Leadership

Balveer Singh Rajawat is a self-realized social worker who has dedicated his life to the service of the society. Having lost his parents at a tender age of 8, he was raised in the Himalayas for the next ten years by a hermit. On reaching 18, his foster father-teacher-mentor asked him to climb down from the caves of Himalayas and dedicate himself to the service of humanity. That was when he moved back to the poorest of the poor tribal populations of districts adjoining Udaipur in Rajasthan. He later set up Nikhil Sarvamangal Charitable Trust (NSCT) in 1997 and adopted 22000 children from the interior villages of these districts and ensured free food and education for them. In 2014, NSCT metamorphosed into the International Commission for Development.

His selfless service to these populations has earned him the sobriquet of Guruji (the honourable teacher), as he is popularly known throughout his project areas. However, he does not propagate any religious or political ideologies and considers religion to be a private matter of the individual.

Shreesh is a communications and CSR strategist with nearly 30 years of experience. In various stints spanning new and old economy sectors, such as Dairy, Agri-business, CSR, Life Sciences, IT, Telecom, Oil & Gas, Sports, Retail and Diamonds, Shreesh brings in deep expertise in communication psychology, inter-cultural communication, advertising, marketing, branding and other core issues that define India's hinterlands. His experience traverses from his childhood in a small tehsil in Uttar Pradesh to the hallowed portals of Hindu College, University of Delhi and later to the world renowned, the Johns Hopkins University in the US (He has Master's degrees from both Universities). In between his stints in senior communications roles, Shreesh has also served with National Dairy Development Board (a prestigious Central Government institution) in the Senior Class-1 Scale for four years.

As Head of Internal Communications of Reliance Industries until 2016, Shreesh and his team kept all verticals and groups of the vast RIL Group on the same page by creating and using various innovative communication platforms, and by translating the Chairman's vision for 80000+ employees of the group. Shreesh also highlighted the work of Reliance Foundation to all internal and external stakeholders across India, by conceptualizing, creating and launching 'The Change Maker', a one-of-a-kind monthly. Ten thousand complimentary copies of The Change Maker were shared with MPs, senior bureaucrats, government functionaries in RF's area of operation, development partners and other stakeholders.

With more than two decades in leadership roles, Shreesh has had deep interaction with 100s of CEOs, senior politicians and bureaucrats in his international publishing venture since October 2016. He is also invited/visiting faculty to some of India's top-notch management institutions such as IIM-Lucknow and IIM-Rohtak. Shreesh has joined the ICD as CEO in a pro bono consulting mode.

Gajendra has been a Social Worker and participated in socially beneficial activities since early childhood. His passion for making life easy for the less fortunate is commendable and infectious. Gajendra works pro bono for ICD and devotes himself to the service of the humanity, as intensely as he runs a Travel and Tourism Agency to take care of his personal needs. Apart from offering the best value holidays and travel options to his customers, his company Nexus Tours and Travels (www.nexustoursntravels.com) also offers the lowest priced travel options to all registered NGOs.

Mahendra has devoted his entire life to Social Work and has been associated with ICD (Earlier Nikhil Sarvamangal Charitable Trust) since its inception. Despite having Masters degrees in four subjects - Hindi, Sociology, Political Science and Social Work, a BA in Physical Education and a Post Graduate Diploma in Physical Education, qualifications that make him highly suitable for a successful career in the field of education, Mahendra never even applied for a job, choosing instead to dedicate his life to educating tribal children in ICD's project areas. Apart from serving ICD as Treasurer, Mahendra also manages all the primary schools of ICD.

Abdul Khan is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) and the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), with degrees in nuclear physics and business management, respectively. He has several years of experience in leadership positions at some of the country's largest corporate houses.

As a Brand Specialist, he has helped launched several leading brands in India, such as IBM, Samsung and Nike. He has also worked in China for more than four years, his stint culminating with his leading the successful marketing launch of McDonalds in India.

With more than 15 years of experience in telecommunications and technology, Abdul has played several key roles at the inflection points of the Indian telecom industry. He helped launch Reliance Industries' first foray in telecom, comprising Reliance Infocomm, Reliance Mobile, R-world and the retail stores, leading to the acquisition of more than 10 million subscribers in the very first week of the launch. Later, as head of marketing at Tata's telecom venture, he launched the innovative pay-per-use model of Tata Docomo, as well as conceptualized and launched Tata Photon, which subsequently revolutionized wireless internet usage in India. He also helped launch the Tata Docomo retail chain and the enterprise services.

He is presently Global Head of Strategy and Marketing at a NY-based start-up Alef Mobitech, set to create unprecedented value for the trillion dollar mobile internet ecosystem.

An alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi) and Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), Alok is the CEO of Indus Eximtech Private Limited and a US-nominee director on the Board of Parle Elizabeth Tools Pvt Ltd, an Indo American JV.

