GAURI MISHRA
Founder, SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association) Mithila, Madhubani
Pioneer in the world Promotion of Mithila Painting (Madhubani Painting) , Mrs. Gauri Mishra is an internationally renowned social activist of Mithila. She has worked for the cause of Mithila Paintings and the women artists of Mithila since the early 70s, and is popularly known as the ‘Maaji’ (Reverend Mother) of Mithila. Founder, Master Craftsmen Association of Mithila (MACAM) and SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association) Mithila, Gauri Maa is credited with founding the first women’s organization for promoting the Madhubani art and generating livelihood for thousands of rural artists of Madhubani and surrounding villages.
GauriMaa, with her extensive expertise/research in different forms of Mithila Paintings, advises MITHILAsmita in all its strategies, right from team selection, art themes to quality checks and processes involved. http://www.gaurimishra.com/
http://www.paramparaproject.org/individuals_gauri-mishra.html
She is an honorable Life Member of the Advisory Board & the Patron Director, MITHILAsmita Group ( MITHILAsmita Art & Craft P. Ltd. & MITHILAsmita Trust)
KALIKA STERN
Executive Director, Society for Folk Arts Preservation, Inc. USA
Ms Stern is a founder of Society for Folk Arts Preservation, Inc. , a pioneer organization in folk art promotion world wide. She has traveled throughout Asia as a photographer with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and as a painter, illustrator, consultant and developer of educational materials for the New York State Department of Education. As a photographer and lecturer, her work has been shown in major museums and universities.[Courtesy: http://www.societyforfolkarts.com ]
Ms Stern, with her extensive work in the varied folk arts of the world advises MITHILAsmita on the effective strategies to promote the Folk Art of Mithila. http://www.societyforfolkarts.com
She is an honorable Life Member of the Advisory Board, MITHILAsmita Art & Craft P. Ltd.
Suryanarayanan A
CFO & Head of Operations at Indian Institute For Human Settlements, INDIA
Mr. Suryanarayanan is the CFO & Head of Operations at Indian Institute For Human Settlements. He served as the COO of the N S Raghavan Centre of Entrepreneurial Learning and its incubation centre(NSRCEL) set up by the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. He is the Co-founder of Medybiz, one of the pioneers in disease management in India. Mr. Suryanarayanan served as the founder, Director and Chief Operations Officer of Lifetime Healthcare Pvt Ltd. This company had 75 retail stores in South India, a company later acquired by Religare in Nov 2008.
Mr. Suryanarayanan has experience of 25 years including 21 years in the Healthcare industry in both medium and large organizations. Mr. Suryanarayanan’s wide-ranging experience in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry in India spans Finance, Business Development, Logistics and Services. He handled various responsibilities in the areas of Corporate Strategy, Project Management, Finance, Logistics and Operations. He worked with large Pharma companies like Nicholas labs, Recon Group. He serves as Director of Lifetime Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. Mr. Suryanarayanan is a Chartered Accountant, with an International Masters in Practicing Management from INSEAD, France and Masters in Management from McGill, Canada. He is also a licentiate from the Insurance Institute of India (General Branch). He has also recently been elected to the governing board in TiE Bangalore chapter.
Mr Suryanarayanan, with his specialties in the areas of Strategy, Finance, Logistics, MIS & controls, Trade marks & Indirect taxes, general management advises MITHILAsmita to develop a robust business model, for a global reach. His association with the Healthcare Industry will help MITHILAsmita develop a Medical Security Model for the rural artists of Madhubani. http://www.iihs.co.in/
He is an honorable Member of the Advisory Board, MITHILAsmita Art & Craft P. Ltd.
Anil Chhikara
Principal, Jaarvis Accelerator, India
Anil is a Serial Entrepreneur and a Judge & Mentor at India’s 1st Startup Reality TV Show. Currently serving as Principal, Jaarvis Accelerator, he has been the Founder & CEO of Marco Polo Ventures and Founder & Director, 24×7 Learning . Anil is a technology evangelist, loves mentoring and getting involved in start-ups. He believes that the power of technology can make available all that humanity deserves – irrespective of their social status, ability to pay or geographic location.
