicated to leading high-impact business and IT initiatives within various United Nations’ international organizations. Most recently, she served as the Director of the Business Management Programme at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, where she enhanced organizational performance through large-scale strategic global business-IT programs exceeding USD 100 million. Her career includes significant roles such as Chief of Mission for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN’s Migration Agency in London, and Chief Information Officer for IOM in Geneva. In these roles, she successfully implemented large-scale migration management programs, enhanced ICT governance, and deployed a comprehensive ERP system across 120+ countries.
Dipti holds an Executive MBA from London Business School and a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from Maharashtra Institute of Technology. Her national experience in India includes leading the World Bank-funded Maharashtra Emergency Earthquake Rehabilitation Programme, where she established a comprehensive database for tracking services and donor reporting.
She has represented her organizations in various international forums and task forces, contributing to global initiatives on migration management, prevention of human trafficking, labour market integration, and ICT. Known for her strategic vision and leadership, Dipti continues to champion initiatives that promote technology, health, safety, and well-being on both global and national scales.
Dr. Bang is the Joint Director of the Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH, an internationally renowned NGO), District Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, India working on public health research, hospital management and various programs for community health care. He did his MBBS (2003), Masters in Public Health (MPH), Johns Hopkins School of Public Health as Sommer Scholar (2009). He has previously served at the National Health Systems Resource Center, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and as Assistant of the Union Health Minister during 2012 – 2015. He was honorary Advisor to the Honorable Chief Minister, Government of Maharashtra for developing policies for, reviewing implementation and mobilizing partnerships for various programs of the government for the general welfare of the public, especially in the areas of public health, rural development etc. He also serves as an Advisor to the Health Division of Tata Trusts and Coordinator for Projects in Maharashtra. He continues to contribute as a member of several Expert Committees set up by the Government of Maharashtra besides being a faculty for training in the Public Health Fellowship with the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences; in addition to serving as Trustee, Foundation for Motivation for Excellence; Director, Narayana Health Foundation, Bangalore; Director, Rajiv Gandhi Science and Technology Center, Gondwana University and; Member, Board of Governors, ITM Skill University.
Mr. Mihir J. (“Mickey”) Doshi has been the Country CEO of UBS, India since June 2023. Based in Mumbai, he was previously the Managing Director and Country CEO of Credit Suisse, India serving as the latter since April 2006. Mr. Doshi was instrumental in establishing Credit Suisse's India franchise, which is active today across Private Banking and Investment Banking. He has been deeply involved in strengthening the overall business profile of the Bank in India and in providing its strategic direction. Under his leadership, Credit Suisse was awarded a banking license by the Reserve Bank of India and established a bank branch in Mumbai in 2011. Mr. Doshi was actively involved in Credit Suisse's corporate responsibility initiatives. He serves on the Board of Asia Society and Board of Room to Read. In addition, he is also a Trustee of Save the Children India. Before joining Credit Suisse, he was at Morgan Stanley for 22 years in various capacities, primarily in New York, Tokyo and Mumbai. His last position was Managing Director and CEO of JM Morgan Stanley Securities Pvt. Ltd. and he is credited with building Morgan Stanley's presence in India. Mr. Doshi holds a Bachelor of Science (Honors) from The New York University and a C. P. A. from The New York State, which he gained while working with Deloitte Haskins and Sells, New York.
Ms. Banerjee holds a B.Sc. (Economics Hons.) degree and a PGDPM from XLRI, Jamshedpur with 23 years of experience in the financial services industry across two multinational banks and a boutique Indian investment bank. She has proficiency in start-ups, writing the business case and creating the business model, operating model, processes and client propositions. She was appointed the Nominee Director of the ISIS Fund promoted by the New York based Women’s World Banking (WWB) and the Netherlands-based Triodos. Ms. Banerjee is also on the Board of the NBFC Ananya Finance, which pioneered lending to microfinance companies in India.
Foundation Team
Harshvardhan is a business leader with 25 years of work experience across sectors. Previously, he was associated with NatWest Group as Director, Sustainable Banking. Prior to this, he was associated with Welspun Group, Mahindra Group and Naandi Foundation.
Harshvardhan has an MBA in Strategy from Edinburgh Napier University, UK and is a Science Graduate from the University of Mumbai. He spearheads the operations of JSW Foundation across its locations.
Dhiren has over three decades of extensive expertise in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), waste management, plastic waste co-processing, IT infrastructure services, audio-visual systems, BMS, and alternative energy sources. He is also a seasoned professional in general management and operations with excellent analytical skills. Dhiren has extensive experience in business transformation, planning, and implementation, with a proven track record of developing strategies to mitigate business challenges faced in the industry. He holds an MBA in IT, complemented by numerous Microsoft and CISCO certifications. He is recognized as an innovator, credited with pioneering the Soil Battery technology. He has garnered multiple accolades for his achievements in photography.
Dr Asheesh has a rich experience of 20 years across industries. Prior to joining JSW Foundation, he was working with JSI India. In his previous roles, he has worked with Bionutrients, DFID supported MPHSR project, UNICEF Assam & CARE India. He is a post-graduate in Public Health & Nutrition from the Indian Institute of Public Health, New Delhi.
