Our Leadership

Trustees

The Board of Trustees brings with it diverse experience and skills including business development, non-profit management, human rights advocacy, fundraising, and implementation of large-scale development programs. Trustees meet annually in-person with interim communication by phone.

Sai Subhasree Raghavan

Dr. Sai Subhasree Raghavan is the  Founder President  and Managing Trustee of SAATHII, based out of New Delhi.  She received her PhD in Human Nutrition from SNDT Women’s University in Mumbai, India, and completed her postdoctoral training in public health and nutrition at Columbia University in New York, USA. Dr. Raghavan has more than 20 years of experience in diverse areas of public health in India and the USA. Prior to 2004, Dr. Raghavan worked as Assistant Professor of Clinical Nutrition Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases of Harlem Hospital Center of Columbia University and co-directed a course on Epidemiological Research in Developing Countries at the Joseph Mailman School of Public Health.  Dr. Raghavan was also actively involved in research on macro- and micro-nutrient complications and long term metabolic toxicities among PLHIV from minority communities.Currently, Dr. Raghavan is Chief of Party of Project Sambhuya, an initiative to strengthen Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) in the private healthcare sector. Dr. Raghavan is a former member of the Governing Council of the International AIDS Society (IAS) and was an elected member of The Global Fund’s Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) from 2009 to 2012.

Mr. M R Ranganathan

Mr. M. R. Ranganathan is one of the founding trustees of SAATHII and has had involvement with the organization since 2002. Rangasan received his undergraduate degree from the College of Engineering, Guindy, in 1966. Rangasan has a renowned career in business, technology, and non-profit management, spanning over five decades.

With more than forty years of experience working with Japan, Rangasan has promoted business partnerships and Indo-Japanese cultural exchange, assisting such companies as DSQ Software, Sofil Information Technologies, and Nihon Technology Private Limited in establishing their presence in Japan. He also worked for the Government of Iraq as an Indian Expert in Piling and Foundation, and served in Basra during the Iran-Iraq war.

He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Nihon Technology Private Limited, and heads ABK-AOTS DOSOKAI which promotes Japanese language studies, Japanese management techniques and cross-cultural communication. His contributions to Indo-Japanese cultural and business relations have earned him the Japanese Emperor’s Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, awarded by the Government of Japan in 2005.

He is also an avid photographer and philatelist, and has authored the book “From Survey School to Tech Temple”, an account of the 200-year history of his alma mater, the College of Engineering, Guindy.

SAATHII’s Chennai office functioned out of the workspace generously donated by ABK-AOTS DOSOKAI in the early years, before it moved to its present location in Nungambakkam.

Mr. Sunil Kumar Boyini

Entrepreneur businessman with over 27 years of  experience. Focus is on investing, managing    operations, business funding, financial management,  organization building, change management, team  building, employee motivation/retention, and  Corporate Strategy. Over 12 years of experience in  healthcare IT, with domain expertise in healthcare  analytics, HIV disease management, patient  monitoring, healthcare data and quality standards.

For more information, visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunil-kumar-boyini-58b9b61/

Chief Mentor and Advisor
The Chief Mentor and Advisor leads the advisory board constituted by the BoT with members from diverse fields and expertise to provide guidance on programmatic efficiency, organizational structure and systems, and future growth opportunities.

Mr. Mohammed Owais Khan

Mr. Mohammed Owais Khan, normally self-referred to with a single name ‘owais’, has been a Trustee of SAATHII since 2004. Currently, he works under his own banner, ‘Vasundhara’. He has had a variegated career with 20-30 years’ experience in each of the following areas:

1. Corporate Management: Having worked with several IT organizations in the field of IT hardware, he bid adieu to it in 2008. During this time he worked in the areas of Business Management, Partner Management, Product Management, Marketing Management, Presales Management, Tech Evangelization, Tech Support, Tech Education and Customer Support & Service. The organizations that he has worked with include EMC (now Dell EMC), Hewlett-Packard and Compaq (now both Hewlett Packard Enterprise), Pertech Computers Ltd (now defunct), Computer Arabia WLL Qatar and International Data Management (now HCL).

