Pratham Executive Committee

DR. MADHAV CHAVAN

Dr. Madhav Chavan is one of the founders and CEO of Pratham.  He holds a Masters degree in Inorganic Chemistry from Mumbai University and a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the Ohio State University (1983). After a stint as a post-doctoral fellow and a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Houston he returned to India and was appointed Reader in Physical Chemistry at the University Department of Chemical Technology, University of Mumbai (1987).

In 1989 he got involved in the adult literacy work in the slums of Mumbai. Dr. Chavan has been a visiting fellow to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (1986), Queensland University of Technology (1999) and has lectured on issues in education at various universities outside India. Dr. Chavan has been a creative contributor in the field of adult literacy, elementary education, sanitation, and the development sector in general.

Dr. Chavan was awarded the FIE Foundation (India) award in 1999. He served in the Prime Minister’s National Advisory Council in 2004-08 and is also a member of the Governing Council of a new initiative to rate educational institutions created by the Indian rating agency CRISIL.

Dr Chavan was invited to be a Senior Ashoka Fellow and was recently given the Skoll Social Entrepreneurship Award. He has also penned many songs on women’s and human rights issues, in the seventies. His song “Tara’s school” was declared Maharashtra’s theme song for the girl child in mid-nineties. He scripted, and anchored a prime time television program on Mumbai Doordarshan in the magazine format on adult literacy (1990-91). Dr Chavan has also worked to produce radio programs on adult literacy for AIR. He has anchored talk shows for youth on E-TV and is involved in creating educational audio-visual programs. He also has to his credit a short Marathi novel Parameshwar, in a thriller form that deals with the issue of faith.

FARIDA LAMBAY

Born and brought up in Mumbai, Farida Lambay completed her Masters in Social Work from College of social Work, Nirmala Niketan (Mumbai University). Following her education she initiated the Municipal School Project for College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan which led to social workers becoming a part of the Municipal Corporation structure, a change that then seemed to be impossible. This was the first glimpse of the ideology that she strongly propagates of converting best practices into policy and working in collaboration with the government.

The highlights of her vast career have been her respected post of being the Vice Principal of College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan, where she is endeared by both staff and students and Co-founder and Trustee Pratham. Through Pratham she swore to ensure “Every child in School and Learning Well” becoming a crusader for education and has led the battle against child labour first in Maharashtra and then expanded to the country by heading Pratham Council for Vulnerable Children. She has been responsible for progressive policy changes both in education and in relation to child labour. Acknowledging her passion and expertise in this field she has been appointed as the member of the Maharashtra State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights.

Her commitment as a social activist is seen through the range of issues that she dedicates herself to. She has initiated the projects Prerana (working for the rights of Prostitutes in Kamatipura), YUVA (an organization working on various social issues taking strength from the youth) and others. She has spearheaded Disaster Relief efforts during the 1992 Bombay Riots, the Latur earthquake, Orissa cyclone, 26/11 Mumbai floods, Bihar floods, Mumbai terror attacks to name a few. She has been a part of several State and National Committees including the SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan), Sachar Committee, the Maharashtra State Security Council and others. She has attended and participated in several National and International Conferences and has many publications to her credit.

Her efforts have been acknowledged through numerous awards including the Award presented by the Social Justice and Peace Committee, the Best Teacher Award presented by the Municipal Corporation and most recently the Ahilyabai Holkar Award presented by the Maharashtra Government.

RUKMINI BANERJI

Rukmini Banerji has been with Pratham since 1996. She is responsible for Pratham's program activities in several major states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Assam.  Rukmini has been in the core team of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) since it was launched in 2005 and currently heads ASER Center. ASER is a national annual survey of children conducted in every rural district in India. It is the only annual district level source of information on children's ability to read and do arithmetic.  ASER has been recognized internationally for its innovativeness and impact on education policy. Rukmini has represented Pratham and ASER at many international forums, including the Clinton Global Initiative in New York in 2008 and the Fast Track Global Initiative meeting in Copenhagen in 2009.

Rukmini has extensive field experience both in program implementation as well as in evaluation, survey and research. Initially trained as an economist in India, she did her BA at St. Stephen's College and attended Delhi School of Economics. She was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and completed her PhD at the University of Chicago. She did her post doctoral work at the Population Research Centre at the University of Chicago and later worked as a program officer at the Spencer Foundation in Chicago before returning to India in 1996.
 

USHA RANE

Since 1996, Usha Rane has been one of the leaders of the teaching-learning innovations in Pratham.  Mobilizing communities and catalyzing schools to deliver basic learning on scale has been one of her primary interests.  Her work in 2002-2003, in the government schools in the tribal blocks of Maharastra was a precursor to the large-scale Pratham-government partnerships that emerged thereafter in many states. Today Usha is responsible for Pratham’s work in five states and she heads Pratham’s Content and Curriculum Unit. Prior to joining Pratham, Usha worked for many years with Hindustan Petroleum.

BRIJ KAUL

Program Director for Northern States

Brij Kaul has a Masters in Plasma Physics from Delhi University and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad.

He had worked in the corporate sector for about 4 years before venturing into setting up and managing his own manufacturing units for special textiles and refractories. Brij has represented several multinational technology companies engaged in network management, video surveillance, wireless and data encryption solutions for banks and network carriers. He joined Pratham in 2006.
 

MEERA TENDOLKAR

Programme Director, District Resource Centres