Board of Directors
M. Venkata Laxmi
TREASURER
Laxmi was born into a traditional and orthodox family. Her mother was an accomplished classical music teacher and father served in the Indian railways. She had to overcome gender discrimination to break the barriers of girl’s education in the 1960’s. Despite the challenging circumstances, she went on to complete Diploma in Pharmacy at Kamala Nehru Polytechnic College, Hyderabad. She started her career as an Analyst and grew up in ranks to retire as a senior executive in pharmaceutical industry. Post retirement, she has channeled her energy in becoming the pillar of strength for her immediate and extended family. She is instrumental in identifying and supporting talent irrespective of caste, creed, sect, race and religion. She believes in economic freedom for women and can only be achieved via education. She spreads optimism, courage and hope for the people around her.
G. Aparna
CHAIRMAN
Aparna was born into a middle-class agricultural family. She was a bright student and had a keen interest in schooling. However, she was diagnosed with polio when she was young, which limited her ability to play and conduct like other children. Due to her health and challenging socio-economic conditions, she was married at the age of 13 after 8th grade. She learnt to manage husband, family and farming at a very young age. Tragic loss of her husband at the age of 33, left her with 2 children and parental and in-laws responsibilities on her shoulders. While kids went through school and college, she also focused her energies on getting higher education. As a result, she completed Bachelor of Arts (BA), Master of Arts (MA) and diploma in Computer Operations. She started working as a teacher in a nearby school and gained utmost respect from students, family, friends and peers. Education gave her a new perspective in life and made her realize broader opportunities in life. After fulfilling her responsibilities as a mother, she wants to channel her energy in educating girls and share her life experiences to help them achieve their potential.
R. SriRanjani
TRUSTEE
Sriranjani hails from an esteemed agricultural family in Ravinuthala, Prakasam district. She was amongst the top rankers in the school. Despite her excellence in studies, she was married at the tender age of 15. She supported her husband in farming and dedicated her life towards the welfare of family. She is the founding member of the “Clean and Green” program at Ravinuthala. This program focuses on the cleanliness around sanitation in the village. Her focus is to leave a better Ravinuthala for future generations. She partnered with TIMES and created a plan for education for the kids of the Scheduled Tribe community in Ravinuthala. She led community sessions to inspire kids and parents, to inculcate the importance of education. As a result, she was able to convince the drop-out kids back to school. She continues to devote her time towards adult education for the women in the village around literacy and health. Her personal interests are Telugu language and literature.
G. Anuradha
SECRETARY
Anuradha was born into a well to do farming family. Her parents provided a privileged childhood to her and three siblings. She enjoyed the experience of English medium schools and was awarded the best of the resources growing up. Agriculture being an unpredictable and unstable business, her family endured challenging times. As a result, her desire to pursue higher education remained unfulfilled. But with sheer perseverance and determination, she earned a diploma in Pharmacy. She practiced as a pharmacist and settled down to take care of her nuclear family. She is blessed with two wonderful daughters. She ensured her children were able to avail all opportunities, paving the way for them in every possible way. With her support, the girls are now able to pursue master’s degrees in their desired fields of study. She currently lives with her husband in Guntur. She continues to follow her interests in fashion and design, along with interior decoration. She is also passionate about giving back to the community in the form of mentoring and nurturing kids reach their absolute potential.
Execution Team
N. Chenchaiah
Chief Inspector
Mr Chenchaiah is Chief Locomotive Inspector in Indian Railways at Guntur. Due to financial constraints in the family, he was compelled to abandon studies to take up a job at a young age. He started his career at the age of 18 and has been serving in the Indian railways for more than 3 decades. He is the recipient of several awards and accolades for his service in rescuing passengers during railway mishaps. He is always on the front lines when it comes to supporting his colleagues and employees even if it is blood donation, through “Crew Management System” in the railways. He is a staunch supporter of education and appreciates kids with well-rounded personality. He is an intuitive, caring and perpetually positive individual, who wants to uplift everyone around him.
M. Radha Krishna Murthy
Academic Dean
Mr Murthy is an Academic Dean at Bhavana Junior College, Narasaraopet. He served as a senior lecturer at Sri Chaitanya College, Visakhapatnam and Sai Vikas College, Guwahati. He influences and motivates students to reach their full potential through their chosen career. He has been instrumental in teaching math and logic in challenging the traditional thinking. He takes pride in coaching and training aspirants for IIT placement. He is good at organizing the social service events and bringing people together for a good cause. He is gregarious, lighthearted and kind individual. He holds M.Sc. Math from Nagarjuna university and B.Ed from Annamalai university.
