Board of Trustees
The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF) is a public, charitable, secular Trust, registered in Bengaluru. The Board of Trustees comprise missionaries of ISKCON Bengaluru, corporate professionals, and entrepreneurs.
Our empowered teams spread across India, the USA and the UK play a large role in understanding the complex issues faced by children and spreading our cause through well-defined processes.
COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD
At Akshaya Patra, we firmly believe that good governance and ethics are the necessary foundations of any Non-Governmental Organisation. In pursuit of the same, the Foundation’s Board of Trustees play a primary role in ensuring good governance and functioning of the Foundation.
The Foundation’s Board comprises of Board of Trustees and Board of Advisors. Presently, there are eight Trustees and seven Advisors in the Foundation’s Board.
Madhu Pandit Dasa
Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation
Madhu Pandit Dasa was born in Nagercoil, India. He completed his B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT-Mumbai in the year 1980. While he was doing his M.Tech course in IIT-Mumbai in 1981, he dedicated himself to the service of humanity by becoming a full-time member of ISKCON. In 1994, he initiated an integrated social development project for the benefit of the rural people of Mysuru and Mandya districts. A model, prototype organic farm based on natural and earth-friendly farming methods along with an internationally accredited farmer-training centre has been setup in the 110-acre land on the banks of river Kaveri in Srirangapatam. He designed the first centralised and mechanised kitchen of Akshaya Patra, to provide mid-day meals to underprivileged children in the Government schools of Bengaluru Rural District during July 2000.
Chanchalapathi Dasa
Vice Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation
Chanchalapathi Dasa was born in Bengaluru, India. While an undergraduate student in PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, he became interested in the message and mission of Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON. Later he joined the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru for the Masters programme in Electrical Communication Engineering. In 1984 he became a full-time dedicated member of ISKCON, Bengaluru and soon became the Vice President. He has been involved in the implementation of the various programmes of ISKCON, Bengaluru and presently serves as the Vice Chairman of The Akshaya Patra Foundation.
Jaganmohan Krishna Dasa
Trustee, The Akshaya Patra Foundation
Jaganmohan Krishna Dasa was born in the Prakasham (Ongole) district of Andhra Pradesh. He holds a Bachelor degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering. Inspired by the teachings of Srila Prabhupada he joined ISKCON Bengaluru in the year 2000. In 2005 he served Akshaya Patra as a Programme Coordinator for the Jaipur unit, where he was involved in the kitchen development from inception. He had also been involved in the operations of the Vrindavan and Gujarat units; and carried out the establishment and running of the Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara & Nathdwara kitchen projects. Having a keen faculty for design and innovation, Jaganmohan Krishna Dasa implemented various development initiatives in the Akshaya Patra kitchens. Two noteworthy accomplishments were the enhancement of the dal cooker capacity from 1,200 litres to 3,000 litres, and their subsequent horizontal deployment to other kitchens; along with the design and production of the Sukhdi making machines in Gujarat. Keeping with the latest in food technology, he studied and implemented innovative alternatives from Germany and the Tetrapak PDC(Product Development Centre) and factory in Sweden. Presently he serves as the President of Akshaya Patra, Gujarat region.
T.V. Mohandas Pai
Chairman, Manipal Global Education Services
Mohandas Pai is currently the Chairperson of the Board of Manipal Global Education Services Private Limited and Advisor to the Manipal Education and Medical Group. He is also on the Board of Ascendas Property Fund Trustee Pte Ltd (“APFT”), as Trustee-Manager of Ascendas India Trust (“a-iTrust). He co-founded AARIN Capital to fund operational support in Technology, Ecommerce, Health Care and Life Science. Mohandas Pai actively interfaces with key leadership at Indian regulators to improve the business ecosystem. His focus areas are Education, Information Technology and Human Resource Development. He was a Member of the Board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). He is currently the Chairman of SEBI Primary Markets Foundation, the body that oversees the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), for nearly six years. He is currently a Member on the Boards of IIT’s – Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad and IPE, Hyderabad. Pai served as the Chief Financial Officer of Infosys from 1994 to 2006. He was the former Director, Human Resources at Infosys Technologies and also the former Head of Infosys Leadership Institute. He is also the Ex- Chairperson of the Board of Infosys BPO Limited. Mohandas Pai was voted ’CFO of the Year’ in 2001 by IMA India. He also won the ’Best CFO in India’ award from Finance Asia in 2002, and ’Best Chief Financial Officer in India’ in the Best Managed Companies poll conducted by Asia Money in 2004. He holds a B.Com. Degree from St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru , and a bachelor’s degree in law (LLB) from Bengaluru University. He is also a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Mohandas Pai has been serving as a trustee of The Akshaya Patra Foundation since its founding days. He is also a donor apart from being a strategic visionary of the Foundation.
