A room of builders.

Kishore Darak works as a Sr Manager, Education, Tata Trusts. Within the Trusts, he leads programmes in secondary and higher education and teacher education including the Centre of Excellence in Teacher Education at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. He has been working in the field of education for about 25 years. An alumnus of TISS, Kishore holds a Diploma in Finnish Education from Helsinki University, Finland and is a fellow of Georg Eckert Institute of International Textbook Research, Braunschweig, Germany. He has taught STEM courses at high school and undergrad levels for more than a decade. He has worked on textbook development committees of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra states. Teacher development, cultural politics of education and language, educational policies and practice, pedagogy of Mathematics, are areas of his research interest. He has written extensively in Marathi language print-media on issues related to school education and has presented his work in many international conferences and published in renowned journals.

 Kishore Kumar Thangavelu leads Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives for Microsoft India, driving programs under AI Skills, AI4Good, Airband, Tech for Social Impact, and Employee Engagement. With over 13 years of experience, including 9 years in CSR roles at Tata Consultancy Services and Microsoft, he has designed and deployed 100+ programs advancing AI skills, digital education, and technology for social good across India. Kishore is deeply passionate about integrating technology for inclusive development, fostering emerging talent, and enabling digital transformation in underserved sectors.

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K. S. Upadhyay is the Additional Director of Education, Government of NCT Delhi, and the CEO of the Delhi Board of School Education. He leads transformative initiatives such as the Schools of Specialized Excellence and the Chief Minister Shri Schools, driving educational reform from policy design to on-ground execution.

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An accomplished educationist, he has authored Physics textbooks for NCERT and NIOS, and serves on multiple CBSE committees as well as the NEP 2020 subcommittee. Prior to his current role, he served as Principal with Navodaya Vidyalaya and as Regional Director at NIOS, contributing significantly to India’s educational landscape.

Kumaresh Pattabiraman is LinkedIn’s India Country Manager, leading the company’s vision to create economic opportunity for every member of the workforce. Stepping into this role in October 2024, he is focused on driving LinkedIn’s vision through product innovation, strategic partnerships, and a skills-first approach to ensure no one gets left behind in today’s changing ways and world of work.

With over 11 years at LinkedIn, Kumaresh has played a pivotal role in evolving the company’s AI-powered products to drive personalization and engagement at scale for more than 135 million members in India and over a billion globally. As Senior Director of Product, he led key initiatives that enhanced the platform experience for LinkedIn members and customers, making it more meaningful and valuable in ways that matter the most.

Before joining LinkedIn, Kumaresh gained deep expertise in engineering and product innovation during his time at Microsoft. Working on advanced machine learning and search technologies, he contributed to the development of large-scale systems that improved user relevance and enhanced product capabilities. With 15+ years of experience in the global tech industry, Kumaresh is a people-first leader with the ability to drive strategic product and business decisions while building impactful solutions at scale.

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In addition to his professional accomplishments, Kumaresh is a strategic thinker and problem-solver—skills that he applies to his work and personal interests as an avid chess player. He also balances his professional life with his role as a father of two, which he considers his most rewarding challenge.

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Kurush Irani is the President – Group CSR at Bajaj Finserv Limited.

He is responsible for crafting and delivering the overarching strategy for the Group companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility.

He oversees the development and implementation of various programs and initiatives in the priority areas of Youth Skilling and holistic development of children, focusing on education, health, protection, and inclusion for persons with disabilities to ensure value-driven impact.

He has been associated with the Bajaj Finserv group for over 13 years and previously led Operations, Customer Experience, and the Bajaj Finserv Digital App before taking on the role in CSR.

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Madan Padaki is the founder and CEO of 1Bridge, a village-commerce network focused on delivering digital services and products to rural India, bridging gaps in access, choice, and convenience. He is also a co-founder of the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) — a mission-driven alliance that brings together government, business and civil society to ignite a mass entrepreneurship movement across India. In his advisory capacity, he currently serves as a Strategy Advisor to UNICEF India for the YuWaah initiative, supporting youth empowerment and transitions to productive work.

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A serial entrepreneur, Madan co-founded MeritTrac, India’s first large-scale skills-assessment company, which was acquired by Manipal Education. Over time, his work has spanned rural livelihoods, education, youth transformation, and social innovation. His leadership is rooted in blending impact and scalability — from grassroots rural commerce to systemic entrepreneurship ecosystems. Madan’s educational background includes an engineering degree from the National Institute of Engineering (NIE), Mysore, and an MBA from SPJIMR, Mumbai. He also co-founded Sylvant Advisors, which supports education-sector entrepreneurs through strategy, investment, and scaling

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Madhukar is a dynamic leader with over two decades of diverse global experience in technology and business leadership. Prior to joining NextWealth, Madhukar held various key roles and was the Chief Operating Officer at Mu Sigma Inc., where he drove revenue growth, doubled profitability, and led innovative initiatives.

