Opening Address

Gowri Ishwaran, CEO, the Global Education & Leadership Foundation
Recipient of the Padma Shri Award in 2004, Gowri Ishwaran is an innovative educationist with over 30 years of experience in leading schools in India. With a very clear vision of the type of educational experience and nurturing that children deserve, she has brought a paradigm shift on how education needs to be imparted to young students. She has been the Founder Principal of Sanskriti School, New Delhi, an institution that has become one of the leading schools in India within a short span of 10 years. Mrs. Ishwaran is currently the Chief-Executive-Officer of The Global Education & Leadership Foundation (tGELF) and also serves on the advisory board of Asian University for Women in Bangladesh and Shiv Nadar Foundation and The Wockhardt Foundation in India.

Usha Albuquerque, Media Personality & Founder-Director Career Smart
A former news anchor, film producer and author of several books on career guidance, Usha pioneered career guidance on television by producing several widely acclaimed series – Hum Honge Kamyab, The Professionals, Parvaz and the career chat show ‘Avenues’. She is a regular columnist on career counseling for national and regional dailies, television, radio and online channels.
She started her career by teaching English, history, education and drama to high school students before moving to Doordarshan as the anchor for English news. She has also produced and anchored quizzes, talk shows, and documentaries for corporate houses, the Air Force, Ministry of External Affairs and international organizations, such as the World Bank and Portuguese and Brazilian TV. Her media career was capped by the production of many documentaries on socially relevant issues, including “Seeds of Life”, which won the highest national film award in the country, and “Silent Killing” which was nominated for the UNICEF Child Rights Award.
A gold medallist in English Literature and Education from Madras University, her books the Penguin India Career Guide – Vols. 1 & 2, are into their second edition. Today, she combines her role as founder director of Career Smart with running Insight Productions, her film company.

Dr. Nandini Chatterjee Singh, National Brain Research Centre
Nandini Singh is a trained physicist in non-linear dynamics and chaos from the University of Pune. She has worked on some aspects of experimental chaos at Ohio University, and later on computational neuroscience at the University of California at Berkeley, where she associated as post doctoral fellow with Frederic Theunissen. She has been associated with the National Institute of Brain Research since her return to India in 2002 where her work remains centred around language, learning disabilities and sound. An example of Dr. Singh’s current research is a study of cognition in the learning of languages.

Paramjit K Narang, Director, Pathways School, Gurgaon
Paramjit K Narang is a distinguished educator with a career spanning 35 years. She has taught every grade from Nursery to XII at school level, tutored young teachers and managed several schools as their head.
At Pathways World School, as Principal Primary School, Paramjit has been the guiding force in the initiation, implementation and accreditation of the school by International Baccalaureate’s (IB) Primary Years’ Programme (PYP). In addition to mandatory IB sourced teachers training, Paramjit planned and conducted a rigorous ongoing in-house teacher training programme and created systems and practices to synchronise the implementation of PYP with the vision of Pathways World School and IB programme. Over and above her administrative role, she personally coaches and trains students on their oratorical and dramatic skills and guides teachers on integrating non-academic subjects with academic ones to enhance the child’s learning experience and reach out to students who learn in ways other than academic.
Prior to joining Pathways World School, she spent 12 years at Vasant Valley School, New Delhi, where she was part of the founding staff team. Starting as the Head of the Primary School at Vasant Valley, she was soon the Head, Senior School and finally the Head of School.

Dr. Tamara Philip, Woodstock School
Tamara has been teaching Science at Woodstock since February 2009. Hailing from England, She completed her undergraduate studies at University College London in 2002. She followed this with a PhD in cell research but realized that cells in dishes are not quite as much fun as children in classrooms! This prompted her to get a teaching diploma from Oxford Brookes University before coming to live and work in India. A passionate teacher, she also enjoys reading and walking.

Opening Address

Paul Sellers, Director, British Council South India
Paul Sellers is British Council Director for South India, based in Chennai, with responsibility for British Council operations in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andra Pradesh and Kerala. Paul is a cultural relations and educational professional, with a background in international teaching and management. Before taking up his post in South India in September 2010, he was the British Council Director for the United Arab Emirates, and prior to that held senior positions in Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Mexico, Italy and China. As a UK-qualified teacher, Paul combines a traditional academic background with experience of the wider international educational arena. He has worked with a range of educational institutions in the public and private sectors, ranging from schools to universities, to guide their international development strategies. He has also been a regular contributor to the annual UK World Learning & Technology forum for ministers of education and sector leaders. Paul's current areas of interest are curriculum design, learning motivation, and learning technologies.