Asheesh has a rich experience of 25 years in the development sector, working with international, United Nations and Donor Organizations. During the years, he has worked on Public Health and Nutrition issues and its immediate determinants like micro-economy, societal processes, governance and disaster risk reduction programs.
Asheesh has worked extensively with National, State and Local Governments, NGOs, CSOs, Academic institutes, to implement holistic strategies for improving outreach, enhancing participation and sustaining the program.
Mahesh, with 23 years of experience in agriculture development, is leading the Agri-Livelihoods sector in JSW Foundation since December 2023. He holds a Post Graduate degree in Agriculture, with expertise in agriculture and agri allied program design, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), sustainable agriculture, organic farming and overall crop production and management. He has championed approaches like participatory rural appraisal, participatory technology development, farmer field schools and other agriculture extension techniques. He has previously worked at Indorama in Uzbekistan as Senior Agronomist and Chief Production Manager and holds extensive experience in large scale farm management. He has worked in various capacities in the agri space in Reliance Foundation, ETC Consultants India Pvt. Ltd, COFA, Hyderabad, AME Foundation, Bangalore. As an agriculture development professional, he has undergone various national and international level trainings on food security (Wageningen University, the Netherlands, vegetable production (Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand). He has also attended various international conferences and seminars in Spain and South Africa. He has published articles on farming in leading newspapers and has authored research papers published in leading journals. He has bagged a gold medal for his Post Graduation from UAS Dharwad, Karnataka. He loves music and travelling.
Piyush has a B. E. Mechanical degree and an M. B. A. in Operation Research, as well as 10 years of commercial experience and 8 years of project management and maintenance expertise. He formerly worked with Swades Foundation, Venky's India Limited, Kores India Limited, Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Lt., and TVS Logistics.
Piyush has extensive knowledge of technical evaluation, techno-commercial negotiations, vendor management, ERP, procurement strategies, process development, and business development. He has accelerated the purchase process and established a procurement team for the Foundation.
Rupa is a Masters in Environmental Sciences and MBA has vast experience working in the field of Environmental Management of over 25 years. Having worked with Environmental Management Consultancies carrying out Environmental Impact Assessment studies, she brings in passion while working with the community. Conservation and management of water resources are her areas of specialization. She has been a visiting faculty for teaching Environmental Management related subjects in institutes like Symbiosis, NITIE, SIES, IIEM. She is extremely passionate about conservation and restoration of ecology and environment and has been a field guide and project leader for BNHS and WWF, India. She is a founder member of an NGO working on the conservation of vultures in Raigad District of Maharashtra.
Savita is a Master in Library Science and has secured a PG Diploma in Education Administration along with a certificate course in Corporate Social Responsibility. She has over 20 years of experience in Educational Institutions and CSR activities. Before joining JSW Foundation she had worked with Birla School – Kalyan and KC Engineering College Thane. She has experience in managing impactful, sustainable, group level Education projects across India. Other than this she had also handled the special project of transforming Dongri children observation home for children in need of care and protection, as well as Juvenile children.
Siddhi heads the Agri-initiatives vertical at JSW Foundation. She conceptualizes Agri strategy across all JSW locations and coordinates implementation for all activities. She has been overseeing her vertical for the past 2 years. Prior to this, she has had varied experiences including luxury retail management, operations as well as marketing and brand management with one of the largest luxury groups in the world. She also has experience with business development and client relationship management. Siddhi has done her Bachelors in Arts with a specialization in economics from Jai Hind College (Mumbai).
Vikram leads the Finance team at JSW Foundation and serves as the Director of JSW Shakti Foundation, MuSo Foundation, and Recharge Sports Pvt. Ltd. He is also a member of the School Governing Board for Jindal Education Trust and is on the Managing Committee for JSW Sanjeevani Hospitals. With over 19 years of experience in leading corporates and NGOs, including Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. and Akshaya Patra Foundation, Vikram has considerable expertise in the Not For Profit sector and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) organizations.
He is a Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary, Certified Management Accountant (All India Rank Holder), and a Law Graduate. Additionally, he is a Certified Internal Auditor from the IIA, USA, and an ISO 9001 Lead Auditor. Vikram has a proven track record of successfully setting up centralized accounting/payroll systems, ERP, regional finance offices, audit, enterprise risk management, and procurement/commercial. He has also led ERP implementation and the transition of CSR from business to foundation in sizable organizations.
Our Location Team
Peddanna Beedala has a Masters in Folk Literature from Sri Krishnadeveraya University and is a graduate in Sociology. He has completed a Management Development Programme on Strategic CSR from IRMA. He has successfully completed a short-term programme in CSR from the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs. He has 25 years of work experience in the development sector, having worked with governments, non-government organizations and MNCs all over South India in addition to Odisha and Bihar. Prior to JSW Foundation, he worked with ACC Limited as Head CSR - South India, APMAS, DRDA and RDT. He has rich experience in disaster management and is globally recognized by Holcim.