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With a background that includes stints at Sirion Labs, Ankya Labs, Oracle, and i2 Technologies, Madhukar is known for his expertise in operations, strategic partnerships, and driving organizational success.

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He holds a BTech degree in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and a Master of Science degree in Operations Research from The University of Texas at Austin.

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Ms. Madhuri Dhariwal is an educator and policy enthusiast with a deep commitment to advancing equitable access to quality education and social welfare. She currently serves as Director, East Zone at Indus Action, where her work focuses on systemic reform and ensuring that vulnerable citizens have access to a high quality of life through research-driven public policy. Prior to joining Indus Action, Ms Dhariwal worked with organisations including the Akanksha Foundation, Safal Partners, The School Fund, and UNICEF. Her professional experience spans teaching, coding, consulting, and initiatives in diversity, gender, and inclusion. She has worked extensively with children and continues to advocate for using the arts as a medium to convey ideas and inspire social change. Ms. Dhariwal received her Ed.M. in International Education Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, a B.Ed. from PRSU Raipur, and a B.A. from Sophia College, Mumbai. She is passionate about building bridges between policy design and grassroots implementation to create sustainable, inclusive impact.

Madhur is the CEO and Co-Founder at Varaha ClimateAg, where he's building the world's largest smallholder-focused tech platform for high-quality, nature-based carbon credits. Madhur leads a team of 100+ to develop regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, enhanced rock weathering and biochar projects, already covering 1,100,000+ acres across India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Kenya. Prior to co-founding Varaha, Madhur served as the 'Digital Business Lead' for the South Asia arm of a major AgriTech startup where he built three distinct business verticals and a multi-functional team of 85+ members from scratch. He also served as the first ‘India Country Director’ for a global social enterprise - PxD, which was co-founded by Economics Nobel prize laureate (2019) Michael Kremer. During his time, Madhur grew the smallholder farmer user base from 5,000 to 700,000+ farmers across 60+ districts in 6 states, and also expanded the team from 15 to 170+. Before this, Madhur successfully led supply chain and procurement projects for Godrej Agrovet in rural India. Madhur has a background in Engineering and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He hails from the Himalayas and is an avid wildlife photographer.

Maharshi Vaishnav serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Motilal Oswal Foundation, based in Mumbai. He brings over 20 years of cross-functional experience spanning strategic planning, non-profit management, program execution, fundraising, partnership development, and advocacy across private and non-profit sectors in Asia.

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Prior to this, Maharshi led Educate Girls as CEO, where he partnered with state governments and communities across 30,000 villages in rural India, helping enroll over 1.5 million out-of-school girls. A Master’s graduate in Public Policy from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan, he also holds a business degree and has transitioned from the private to the development sector with a strong focus on leveraging education to unlock the potential of underserved communities.

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 Mangesh Wange has been with the Swades Foundation since 2016 and has General Management experience with P&L responsibility and in leading successful start-ups in corporate and social sectors.  He began his career at Mahindra Tractors in 1987, later at Godrej Agrovet, where he handled Agri Inputs and Animal Feeds besides starting modern Retail businesses of Nature’s Basket and Aadhaar. He also worked with Fullerton India (Microfinance) and Thomson Reuters (Mobile Information). Mangesh has graduated in Agricultural Engineering from PAU, Ludhiana, and did his postgraduation from IIM Ahmedabad, and is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) from the International Coaching Federation.

Manju Dhasmana is Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Microsoft India, with nearly three decades of experience in driving social impact across multiple countries. She has built strong public-private partnerships with organizations such as Microsoft Asia, UNDP India, and Oxfam Great Britain, leveraging technology, community investments, and talent to deliver sustainable social and economic outcomes. Her leadership spans development, diversity, gender, policy advocacy, and last-mile connectivity, earning her recognition as one of the “100 Most Impactful CSR Leaders."

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Throughout her career, Ms. Dhasmana has demonstrated expertise in strategic planning, financial grant management, corporate citizenship, NGO networks, and capacity building. She is known for introducing innovative methodologies that deliver tangible social benefits and for fostering collaborations that amplify collective impact. Passionate about partnerships for good, she continues to inspire and guide initiatives that create inclusive economic opportunities and lasting societal change.

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