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Governing Board, India

Brij

Brij

Brij Kothari is an academic and social entrepreneur. He is on the Faculty of IIT-Delhi's School of Public Policy and the founder of PlanetRead.

He conceived of Same Language Subtitling (SLS) on mainstream TV in India for mass literacy, in 1996. He is an Ashoka Fellow and the recipient of the International Literacy Prize from the Library of Congress.

He has a Ph.D. in education from Cornell University and a Masters in physics from IIT Kanpur.

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Chitra

Chitra

An MSW Gold medalist from Madras school of Social work, Chitra Shah is passionate about changing lives of the people with disabilities (PWDs). She has over 15 years of experience in the field of disability. She is the Director of Satya Special School in Pondicherry, which was registered as a society in 2003.

Satya Special School started as a rehabilitation centre offering free services to 20 children with special needs, now has 1029 children under the umbrella. Satya started its journey with a single infrastructure, currently operates through 10 urban centres, 3 village centres, mobility across 44 villages, 4 upcoming satellite centres and over 100 staff.

Her research interest includes: Psychosocial conditions of families of CWSNs, Women & disability and Sexuality & Disability.

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Pekham

Pekham

Dr. Pekham Basu has more than 20 years of experience across sectors and issues, from domestic violence to social entrepreneurship to corprate social responsibility.

She has worked extensively on mining issues in Rajasthan, with specific focus on minor minerals, issues of child labour, and policy advocacy for occupational health and safety, and organising informal labourers. She has worked extensively in India, and for a brief period in London.

After graduating in History from Loreto College, Calcutta she did her post graduation in Social Work from TISS. Doctoral thesis on "Widows of the Mine – Undercounting Silicosis and its Impact on the Widows of Mineworkers".

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Governing Board, USA

Shweta

(Chair)

Shweta

(Chair)

Shweta Suresh specializes in nonprofit strategy and has experience working across philanthropy, social enterprise, and the private sector. In her current role as Senior Strategy Officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, she is a strategic advisor to Melinda Gates, and has supported strategy development across a variety of teams, including family planning, gender equality, and US education.

She has a dual degree in business and development economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University and is especially passionate about closing gender gaps in development.

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Robert

Robert G. Lynch is a Professor of Economics at Washington College, where he has taught since the fall of 1998.

Dr Lynch has served as a consultant to numerous organizations including private businesses, governments, labor unions, and research organizations.

His areas of specialization include International Economics, Public Policy, Public Finance, Economic Development and Comparative Economics. Dr. Lynch holds masters (1981) and doctoral (1984) degrees in Economics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a bachelor’s (1979) degree in International and Development Economics from Georgetown University.

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Megan

Megan

Megan J. Smith is an award-winning entrepreneur, engineer, and tech evangelist.

Served as the third U.S. chief technology officer from 2014-2017 after spending eleven years as vice president at Google leading new business development, and later at Google[x]. PlanetOut CEO, General Magic and co-founder of the Malala Fund. Board member of MIT, Vital Voices; Member, National Academy of Engineering.

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Brij

Brij

Advisors

(A-Z)

Akshaya

Akshaya

Akshaya Vijayalakshmi (Ph.D., Iowa State University) is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India. Her research interests broadly lie in the intersection of advertising, media, and gender. Her work has implications for the field of marketing and public policy.

Akshaya was the co-chair of the Asia Pacific Association for Consumer Research 2019 Conference. Her research papers have appeared in the Journal of Advertising (won the 2020 best paper award), Journal of Marketing Communications, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Consumer Affairs and others. She has won international and national grants to pursue her research.

Akshaya continuously attempts to make her research accessible by writing for the public in mass media outlets and has published in the World Advertising Research Centre, Forbes, and Wall Street Journal (Asia), amongst others.

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Amita

Amita

Amita Sharma served in the Indian Administrative Service with 33 years in the development sector as public policy maker, and program manager in different fields. Some of the key posts she held included Additional Secretary, Government of India, Department of Higher Education, Joint Secretary, Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development, heading the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program from its inception, Mission Director Elementary Education, Govt of MP for universalising elementary education and adult literacy programmes in the State.

She has worked on leveraging digital design technologies for enriching educational processes and has designed and implemented digitally enabled educational projects in government elementary schools across states.

She has won several national and international awards which include ‘India Today award for Woman in public Affairs (2010)’, South-South Cooperation Excellence award2010 (UNDP-ILO), President of India’s award for highest female literacy growth in the state of MP, 2001, Common Wealth Gold Award for best Global Innovation in Public Service for Education Guarantee Scheme, Govt of MP, 1998, President of India’s award for census (1991) Post retirement she has worked as Visiting Professor, IIT Bombay (IDC Design School,)and Centre for Urban Science and Engineering (C-USE), Advisor with IPE Global Centre for Knowledge and Development and with SHAKTI Foundation , Consulting Editor for Financial Chronicle, (newspaper) and Senior Consultant, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, Govt of India.