Y. Hanumantha Rao
Doctor
Dr Hanumantha Rao is a pedigree of Guntur Medical college. He hails from a lower middle-class family, where life depended on day-to-day work. He is the first in his family to break the economic and social barriers, to achieve a college degree. Through his hard work and perseverance, he achieved his dream of becoming a health care professional. He is a role model around the area to demonstrate focus on education can lead to an enriched life. He has been serving the people for the past 30+ years, through his practice around Addanki, Prakasam District. He is an active member of various community organizations, with special focus towards people from lower economic strata. He is a strong proponent of knowledge through education. He is an honest, caring and committed individual. His ultimate vision is to make basic health care services affordable for all.
M. Vijaya Kumar
Chartered Accountant
Mr Vijay comes from humble beginnings with middle-class background. Empathy is a natural thing as he always cared for his brother from very young age. He also learnt to look after the weak and fragile in his extended family. He has taken the responsibility for the family and steered his career based on their needs. He was able to join professional accounting with sheer persistence and hard work. He was trained and certified at M Thomas and Co, Chennai. He has been practicing Chartered Accountant at Ongole since 1997. He is the member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He is involved in various professional associations and want to protect the integrity of the practice. He participates in many community activities and fulfills social responsibility by actively involving in the development of his village Obannapalem, Prakasam District.
Advisors
T. Saroja
Joint IG
Saroja holds the respectable position of Joint Inspector General (IG) in the Registrations and Stamps department of Andhra Pradesh Government. She completed her Master of Law in Indian Constitution and was selected for Group 1 services. She joined as a District Registrar and grew up in ranks to her current role in the 25 years she has been serving the government of Andhra Pradesh. She attributes her success to the education she was fortunate to receive, her teachers and constant encouragement from her parents. Her sheer commitment enabled her to accomplish her dream of serving the people of India. She believes education is the only way to bridge social and economic equality gaps. During her tenure, she has been instrumental in leading various kinds of efforts to help people affected by natural calamities. In addition to a flourishing career, she is also a dedicated mother of two boys.
D. Srinivasan
Joint Director
Mr Srinivasan is Joint Director, Social Welfare Department at Government of Andhra Pradesh. He completed B.Tech in Computer Science at JNTU Hyderabad at the beginning of the Information Technology revolution. Most of his friends and classmates pursued lucrative and comfortable careers at USA. Despite of luring career and luxurious life at USA, he chooses to follow his heart of serving the underprivileged. He believes that education is the only powerful weapon to eliminate social and economic barriers. He is the role model for many in honesty, straight forwardness, humble and doing the right thing. His walk follows his talk and vice versa. He joined government services and has been fighting to bring a fundamental change of inclusive and diverse partnership. He connects, motivates and appreciates the needy to think beyond traditional boundaries and lead to establish brighter future.
T. Sarojini
Chief Technology Officer
Sarojini comes from a well-off and educated family. She has diverse and multi-cultural upbringing as her father was in engineering services at Barauni (Bihar), Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Abudhabi (United Arab Emirates). She helped her mother to look after young siblings as her father was away in offshore job. When her parents moved to UAE, she went to Andhra to study Computer Science. She learnt to be independent and responsible in her stay at various hostels in Andhra Pradesh. She is a true Indian in her heart as can speak Telugu, Marathi and Hindi. She found her first job in US when H1 sponsorship was a challenge. Ever since she has been working in Corporate America at various levels. She is currently technology executive responsible for providing vision, strategy, implementation, and transformation of cloud-based products. She is the Chief Technology Officer at DemandTec. She is caring, inclusive and people person, who believes in nobody left behind.
M. Padmaja
TRUSTEE
Padmaja was born and brought up in urban setting. She comes from an educated and affluent family. She started her career as a teacher after completing the graduation. She worked as a teacher and enjoyed motivating the children. She is fond of working with children and would like to bring out the best in them. She quit the job due to commitments and devoted her time to family. She spent several years in middle east as part of her family move and an active participant in Telugu Kala Samithi. She is instrumental in bringing people together for soical, linguistic and cultural activities. She later moved back to rural Andhra Pradesh to pursue organic farming with her husband. Her interests are in sustainable agriculture, protecting mother earth and responsible living. She likes to work with children from underrepresented communities.She would like to bring honor and dignity to children’s lives via education.
Partners