In 2001, he founded 24×7 Learning and led it’s growth in enterprise segment for over a decade to become India’s largest e-learning implementation company. Also lay the foundation of Avagmah, the B2C online education division by partnering with top educational institutions like Thapar, IMT and Annamalai University. Besides angels, he successfully raised two rounds of investments including US$ 4 million from Network18, India’s leading media conglomerate.
Prior to founding 24×7 Learning, he had successfully setup business and operations for two large multinational companies, Parametric Technology Corp, USA and Cimatron, Israel, in India and held leadership positions in Patni Computers, Wipro and HCL-HP.
Anil is a mechanical engineer by education and specialize in creating and implementing Go-to-Market strategies, demand creation, international partnerships, setting up distribution networks, B2B market development, product management, acquiring marquee customers for new products, business operations, strategy and high-value solution selling.
Besides an entrepreneurial streak, Anil is passionate about Art. Anil loves Sculpting and Collage and has won many national level prizes in past. A course on “Art and its Markets” at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and The University of Manchester has given Anil an understanding and exposure of the entrepreneurial side of Art markets.
He is a honorable Member of the Advisory Board, MITHILAsmita Group ( MITHILAsmita Trust and MITHILAsmita Art & Craft P. Ltd.)
Akhil Bhandari
Ex-CIO, Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. & Vice- President, Kabir Centre for Arts & Culture, Canada
Akhil Bhandari was Vice President & Chief Information Officer at Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. from June 2006 to September 2014. The company, a unit of United Technologies Corporation, is a world leader in aviation engines powering business and regional aircrafts, and helicopters. Prior to that, he was Vice President and Chief Information Officer at CCL Industries Inc. from November 2000 to June 2006. CCL is a Toronto based consumer products multi- national. From March 1995 to November 2000, Akhil served as General Manager of IT Division & CIO at J.D. Irving, Limited, a very diverse conglomerate and one of the largest privately held companies in North America. His earlier career included increasingly responsible positions in engineering and operations management at some well known companies, in India and Canada.
Akhil holds an MBA from Richard Ivey Business School in Canada and a degree in Mechanical Engineering from NIT, Kurukshetra.
He was an active member for several years and Chairperson of Conference Board of Canada’s Council of Chief Information Officers from 2010 to 2013. He was also a member of CIO Advisory Council of Royal Bank of Canada’s Technology Ventures Fund from 2005 to 2010.
Akhil is passionate about literature and performing arts and is an active proponent of South Asian art and culture in Canada. Akhil also serves as the Vice President of Kabir Centre for Arts & Culture, Montréal, Canada.
He is an honorable Member of the Advisory Board, MITHILAsmita Group ( MITHILAsmita Trust and MITHILAsmita Art & Craft P. Ltd.)
Archana Chaudhary
Director Communication and Sponsorships, Institut Francais en Inde, India
Archana has been the communication and fundraising director at the Institut francais en Inde since 2011. Prior to that she has been a consultant in higher education for over a decade and has also been the National coordinator for the French government’s university cooperation and higher education service CampusFrance in India. An alumnus of NIT Kurukshetra she also has a management degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies Pune. She has been a consultant to the Mines-Paristech consortium of engineering schools and has driven several CSR and cultural projects with multiple stakeholders and partners. She has been instrumental in initiating several notable university cooperation initiatives between European institutions and Indian institutions of higher education. She was awarded the palmes academiques (a government of France award ) for her outstanding contribution to enhancing university cooperation between the two countries.
She is an honorable Member of the Advisory Board, MITHILAsmita Group ( MITHILAsmita Trust and MITHILAsmita Art & Craft P. Ltd.)