She works on issues related to sustainable development, with focus on education, climate change, gender empowerment. She has written and published articles on education, literature and culture. She likes writing as well as translating poetry . She has written and published several short stories, a novel and six volumes of poetry, receiving the Raza award for her poetry in 1998.

Ankur

Ankur

Ankur Sarin is currently an Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). He is a member of the Institute's Public Systems Group (PSG) and has a PhD in Public Policy from the University of Chicago. Prior to joining IIM-Ahmedabad, was a Researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, Princeton.

With an underlying interest in inequalities and the methodology of action research, Ankur has experience working with several aspects of India’s public systems including education, e-governance, urban governance and public health. He has been on the boards of for-profit as well as non-profit organizations and has worked collaboratively with partners like UNICEF, Pratham, RCRC (a network of over 85 rural focused NGOs), Central Square Foundation and Education Development Trust.

He has a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of Chicago and was a Researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, Princeton.

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Sonali

Sonali

Sonali Khan leads Sesame Workshop’s educational mission in India to create innovative and engaging content that maximizes the educational power of all media to help kids grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.

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Tathagata

Tathagata

Tathagata Bandyopadhyay has been into the teaching and research of statistics for the last four decades. He joined the department of statistics, University of Calcutta, India as a lecturer in the year 1984. He was there until 2005. During this period, he visited numerous universities abroad to teach and do collaborative research.

In 2005, he joined IIM Ahmedabad as a faculty and retired in October, 2021 as the Dean (Faculty). His stint at IIM Ahmedabad, gave him an opportunity to collaborate with researchers working in other disciplines. From 2008, he started collaborating with Dr. Brij Kothari on the Same Language Subtitling (SLS) project. Their research proved beyond doubt that a long term exposure to SLS helps in enhancing the reading ability of the semi-literate by giving them a regular reading practice.

Currently, he is a distinguished professor at the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.

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Uday Kumar

Uday Kumar

Mr. Uday Kumar Varma retired from the position of Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), Government of India on 30th June, 2013.

He has extensive administrative experience at the highest levels of administration both in the state government (of Madhya Pradesh) and central government.

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Vikesh

Vikesh

Vikesh Mahendroo has over 40 years of experience in leadership and human resources. Vikesh retired as CEO of CLG (now Alula) and became Senior Advisor to the CLG Board in June 2016. He is the former CEO of Intrepid Learning Solutions (2007 to 2011), a firm specializing in the design and delivery of business-focused learning solutions; he served on the Intrepid Board from 2007 to 2017. Prior to joining Intrepid, he was the Global Executive Vice President of Mercer Human Resource Consulting and a member of the Board and Executive Committee, and also served as President of the U.S. company.

He is a Board member of Landesa (a global land rights organization), and a past Board member of Frontier Signal, Gettysburg College, and the HR Certification Institute. Prior to moving to the US from India, he was a member of the prestigious Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Vikesh has a BA (hons) and Master’s in Economics from St. Stephen’s College in Delhi University, and an MBA from Columbia University. Vikesh is based in New York City.

Executive Team

Brij

Brij

Nirav

Nirav

Nirav Kumar Shah began working on the SLS project right from its inception at IIM Ahmedabad, in 2002.

He has been the COO of PlanetRead and BookBox since 2003. At PlanetRead, he has led the team in India to implement SLS on 10 languages across the country and produce over 100 AniBooks (animated stories) at BookBox.

He graduated from Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, Pondicherry and has an MBA in International Business from Pondicherry University.

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Parthibhan

Parthibhan

For 15+ years, Parthibhan Amudhan has been closely involved in the implementation of PlanetRead’s Same Language Subtitling (SLS) on TV in India, for mass literacy and the production of 100+ AniBooks (animated stories with SLS) at BookBox.

He has a Masters in French from Pondicherry University and University of Rennes 2, France. He has done a PG Diploma in Computer Science from Loyola Informatics Centre, Chennai. He was also Director, Public Relations at the Loyola College Rotaract Club.

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Revati

Revati

Revati Deshmukh brings in 13+ years of extensive experience of fundraising across India, UK, US, Middle East, Asia. She has worked with high-impact global non-profits like Room to Read, Educate Girls and GiveIndia. She has managed relationships across segments of donors including Corporates, Foundations, HNI’s, Advisory Boards and Government agencies to secure major grants and build long-lasting partnerships. She has worked with Reap Benefit and Indus Action to guide them on their fundraising efforts. Revati started her career in Investment Banking with JP Morgan.

Revati received her Master’s in Finance from NMIMS, Mumbai and a Bachelor Degree in Commerce from Symbiosis.