With an experience of over 15 years in the development sector, Hemant has been looking after Barmer as its Head CSR. Hemant has completed MSW from Udaipur School of Social Work in 2005.
Sudhir has a vast experience of 26 years in project planning, monitoring & evaluation, organizational development, strategic partnerships, social research, capacity building and civil society development. His expertise lies in assessing project proposals pertaining to Education, Gender Mainstreaming, Local Self Governance and Women Empowerment.
Sudhir has a rich exposure with various UN agencies like UNFPA and UNICEF, State & District Administration, Gram Panchayat and Public Representatives. He possesses long-term understanding of issues related to Local Governance in India within a rights-based framework with vast experience of co-ordination of CSR activities for corporates from employ engagement to community development.
Deepak has a master's degree in social work and a postgraduate diploma in business management with over 25 years of job experience, spread across humanitarian and CSR organisations. Prior to JSW Foundation, he has worked with IIM Lucknow, CARE India, and the Institute for Career Studies, as well as corporations such as ABG, Reliance, ACC and Essar. Currently, he is the CSR Head at Sholtu and Kutehr, and regional coordinator for Sholtu, Kutehr, Barmer & Patiala.
Prasanta comes with 15 years of expertise in business incubation, renewable energy, and social innovation projects. He has worked extensively in states such as Karnataka and Gujarat, and was the director of the Sustainable Energy Incubation Centre in Bangalore. For three years, he served as the Evangelist for the Government of Odisha's Startup Odisha initiative, establishing Odisha as one of the top startup hubs in the country.
Anil is a certified CSR & Human Resource professional from Symbiosis Management Institute, with over 20 years of experience in the sector. He currently heads the Ratnagiri location. Anil’s passion for innovation and entrepreneurship is best employed with our vision of sustainable livelihoods.
Bharathi comes from an agricultural background with an extensive experience in Sustainable Development, Corporate Social Responsibility, Rural Development, and Management. He graduated with honours from Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University with a Masters Degree in Agriculture, Agriculture Operations. .He received a University Gold Medal for his Master's degree and received certification in CSR strategy from IIM- Bangalore ICAR All India Rank holder With over 15 years of expertise in both the developing and developed sectors, he is currently the Regional Co-ordinator for Tamil Nadu.
Sabal Kumar Jha has more than 18 years of experience in managing programs in community health and nutrition, waste management, WaSH, MIS and GIS, education and infrastructure. He has worked with reputed organizations like Essar Foundation, WHO and UNICEF. He has completed his MBA and has worked closely with District and State level government departments like NHM, ICDS, SSA, RDA. He has prior experience in working with like-minded voluntary organizations in the fields of agriculture, livelihoods, education and health and nutrition. Besides good networking, he has advocated strongly for the betterment of visually impaired children.
Jitender Thakur has 10 years of experience in the government sector. He has worked at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, an Extension Centre of Dr. Y.S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry Nauni, Solan Himachal Pradesh and has been working as the head of Kutehr location at JSW Foundation for more than four years. He has worked in the areas of project planning, monitoring and evaluation, organizational development, strategic partnerships, social research, capacity building and civil society development. He has worked with various local and district administration organization, Gram Panchayats and Public Representatives. He manages internal and external stakeholders, government organizations, partners, communities as part of his role here.
Mr. Abhijit Mohanty has been associated with JSW Foundation from October 2021. He has over 15 years of experience in CSR and Social Consulting projects for industrially affected communities in the mining, metals and manufacturing sector. He has conceptualized, designed and executed successful project models in the thematic areas of sustainable livelihoods, rural marketing, youth education, rural water supply and sanitation and healthcare in remote locations of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. He holds a Masters in Commerce from Utkal University, and has an MBA in Rural Management from Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Gujarat. His key areas of interest are strategic management in CSR, development communication for better brand visibility, leadership and team motivation, conflict management and development of successful women-based micro-enterprises through institutional governance approaches.
Vishal is a Social Development Professional with over 18 years of experience in the social development sector with expertise in the areas of Public Health, Education (Pre School-Education, Skill Development & Livelihood) in association/ partnership with government, development partners and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). He has done his Post Graduation in Zoology and has completed his specialized diploma in Insurance Management from Amity.
He has led programs in various capacities - for William J. Clinton Foundation (CHAI), Boston as State Team Lead; State Program Manager, IPE Global, New Delhi; Head – East Zone, Global Skills Network, Wadhwani Foundation, California; Director - Program Operations, India, DKT International, Washington D.C.; State Program Manager, Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University; Program Officer, DRDA, MoRD, Bihar; Program Officer, Arvind Mills Ltd., Ahmedabad, JSW Steel Ltd., India for donors like USAID, Buffet Foundation, Packard Foundation, BMGF, Surgo Foundation, NHM, NACO, and so on.
He works closely with various levels of government machinery from district to state to the national level for advocacy, technical assistance and on Public Private Partnership (PPP) Models.
His interests are Gardening, Music, travelling (long country side drives), socializing with friends & colleagues.