Team Janaagraha

Ramesh Ramanathan is Co-Founder, Janaagraha. He is a member of the JWC (Janaagraha Working Council ) and is Coordinator of the Advocacy programme.
Prior to current activities Ramesh pursued a career path at Citibank in New York and London was one of the fastest to rise from a Management Associate to the last position as Managing Director & European Head of Corporate Derivatives, a $100 million business. Was a member of the Global Markets Leadership Team, collectively running a business with an annual revenue of over $1 billion. He has spoken at several industry seminars and written about financial markets for leading industry publications. He is a contributing author of a book published on Equity Derivatives: Applications in Risk Management and Investment.

Current activities

• In the area of Microfinance:
- Vice Chairman, Sanghamithra Rural Financial Services, promoted by Myrada, one of India’s pioneers in microcredit.
- Chairman, Janalakshmi Financial Services, working in the area of urban microfinance
• In the area of Public Governance reforms:
- Was a member of the Bangalore Agenda Task Force, working on issues related to financial reforms.
- Advisor to the Government of Karnataka on Local Government Finances, in its interaction with the 12th Finance Commission.
- Principal Advisor, Government of Rajasthan, State Urban Reforms
- Trustee, PROOF Trust, aimed at creating robust practices of public disclosure and performance measurement in our governments
• National Technical Advisor, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, Govt of India
• Board Member, AXIS Bank

Swati Ramanathan is Co-Founder, Janaagraha. She is a member of the JWC and is Coordinator of the Advocacy programme.
Swati is a leading national advocate of appropriate design in urban planning. She is Chairperson of India’s largest urban conference, India Urban Space – that focuses on policy, infrastructure and planning. She is a member of the State Urban Agenda for Rajasthan (SUARAJ), initiated by the Chief Minister of that State. Swati is currently working on implementing Guaranteed Title in Rajasthan, a Heritage Plan for Jaipur city and a Heritage policy for Rajasthan. She is also anchoring the work on the Masterplan for Jaipur city, and creating an Urban Spatial Data Centre.
She chaired the Working Group on Participatory Planning appointed by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India.
Swati has a Master’s degree from Pratt Institute, N.Y. and has worked in the United States (Van Summern Group) and the UK (Gensler and Associates). She has edited and co-authored Participatory Planning: A Citizens’ Handbook, and Shaping Vibrant Cities, Participatory Planning Campaign in neighbourhoods and recently Ground Rules: Challenges to the Implementation of Security of Land Title in Urban India. She was nominated for Asia 21 Young Leaders, 2007.

Sumit Singh is Advocacy Associate at Janaagraha. He has a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Institute of Engineering and Technology, Bareilly. He holds a Diploma in Governance from MIT School of Government, Pune. He is passionate about work in the development sector since his early youth and has been a part of many related initiatives and activities. During the last year and half he has been involved in various socio political activities in Delhi and has now moved to Bangalore to pursue his interests. As Advocacy Associate Sumit anchors interactions with officials from the JNNURM cities.

Dr. Nandita Aras is member of JWC( Janaagraha Working Council) - Janaagraha’s leadership team. She is Coordinator of the Research Programme at Janaagraha. She has a Master's degree in Economics from Bombay University and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University, New York. Her doctoral thesis on the Social Bases of Support for Hindu Nationalism and Hindu Nationalist Parties won the Wildavsky Award of the American Political Science Association for the best doctoral dissertation on Religion and Politics (2001). She then taught undergraduate courses in South Asian Politics and Nationalism at the University of California, Irvine before moving to India in 2004. Nandita is also a theatre enthusiast having worked professionally in theatre and films in Mumbai for over 14 years before joining Columbia University for graduate studies.

Kersi Wadia is member of the Janaagraha Working Council. He is Coordinator of the Training Programme at Janaagraha. Kersi is a senior executive with over 30 years experience in sales, marketing, operations, communication and man-management from the Shipping (Liner and Logistics) industry in India and the Asia-Pacific region.
Kersi started his career in the Shipping Industry in 1967 and has worked in various organizations in India and abroad. He retired as Chief Executive Officer for Nortrans Marine Services Ltd (NMS) and Trans Asia Shipping Services Ltd (TAS) in 2003. He did his schooling from Bishop’s, Pune and graduated from the Indian Mercantile Marine Training Ship. Kersi also holds a certificate of competency as a Master Mariner from the UK.
He is passionate and enthusiastic about urban governance issues and citizen participation.

Anjali Kumar is presently working in Janaagraha as a CAP Associate (Citizen Awareness Programme) She has completed her Bsc from St.Joseph's College, Bangalore. She has joined Janaagraha to pursue her interests in the development sector.

Pramod Goni is member of the Janaagraha Working Council. He is Coordinator of the Community Leadership Programme at Janaagraha. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Divinity from the Karnataka Theological College, Mangalore and a Masters in Sociology from the Karnataka Open University, Mysore. He has worked in the northern diocese of Karnataka for thirteen years (1983-1996) and also in Government and NGO programmes for six years (1996-2002). He has many years experience in community mobilisation, communication, training, planning, teamwork, and poverty alleviation programmes. As Janaagraha’s Coordinator of its Community Leadership Programme, he guides activities related to community mobilisation, field work for data collection, representing and attending meeting at slums/ area/ ward level, and public interaction for field inputs with all stakeholders of project including funding agencies.