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Tanvi

Tanvi

Tanvi has joined PlanetRead/BIRD as Legal and Compliance Counsel. She is a legal professional with over six years of work experience in the technology industry as a regulatory compliance and contracts specialist. She is an undergraduate and postgraduate alumna of the University of Manchester, UK. She currently resides in Pondicherry, is a trained classical dancer and enjoys reading and playing the guitar in her free time.

Operations Team

Anusha

Anusha

Anusha Menon has joined as a Creative Designer at PlanetRead. She has 6 years of experience working independently as a visual designer. Integrating her animation and illustration practice, she has collaborated with NGOs, independent musicians and educators. She has a Bachelor's in Animation Film Design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

Aparna

Aparna

Aparna Varma completed her MA in Philosophy from Mumbai University. She works as a communications associate with Billion Readers. She has a keen interest in Film/ Photo studies, has previously worked as a gallery manager at a contemporary art gallery in Mumbai. She's a trained Yoga professional and enjoys indulging in music, food and long walks.

Hema

Hema

As one of the first team members, Hema Jadwani joined the PlanetRead right from the day we started field research for the Same Language Subtitling (SLS) project at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. She has been instrumental in the making of many Gujarati folk songs and children's stories and provided research support in several states.

Indu

Indu

Indu Kumari has done her B.A. History from Mahabodhi College, Bihar and she has also completed a Rural Development and Management Course from Sajhe Sapne. She is passionate about working on social issues especially those related to discrimination of girls and women.

Being the first woman from her community of Musahar Mahadalit people in her village, Katrasin, in Bihar, her aspiration is to become Village Chief/Pradhan at some point in future. She hopes to learn from her work at BIRD to build her capacity to run for that election five years down the line.

Santoli

Santoli

Santoli Kumari is a young development practitioner based out of village Maghdhampur in Bihar. As a first generation college goer, she has done one year long course in Rural Development and Management from a nonprofit named, Sajhe Sapne.

As a young leader, she has taken various social action projects in her Musahar community for children's and girls education in the past. She hopes to build a financially independent career for herself and eventually enroll herself in Bihar police to serve the state better. With her work at BIRD, she wants to learn about of different aspects of the education ecosystem.

Santosh

Santosh

Santosh Jadhav has been part of PlanetRead from June 2004. He works in Video editing and is responsible for all SLS work. He has done Diploma in Journalism.

His hobbies include painting, writing, reading, travelling and film direction. He has directed a feature film and also multiple short films.

Shabnam

Shabnam

Shabnam Saifi, a seasoned professional with 22+ years in the development sector, started as a volunteer at Pratham Mumbai Education Initiative, progressing to coordinate district-level programs. She initiated projects in Agra City, gaining insights into elementary education realities and working closely with underprivileged children.

As an Academics Support Fellow at Bodh Shiksha Samiti, Shabnam addressed social and cultural barriers for rural girls in education. At Kaivalya Education Foundation, she led programs like the Principal Leadership Development Programme, collaborating closely with education department officials.

As a District Operation Lead at Foundation to Educate Girls Globally, Shabnam championed girls' education, aligning with the 'Right to Education Act.' Her role involved breaking down social and cultural barriers for rural girls and collaborating with education department officials. Her extensive experience underscores a commitment to improving education access for marginalized communities.

Swapnil

Swapnil

Swapnil Jadhav has been with PlanetRead since September 2005. He is an editor and works closely with Santosh for all the SLS work. He has done a diploma in Film Editing.

Vijay

Vijay

As a part of the Mumbai team, Vijay Shinalkar takes care of the general operations by closely working with Nirav Shah. He coordinates between the language experts and the editors to make sure the systems run smoothly. He also takes care of the office maintenance. He is a History graduate and has a wide range of experience in Film Editing and Office Management.

Our Founder

Dr Brij Kothari is an academic and social entrepreneur. He is on the Faculty of IIT-Delhi’s School of Public Policy and the founder of PlanetRead. He is also the CEO of BookBox Inc, a for-profit social venture producing children’s animated stories in more than 25 languages. He co-founded PlanetRead and BookBox as a Reuters Digital Vision Fellow at Stanford University.

Brij conceived the idea of Same Language Subtitling (SLS) on mainstream TV in India for mass literacy, in 1996. Brij and his team have innovated, researched, and nationalized the use of SLS on Bollywood film songs on TV, for mass literacy in India. He laid the foundation for the SLS project as an Associate Professor IIM-A in its Centre for Educational Innovation.

Team

Governing Board, India

Brij

Chitra

Pekham

Governing Board, USA

Shweta

Robert

Megan

Brij

Advisors

Akshaya

Amita

Ankur

Sonali

Tathagata

Uday Kumar

Vikesh

Executive Team

Brij

Nirav

Parthibhan

Revati

Tanvi

Operations Team

Anusha

Aparna

Hema

Indu

Santoli

Santosh

Shabnam

Swapnil

Vijay

Our Founder

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