Ratnangada Govinda Dasa
Trustee, The Akshaya Patra Foundation
Ratnangada Govinda Dasa (Raghunath Pawar) was born in Bengaluru, India. While pursuing post-graduate studies in Commerce, he came in touch with Srila Prabhupada’s books and subsequently became a full-time dedicated member of ISKCON Bangalore. Ratnangada Govinda Dasa began his missionary services by managing an incense manufacturing unit that aids the activities of ISKCON Bangalore. During this time, he initiated many developmental programmes for promoting human values and character building among the slum dwellers and their children. He was also instrumental in starting Akshaya Vastra, an initative for distributing free clothes to the underprivileged. In 2004, Ratnangada Govinda Dasa was responsible for building the second kitchen of Akshaya Patra in Huballi, Karnataka. Recognised as the world’s largest kitchen by the Limca book of records, this centre currently feeds 2 lakh children every day. Ratnangada Govinda Dasa then spearheaded the implementation of Akshaya Patra’s programme in Rajasthan which led to kitchens being set up in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Nathdwara. He also travelled extensively in rural areas of the most backward district of Rajasthan – Baran, where he developed Akshaya Patra’s first decentralised feeding programme. This initiative led to a significant improvement in the living standards of the local tribes and is widely recognised as a highly successful social intervention. Ratnangada Govinda Dasa also serves as a member of Akshaya Patra’s Management Council.
Abhay Jain
Board Member & Head - Group Corporate Affairs of Manipal Education and Medical Group; Member – Board of Jain University
Born in Rajasthan, India, Abhay Jain completed his graduation in science from St. Joseph’s College and his Bachelor of Law from the Bengaluru University. He then went on to do his PG Diploma in Management. He is one of the largest distributors for polymers in South India. He has also served as the Vice President in the Birla Group of Companies. Presently, he is the Board Member and Head-Group Corporate Affairs of Manipal Education and Medical Group. He is also currently the Member of the Board of Jain University, Bengaluru. He has been serving as a trustee of the Foundation since its inception. He brings in his important strength of networking to the service of the Foundation.
Ramadas Kamath U.
Senior Vice President, Head of Infrastructure, Commercial, Facilities, Administration, and Security, Infosys Limited
Ramdas Kamath U. , plays a vital role in the management of Infosys’ Facilities and Administration worldwide. From managing the company’s infra structural growth to ensuring physical security across campuses, he has been instrumental in ensuring that Infosys’ growth as a global IT leader has been reflected across the locations and facilities from which it operates. He holds a degree of BBM and is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Ramdas Kamath has been serving as a trustee of the Foundation since its founding days. He presently also serves as a member of The Akshaya Patra Audit Committee.
V. Balakrishnan
Founder & Chairman, Exfinity Technology Fund
V. Balakrishnan is currently Founder and Chairman of Exfinity, a Private Equity Fund focused on investing in the technology space. Balakrishnan has significant experience in leadership positions in the finance domain, with expertise in Corporate Finance, International Taxation, Risk Management and Mergers & Acquisitions. He served as Head of Infosys BPO, Finacle and the India Business Unit, Chief Financial Officer of Infosys Ltd., and also as Chairman of the Board at Infosys BPO Limited and Chairman of Infosys Lodestone. He has been a recipient of the 'Best CFO' award from CNBC and Finance Asia. He won the Best CFO (Information Technology, Media, Communication and Entertainment) award from the ICAI (The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) in 2008. He serves as an Independent Director of Tejas Networks Ltd. (formerly Tejas Networks India Ltd.). He is also the Chairman of MicroGraam which is a peer-to-peer lending platform that empowers rural entrepreneurs with access to loans from socially minded investors. Balakrishnan received a B.Sc. from the University of Madras and is an Associate Member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India and Institute of Company Secretaries of India. He joined the Akshaya Patra board of trustees in June 2006. He presently also serves as the Chairman of Akshaya Patra Audit Committee.
Raj P Kondur
Founder and CEO, Kondur Corp.
Raj P. Kondur is the Founder and CEO of Kondur Corp., a multi-sector investment holding company with interests in infrastructure, real estate, mineral resources, IT/ITES, and healthcare. Raj previously co-founded and was Managing Director of ChrysCapital, India's first, largest, and most successful independent private equity fund with US$ 2.75 billion under management. At ChrysCapital, he led investments in the IT and BPO sectors that have led to the creation of over 50,000 jobs and were among the firm’s most successful investments. Raj Kondur is a Harvard graduate and was a Management Consultant with Morgan Stanley and A.T. Kearney in the USA. At Morgan Stanley, he was also the part of seven member team responsible for investing the $1 billion Princes Gate Fund and was a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions Department focused on private equity firms. Raj is actively involved with several non-profit organisations in India. He has been engaged with The Akshaya Patra Foundation since April 2002. He is also the member of Akshaya Patra’s Audit Committee.
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