Our Team

Mohan H.L is a social scientist with three decades of experience as a Senior Technical Advisor for programmes, communications and community interventions. Presently, he is also Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KHPT, he leads and provides overall direction to management of programmes, communications and community mobilisation systems and activities. He has played a key role in strengthening KHPT’s partnership with both state and national governments in India.

A firm believer in community centric planning and decentralisation, he has been responsible for design and implementation of innovations in areas of MNCH and HIV/AIDS. His area of interest include institution building and leveraging information and communications technology for empowering grassroots communities.

Prior to joining KHPT, he has spent more than two decades in government and non-government organisations, working specifically in the areas of education, health, decentralisation and adolescent education. He has worked as an advisor and consultant in several development projects of UNFPA, UNESCO and UNICEF, within the country as well as outside.

He has a Master’s degree in Rural and Urban Community Development from the School of Social Work, Mangalore. He has several peer reviewed publications and abstracts to his credit.

Ms. Tasqeen has substantial experience in development work spanning over 25 years evident in the range of portfolios handled and organisations worked with, namely, grassroots organisations, international NGOs and multi-lateral organisations. The thrust of the work has been conceptualising and facilitating participatory and sustainable development at the grassroots, policy research and advocacy work, assessing potential partners, project design and evaluation, strategic direction, building vision and capacities of communities and organisations as well as resource mobilisation. The thematic areas she has worked on have provided valuable insights and experience in gender and development, women’s empowerment, education and child labour, health and HIV/AIDS, migration and livelihoods in the informal economy.

Ms Macchiwala is currently working as Portfolio Manager at the Azim Premji Foundation. She is a board member of Sutradhar, an educational resource centre since 2002 and also, a member of Anti-Sexual Harassment Committee, WIPRO since 2004.

Mr AM Rajashekara has thirty-six years of experience in the fields of administration, advertising and publicity, program planning and implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the programmes implemented across the country through the ‘National Literacy Mission Authority’ (NLMA). He is a well-known figure in the non-formal education sector and administration sectors with strong networking capabilities, having played advisory roles in several large programs within the government, both at the state and national levels. After completing his M.A. (Economics) from Bangalore University in 1976, he started his career with the Family Planning Association of India, funded by the International Planned Parenthood Federation. He has led teams in planning strategies for nationwide mobilization and environment building activities through a variety of media initiatives, organised capacity building programmes for key functionaries, developed resource materials for training and assessment of learning outcomes, and so on.

He has several successes to his credit during his tenure as the Joint Director in the Department of Education & Literacy, Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India. He has also participated in numerous seminars, conferences and training programmes, and been awarded fellowships organised at different national and international forums on topics like ‘Population Education’, ‘Monitoring & Evaluation’, ‘Role of Media in Education’, ‘Capacity Building of Adult Education Functionaries’, ‘Mobilization and Environment Building’, ‘Assessment of Adult Learners’, ‘Development of Training Manuals’, etc.

Ms Merlyn Martis, is currently Director & Chief Functionary, Development Education Society (DEEDS), Mangalore. Ms Martis is a social scientist and has been successfully spearheading a team of professional social workers, implementing several development projects in Karnataka since 1989. She has special expertise in the field of women empowerment, and as an experienced state level resource person in the field of gender and women empowerment, she has to her credit various training programmes, seminars, and articles on women’s issues. She is also a member of Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) against sexual harassment of women in both private and public institutions. Ms Martis has received the Akkamahadevi Prashasthi award from the Govt of Karnataka in 2017 for her work with women victims of violence. She has her degrees in Masters in Social Work, LLB, B.Sc., and Post Graduate Diploma in Guidance and Counselling.

Mr Aravindan is the CEO and Director, Thematic Collaboration at AVPN India Foundation, leading collaborative efforts to unlock more capital for the social sector.

He has 15 years of experience and crossed over to development from the private sector after close to a decade in strategy and finance roles. His expertise in development is around advising non-profits on institutional building and strategic management and advising donors on effective giving practices.

Mr Aravindan holds a Postgraduate degree in Management from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and a Civil Engineering Degree from the National Institute of Technology, Trichy.

A development policy analyst, author, and former IAS officer, Sanjay Kaul has over four decades of rich and professional experience.  After serving 28 years in the IAS, Kaul worked in the private sector for 14 years as MD & CEO and Chairman, NCML, an agri-business company. Kaul’s current interests are in the areas of school education, nutrition, ECD and public health.  He serves on the boards of several not for profit organizations and writes on various development subjects.

Kaul has led challenging assignments across development and social sectors, both in the central government, including working in the Prime Minister’s Office, as well as in Karnataka as Commissioner and Secretary in the Departments of School Education and Health.

A post-graduate in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics, Kaul began his career as a college lecturer at Delhi University. His book, “An Alternative Development Agenda for India”, has been by published by Routledge and retains his interest in academics and writing.

Kaul is a Trustee at the KHPT and at World Food Programme (WFP) Trust in India. Kaul has served as member of Karnataka’s Education Commission and as chairperson of the ECCE Task Force of the Government of India. Kaul is on the Boards of Mobile Creches, a child rights organization and at DigiGrain Solutions, an agri-business company. Kaul works closely with the DPS Society and serves on the Managing Committees of several DPS schools across the country.