Andrew A. Hoover, Head, American International School, Chennai
Andrew is originally from the Boston area on the east coast of United States. Since 1981, he has lived in four countries and the states of Minnesota, New York, Iowa, New Mexico, and most recently Oregon, where he now calls home. His interest in internationalism began at a young age when he spent free time studying his parents' globe. He first travelled overseas as a college student when he attended the American University in Cairo and later he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger, West Africa. Andrew's recent international school experience includes the American School in Japan and the American School of Bombay, where he was the Director for Strategic Planning and Implementation and Middle School Principal.
Andrew holds a Bachelor's Degree from Macalester College (in Minnesota), a Master's Degree from the University of Iowa, and school leadership training from the University of Oregon.

Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras
Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi holds a B.Tech in Electronics from IIT Madras, M.S. and Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara. After working at AT&T Bell Laboratories, he joined IIT Madras as faculty in 1986. He took over as Director, IIT Madras in September 2011. His areas of specialisation are Wireless Communications and Signal Processing. His research work focusses on Wireless Networks, Modulation, Wireless Data, and Audio and Video Compression. As a founding member of the TeNeT group of IIT Madras, he is active in developing telecom and networking technologies, and incubating companies to develop and market products based on these. Currently he also holds the position of the honorary Director of the Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology, a public-private initiative at the IIT-M Research Park to make India a wireless technology leader. He is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, and was awarded the Vasvik Award for Electronic Sciences and Technology in 2000, and the Tamil Nadu Scientist Award for Engineering and Technology in  2003.

Dr. Geetha Iyer, Curriculum Specialist, Consultant- Science & Environment Education
Dr. Geetha Iyer, a Ph.D in Education (Curriculum), has decades of expertise in the areas of curriculum development, teacher training, design and integration of curriculum. Her twin passions are Education and the Environment and her work straddles both these areas almost seamlessly. She is a consultant to the Chennai Snake Park, to create meaningful environmental curriculum involving snakes. Besides, Geetha Iyer has also written books and articles which include Nature Quest for Grade 9 and 10,  Satapda Our world of insects, and  Living with snakes in Rishi Valley , Wild Plants of Chennai,  and  a column on Natural History in Teacher Plus. Dr Geetha Iyer was also the head of Sahyadri School KFI, Pune for 3 years.

Dr. Aruna Rathnam, Education Specialist, UNICEF
Aruna Rathnam holds a Ph.D. in sociology of education from Syracuse University, New York. She has worked as a teacher and freelance researcher. Prior to joining UNICEF in 2003, she has worked with Tamil Nadu Science Forum. She has written widely in English and Tamil. She has also translated Kancha Illaiah's "Turning the Pot Tilling the Soil" into Tamil for Tulika.

Patrick Brillant, Founder Member, Tridha Special Alternate School
A founder member and director of Tridha school, he has been conducting the Steiner Education Course for the last 12 years. After completing residential training in Steiner education in France, he moved to India and has been based here for the last 18 years. He is also trained in Holistic medicine (acupuncture and homeopathy).

Safeena Husain, Founder and CEO, Educate Girls
Safeena has been committed to girls' education in India since 2002. She has worked extensively with rural and urban underserved communities in South America, Africa and Asia. From 1997 to 2004, she was the Chief Executive Director for Child Family Health International in San Francisco, managing and supporting a range of development programs. She was also Board Chair of the International Development Exchange in San Francisco, a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable solutions to poverty in Africa, Asia and Latin America. She has also served on the Advisory Council of the Clarence Foundation. Safeena Husain holds a B.S. from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Shaili Sathyu, Writer, Theatre & Education Consultant
Shaili Sathyu works in the fields of education and the arts, with a specific focus on children. She is formally trained as an educator and her theatre training has been through experience and on the job. Associated as an education consultant with various schools, she focuses on curriculum development and innovative teaching-learning processes. In 2009 she established 'GILLO' an independent children's media group based in Mumbai. She is the Artistic Director of Gillo's theatre wing and has produced and directed two full length plays for children – Suar Chala Space Ko and Kyun-Kyun Ladki. GILLO's Theatre Wing exclusively creates performances for young audiences and also conducts workshops that engage children with theatre.

