S. Ramadorai, President

Mr. S. Ramadorai was in public service from February 2011 to October 2016. During his tenure as the Chairman of National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) his approach was to standardize the skilling effort, ensure quality and commonality of outcomes by leveraging technology and create an inclusive environment to co-operate, collaborate & co-exist. He strongly believed that empowering the youth with the right skills can define the future of the country.

Mr. Ramadorai is currently the Chairman of the Advisory Board at Tata STRIVE, which is the Tata Group’s CSR skill development initiative that aims to address the pressing national need of skilling youth for employment, entrepreneurship and community enterprise. He is also the Chairman of Tata Technologies Limited and additionally serves as an Independent Director on the Boards of Piramal Enterprises Limited and DSP Investment Managers. In March 2016, he retired as the Chairman of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE Limited) after having served on their board for a period of 6 years.

Mr. Ramadorai took over as the CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 1996 when the company’s revenues were at $ 155 million and since then led the company through some of its most exciting phases, including its going public in 2004. In October 2009, he retired as the CEO, leaving a $ 6 billion global IT services company to his successor. He was then appointed as the Vice Chairman and retired in October 2014, after an association of over 4 decades with the company.

Given his keen passion to work for the social sector and community initiatives, he also serves as the Chairman on the Council of Management at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) and the Chairperson of the Governing Board at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). He is also the President of the Society for Rehabilitation of Crippled Children (SRCC) – which has recently built a super specialty children’s hospital in Mumbai.

In recognition of his commitment and dedication to the IT industry he was awarded the Padma Bhushan (India's third highest civilian honour) in January 2006. In April 2009, he was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to the Indo-British economic relations. In 2016, he was also awarded The Economic Times - Lifetime Achievement Award for his glorious contribution to Tata Consultancy Services.

His academic credentials include a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Delhi University (India), a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (India) and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of California – UCLA (USA). In 1993, Ramadorai attended the Sloan School of Management’s highly acclaimed Senior Executive Development Program.

Ramadorai is a well-recognized global leader and technocrat who has participated in the Indian IT journey from a mere idea in 1960’s to a mature industry today. Ramadorai captured this exciting journey in a wonderfully personalized book titled 'The TCS Story...and beyond' which was published in 2011 and remained on top of the charts for several months. Among his many interests, Ramadorai is also passionate about photography and Indian classical music.

Sudha Gopalakrishnan, Vice-President

Sudha Gopalakrishnan is one of the founders of Sahapedia, as well as Vice President of Sahapedia's governing body. She has over thirty years of experience in areas relating to policy, management, documentation and research pertaining to multiple aspects of Indian arts and heritage. She received her PhD in Comparative Drama and Masters degree in English Language and Literature. She has prepared three successful nomination dossiers for the recognition of three heritage expressions—Kutiyattam, Vedic Chanting and Ramlila—as UNESCO Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity’. Sudha was Mission Director, National Mission for Manuscripts, from 2003-2007. She has published 8 books (including original writing, translation and edited volumes) and contributed papers in national and international publications.

J.K. Gupta, Treasurer

J.K. Gupta is the Chief Financial Officer of Tata Technologies, and the ex-Vice President of Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS). He served TCS in the capacity of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of CMC Limited till its merger with TCS in October 2015 and is credited with successful transformation of CMC Limited from a PSU to a successful private enterprise upon its privatization in 2001. Mr. Gupta has around 37 years of professional experience with leading organizations in Information Technology, Media & Entertainment, Steel and Consumer durables industries. He holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from FMS, Delhi and is a Fellow member of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India. In addition, he holds a law degree from Delhi University. He has earned many accolades for academic excellence including Gold medal by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India.

Vaibhav Chauhan, Secretary

Vaibhav has trained in managing and conserving heritage. A founder member of Sahapedia, he is its secretary and is responsible for resource development and operations. Vaibhav has top-up degrees in sustainable tourism, digital marketing, IPR, CSR and management from institutions that include IIT-Bombay, National Law University and Harvard Business School. He has worked with the National Mission for Manuscripts and Sangeet Natak Akademi. His passion is to leverage technology to reach travellers, students and enthusiasts. He curates specialised tours in north India, and created India’s first Mobile App (Android) on museums.

Mala Ramadorai

Mala Ramadorai is a person of many interests; the foremost is, of course, Classical Music. Having started very young with Carnatic Music it was much later that she changed tracks. The plunge into the Hindustani Style necessitated a temporary suspension of Carnatic Vocal to avoid a transfer of training from one style to another. Now the two reside side by side drawing the best from each other! Small informal engagements with the son's school led to a curiosity with the teaching/learning process. Realizing that formal training in this area would help Mala went back to school! Soon education became a passion-having gained experience in school management, teacher training it was quite a natural transition to corporate employee engagement. Passionate about bringing about awareness to Indian culture, Mala is now engaged in conducting a series of workshops on Indian music, differences and similarities in north and south Indian music and so on.

Ranjit Barthakur

Ranjit strongly believes in social entrepreneurship towards betterment of human health, education, environment, and culture and skills development and is consistently driving these initiatives and projects. Ranjit has initiated and is learning growth projects for human interest, social development, and innovation in social business, environmental conservation and market consolidation. He is hoping that his emphasis on promoting environmental preservation and focus on innovation to integrate the sector with Social Economics.

Ruchira Ghose

Ruchira (Chatterji) Ghose is Tagore National Fellow at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi. She studied Economics at Cambridge University UK, where she took the tripos and her doctorate, teaching and researching at Cambridge for several years. Her book on the Behaviour of Industrial Prices in India was published in 1989. On her return to India after many years abroad she made a conscious decision to move from Applied Economics to Arts Management and research in Art, Craft and Design. From 2010-2015 she headed the National Crafts Museum of India where she oversaw a major rejuvenation project. She is currently working on a project on Indian Textiles under the aegis of the Tagore National Fellowship.

Shyam Saran

Shyam Saran, 69, is a former Foreign Secretary and has served as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Nuclear Affairs and Climate Change. He is former Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board and currently Chairman, Research and Information System for Developing Countries. He is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research. Saran was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest national award, in January 2011 for his contributions to Civil Service. He writes and speaks regularly on foreign policy, climate change, energy security and national and international security related issues.

R. Ramanan

R. Ramanan is the Mission Director of the Atal Innovation Mission - a national Innovation initiative NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) set up by the Government of India. R Ramanan was previously Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of CMC Ltd., a subsidiary of the globally acclaimed Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). His illustrious career in the IT industry spans more than three decades when he joined TCS in 1981 after graduating from IIT Mumbai in Electrical Engineering. Ramanan played an instrumental role in the growth of TCS with a variety of responsibilities ranging from software product development, technical marketing, global business development, and general management of large delivery centers of TCS. He is an avid reader, a music enthusiast and a poet in his free time.