His company Indus assists small and medium US companies in the manufacturing sector do business in India, through consulting, manufacturing and distribution divisions. With its Pan-India presence and more than a 100-strong marketing force present in 100 leading cities, Indus also serves as exclusive distributor for a few US companies. His company also assists with market scans as well as identification of potential distributors and suppliers.

Alok has deep expertise in M&A, audits, surveys and negotiation assistance for marketing agreements and procurement. He has advised various US companies on acquisitions and JVs in India.

With a Master's in Marketing from University of Jodhpur, Niranjan has cross industry experience of more than 27 years at various operational levels, including managing profit centre operations, projects, CRM, marketing, business set up and commercial affairs with profit accountability, BPR, lubricant sales, downstream petroleum and telecom, as well as the agricultural input industry.

He specializes in setting up new, end-to-end, grass-root retailing ventures, including identifying locations, building channels, coordinating EPC requirements, creating tie ups and running the business profitably.

Shivraj started his career in the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) in 1981, immediately after earning his Master's Degree in Physics with honors. He has extensive experience in the highest echelons of administration in policy formulation for the state, as well as the Central Government. He has worked as Managing Director of Industrial Development Authorities in Bihar and Jharkhand states. As Director Industries in Bihar, he also developed a forward looking new State Industrial Policy. As Director Housing in GOI, he helped develop a new Housing Policy for the country. Later, he sought voluntary retirement from IAS and went over to Silicon Valley, US, where he was involved in a couple of early stage technology start-ups before co-founding one in the digital technology space, targeting Google, Yahoo, Twitter and Facebook.

After managing operations as its Executive VP for eight years, he switched over to the field of online education. The idea that technology can open the door to learning for everyone drew him to co-found Dezaview, targeting high school students. He believes that the online skill learning model is going to be a real boon both for a vast majority of high school youth and unskilled workers.

Brigadier Arun Sharma (Retd.) has half a century of leadership experience in the Defence and Telecommunications industries, with an exceptional track record developing strategic implementation plans for the country-wide rollout of large-scale initiatives.

Brigadier Sharma was in the Senior Leadership Team of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, the largest digital and telecom service provider in the country until March 2015. Prior to that, he was Director - Business Strategy, India Region, with AMDOCS, a global, multi-billion-dollar company, which is one of the world leaders in BSS and Billing Systems.

Earlier, Brigadier Sharma also served as Chief Strategy Advisor for NICE Intelligent Solutions Ltd, an Israeli company supplying lawful interception equipment to government as well as leading corporate sector organizations.

Brigadier Sharma started his career in the Indian Army's Corps of Signals, where he was subsequently responsible for the Army Radio Engineering Network, as well as the Army Static Telecommunications Network. Post-retirement, he used his technical training in varied ways to make a mark in the private sector, especially in areas such as telecom TSP, tower manufacturing, power distribution and infrastructure projects.

He has also served as CEO (Asia-Pacific) with Hayat Communications KSC, Kuwait; as Executive Director with Independent Mobile Infrastructure Limited (IMIL); as the National Project Director-CDMA with Reliance Infocomm Ltd; as Chief Operating Officer - Projects with Bharti Cellular Ltd. (Western Region); as Executive Director at Gateway Systems India; and as Group Senior VP and Chief Technical Officer at BPL Mobile.

Brigadier Sharma has an M. Tech in Electronics, an MBA, a B. Tech. in Telecom & Electronics, as well as a PGDPM and an EDP to his credit. He was honoured as the 'Outstanding Professional of the Year 1999 in India' on the Who's Who of Professionals' list of Gibraltar House.

He has also been an outstanding sportsman, excelling in Cricket, Hockey and Basket Ball at various levels in the Army. He also won the All India Wills Open in Golf at Jaipur in 1984, besides winning many tournaments in his career with the Army, including the Services Championship in the Highest Green Golf Course of the world at Gulmarg in Kashmir in 1985.

An MBA from ICFAI, Hyderabad, Gourav is CEO of Star Mobileoid2 Technologies Private Limited, a mobile applications and solutions company headquartered at Gurgaon. Gourav's vast international experience (more than 18 years) in the Information Technology, Wireless and Broadband Industry includes program management for mobile applications, product implementation and process design at blue-chips telecom players such as Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, Tata Communications, Sony Ericsson and Nokia. With extensive professional experience in telecom VAS, Information Technology, Economic Analysis, Telecom Research, Strategic Advice, Operations Support and Market Intelligence, Gourav has mentored developers across APAC, Europe and US regions.

Gourav is also Director of Digital Abscissa Solutions Private Limited, an investment arm jointly owned by him and his wife Deepali, an MCA. The company has invested in four technology start-ups.