Rama Errabelli is member of the Janaagraha Working Council. She is Coordinator of the Bala Janaagraha programme. She holds a Masters degree in Political Science from University of Pune and an Associate's degree in Computer Science. She has worked for over ten years as a software developer. She is passionate about working with children and volunteered in public schools in USA. She helped the schools with coordination and fundraising for several extra curricular activities.

Jasmine Shah is member of the Janaagraha Working Council. He Coordinates two partner programmes at Janaagraha – India Urban Space (India's largest urban event that brings together government, urban experts, market players and citizens across India's cities every year), Bangalore City Connect (a forum representing key industry associations, citizen groups, academia etc. in Bangalore with an aim to assist the government authorities in planning & implementation of urban infrastructure) and WISA (Ward Infrastructure & Services Assessment) Project.
Before joining Janaagraha, Jasmine had a three-year stint in the corporate sector at ITC Ltd. as a project manager for engineering and infrastructure projects. Jasmine completed his B.Tech and M.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras in 2004. He is a sports enthusiast and a regular long distance runner.

N V Nayak is member of the Janaagraha Working Council. He is Coordinator of the Administration programme at Janaagraha. He is a well-experienced and knowledgeable banker in the field for over 30 years. On several occasions he has been a guest speaker at forums like Chamber of Commerce and on Doordarshan Television. During the course of his career he has prepared various research papers on economics and finance and has vast experience in the field of risk management and credit sanctions. Mr Nayak also comes with excellent leadership and management skills.

Indu Kumar is Assistant Administrator in Janaagraha for past six years. He is qualified as Teacher Certificate Higher class (Primary School Teacher) in Bangalore.

Syeda K Shataj is part of the Administration team at Janaagraha. She is a commerce graduate from Bangalore University. She is currently handles the Accounts work at Janaagraha.

Indira Viswanathan is member of the Janaagraha Working Council. She is Coordinator of the Technology programme at Janaagraha. She holds an MS in Computer Science from SJSU, California, USA. She has ten years of experience in the fields of software development, application programming and web development. At Janaagraha, as the Coordinator of Technology, she manages the various activities of her domain like implementing the new Janaagraha website, procuring hardware and software and in general enabling technology for all the Janaagraha programmes.

S.V. Sathish is Applications Programmer in the Technology Team at Janaagraha. He has a diploma in Mechanical Engineering. He has prior experience as Line Inspector in Motor companies. He completed a diploma course in e-commerce. Since then he has picked up experience in the field of information technology.

Anil Varkey Kuruvilla is Systems & Network Administrator in the Technology team at Janaagraha. Anil has a post graduate degree in Chemistry. He has several years of experience in the IT domain, and has worked as Technical Support Engineer with Hard Soft Technologies Pvt.Ltd.

Cheryl Rebello is member of the Janaagraha Working Council. She is Coordinator of the  Communications programme at Janaagraha. Cheryl holds a Masters degree in Economics  with a specialisation in Econometrics from the Maharaja Sayaji Rao University, Baroda. She  began her career as Research Assistant on a project at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Since then she has served several roles – as Research Assistant, Lecturer,  and Copywriter. She has several published writings to her credit. Her work involves  planning and executing overall communications strategy. The Website, Janaagraha Times,  Internal Communications and other Community Communications tools, as well as Press Relationships are coordinated through this programme.

K.K. Nayar is Coordinator of the Janaagraha Working Council. He is a qualified mechanical engineer in and pursued a career in Projects and Manufacturing Management in FMCG, Food, Paper & Chemical Industry. He has wide spectrum experience in upgradation, expansion, building new/green field units and commissioning them. He has served on the Board of Unilever Subsidiaries in India, UK and Egypt as an Executive Director where he has focused on Technology, Profit improvement programs Acquisition and Mergers, 
He has also worked with one of the oldest Venture Capital Management Companies in India with widely spread interest in various industries. The assignment involved identifying investment opportunities and mentoring them to high levels of performance.He is presently doing Management and Engineering Consultancy. He is also doing voluntary work with Janaagraha in the area of Citizen Participation in Civic affairs. He also did work in the earlier parts of the project to build Citizen Participation in the Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation project.

Sapna Karim, member of the Janaagraha Working Council. She is Coordinator of the HR& Volunteer Management Programme at Janaagraha. She is a graduate in Arts from Bishop Cottons in Bangalore. She has done a certification course in Applications Programming. She has worked in software development for five years before joining Janaagraha as a volunteer in December of 2001. Her volunteer involvement has seen her participate in grassroots campaigns, community mobilisation and government interaction, engaging in institutional partnerships and in coordination of volunteers.

Kavitha is Associate on the HR & Volunteer Management programme at Janaagraha. She has a bachelor's degree in English from Madras University. She started her career as a trainer and she also taught as a schoolteacher for three years. She moved on to HR and administrative work in 2004.
Kavitha has also volunteered with several NGO's and is passionate about doing her bit towards making a difference in society.