Chandana Khan, IAS, Principal Secretary, Primary Education, Government of Andhra Pradesh
Chandana Khan, IAS is a distinguished administrator in the Andhra Pradesh government. Currently she is the Principal Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh for Primary Education in School Education Department. In her earlier stint as Principal Secretary, Tourism and Culture, she made tremendous contribution to development of art and culture. She holds an M.Phil (English) and MA (Gender Development). An avid writer and painter, she has also published her collection of short stories and poems.

Adilakshmi Chintalapati, Principal, Oakridge International School
Adilakshmi Chintalapati brings her infectious enthusiasm and rich experience to the bench mark program at Oakridge International School, Einstein campus. As the founder Principal, she has nurtured this school since 2009 and managed to balance thoughtful and approachable mentoring with experienced administration that makes Oakridge different. She continues to deliver the high standards that parents have come to expect from the Oakridge brand. As the founder Headmistress of Oakridge International School, Newton Campus (2001to 2008), Adilakshmi has been extensively in teacher training and curriculum development. She was instrumental in the successful establishment of the junior school along with the implementation and authorization of the International Baccalaureate ( IB) Primary Years' Program(PYP). A former head at the Osmania University Affiliated Post Graduate Program in Education, she is an International Baccalaureate trained workshop leader and school visitor in the Primary Years' Program. Adilakshmi is trained in the Montessori and Waldorf methods of education and holds a Masters in Nutrition and a second in Education. She also has a certificate in Multiple Intelligence from the Harvard University, USA.

Ch.V.K.Narasimha Rao, Founder, Sri Prakash Group of Institutions
Ch.V.K.Narasimha Rao, is an educationist, social worker, agriculturist and a writer. He is the founder of Sri Prakash group of Institutions. An alumnus of NIT Warangal, he started the Sri Prakash Group of Insitutions in 1977 with a humble beginning, of less than 100 students and a vision to uplift rural education in and around Tuni and Payakaraopeta in East Godavari and Visakhapatnam Districts. Today the group caters to 12,000 students from KG to PG mainly in rural areas. He is also actively involved in eco-friendly, self-sustaining agriculture projects and a lot of philanthropic work.

Anoop Rao, COO, Naandi Foundation
Anoop is the COO of Naandi Foundation.   Post a decade long stint in the corporate world spanning sectors such as technology, hospitality, business process outsourcing and knowledge management, he was drawn to Naandi's audacious scale and impact aspirations through co-sourcing of public services in collboration with the government.  In his current role, Anoop spearheads Naandi's education programs while also providing oversight in the day-to-day operations of the shared services functions.  Through its education interventions Naandi has committed itself to perfecting the 'quality-price-scale' mantra to bridge the ever growing knowledge divide facing us today.  Anoop strongly believes that the challenges in the space of education can only be addressed if we are able to deploy copious amounts of imagination in the way we expend the limited resources available at our disposal. 

Harimohan Paruvu, Author, Cricketer and Writer
Harimohan Paruvu is a novelist, motivational speaker, workshop facilitator and management consultant based out of Hyderabad. His first novel 'The Men Within – A Cricketing Tale', published in 2007, is the first work of fiction on cricket in Indian Writing in English and has been critically acclaimed. It has since been made into a Telugu film 'Golconda High School' – a film that emphasized the need for holistic education, the need to recognize various forms of learning and intelligence and children's right to play. The movie is expected to be released in English soon. As a freelance writer, he has published articles in newspapers and even wrote a satirical Sunday column 'Un Intended' for the New Indian Express. A Civil Engineer and MBA from Osmania University Harimohan Paruvu has worked in the corporate sector for about 13 years, mostly in the area of Corporate Finance at IDBI. He quit in 2004 to become a fulltime writer, speaker and facilitator. Harimohan is also an accomplished cricketer, having represented Hyderabad at all levels including the Ranji Trophy in 1985-87, the period when it won the Ranji Trophy.