2. Social Work – LGBT Rights & HIV/AIDS Management: In these somewhat related areas, he has been working since 1992. He has written for, worked/associated with and/or (co-)founded SAATHII, Humsafar Trust, Naz, Humrahi, Swabhava, Good As You, Saathi (different from SAATHII), GIC, the original LGBT India, Infosem, Counsel Club, Integration Society, Pride Publications, Trikone etc. During his convenorship of LGBT India, he drove and ensured execution of the first Pride March/Event of India, billed, ‘The Friendship Walk’, in Kolkata on July 2nd, 1999, in association with Ranjan (Rafiquel Haque Dowjah) and Pawan Dhall of Counsel Club/ Integration Society. Prior to that, during his tenure as General Secretary of Saathi, the Hyderabad group wrote and signed the first LGBT Rights Manifesto, ‘Declaration of Freedom’.

3. Social Work – Education, Counselling, Life Coaching and ‘Happiness Service’: Owais has been active in the area of Education (Science, English, General School, Finishing School, Technical, Product, Communication, Economics, Personal Finance etc.) and informal Counselling (Career, Education, Couples, Marriage, Suicide, Depression etc.) in-person and over media & mail. He bills himself as a ‘Happiness Consultant’, and sees it as his primary job in life to bring happiness to people in as many ways as he can.

4. Social Work – Ecology: He has also been researching and communicating about the impending ‘Ecological Imperative’ that we are coming face to face with, which may result in destroying the human civilization as we know it, unless we are willing and able to completely reinvent the human endeavour of life.

5. Science, Philosophy and Religion: Translation, transcreation and converting into ‘TextMovies’ is his favourite method of bringing the messages of various religions into rival thought-streams. He has worked on Bhagavad Gita, Dhammapada, Asma Husna, several Upanishads etc. and brought them in alternate forms in English and Urdu-Hindi. Linking religions, (a)theism, philosophies and science in various ways that enhance the understanding of existence and reality is one of his primary passions in life.

6. Creative Writing – Poetry and Short stories: He writes poetry in English and Urdu-Hindi. A poetry collection in each of the languages has been published in book form, in addition to several publications in anthologies and on the Web. He has written and published his own short stories, as well as edited others’ short stories. He hopes to write a novel someday.

7. Socio-economic Activities – Organic Farming and Investment & Property Management: In keeping with his understanding of the impending Ecological Imperative, he has been practicing organic farming micro-initiatives. Further, in order to experiment with best use of financial resources, he ensures that his current financial needs are met through management of various investment vehicles, most prominently, rental accommodations management.

More details, as well as past colleagues’ endorsements, if required, can be seen on his (somewhat dated) profile on https://www.linkedin.com/in/owaisvasundhara/

Management Commitee

The Management Committee (MC) includes the founder and five directors who are responsible for collective management of the organization, staff capacity strengthening, and new program development. They ensure accountability, transparency, and cost effectiveness in all its operations. The MC meets quarterly and updates the Board of Trustees on a periodic basis.

L. Ramakrishnan  Dr. L. Ramakrishnan is a public health professional and Vice President of SAATHII, based in Chennai. He earned his doctorate in 2000 from The University of Texas at Austin, USA, and has worked in health and human rights non-profit settings in USA and India. As of 2018, his portfolio includes support to the m-Maitri digital health initiative, to LGBTIQA+ inclusion programs Empower, Access and Vistaara, Project Sambhuya, and Project Svetana. He has previously led programs on mainstreaming and decentralization of HIV/AIDS services, legal and social protection for PLHIV, use of ICT to bridge information gaps, program evaluation, and capacity building of implementers of health interventions. He is also involved in internal and external capacity building in areas of monitoring and evaluation, documentation, operations research, and gender and sexuality. A. Sathish Kumar Dr. Sathish Kumar Angappan is Country Director of SAATHII, located in Chennai. He received his MD in Sexually Transmitted Diseases from The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Chennai. His technical expertise includes supporting government and civil society agencies in designing and delivering comprehensive and quality prevention and care services to HIV affected families.  He has over 14 years of experience in areas of STI and HIV prevention, care, and treatment, and maternal and child health and has been instrumental in the expansion of SAATHII’s programs in these areas. At SAATHII, Dr. Sathish Kumar has previously led programs on family centered care continuum, STI prevention, prevention of parent to child transmission, mainstreaming of HIV services, and capacity building of health care providers. In 2018, Dr. Sathish leads CapTB, an EGPAF-UNITAID supported pediatric HIV initiative for the private sector, and advises programs in PMTCT, capacity building of healthcare providers, and organisational strengthening, to name a few. 

Manish Soosai Mudaliar

Mr. Manish Soosai Mudaliar is Director (Operations) of SAATHII, based in Nagpur. He has received a Masters in Social Work from Nirmala Niketan of Mumbai University. He has more than ten years of experience in the area of HIV/AIDS. His core competencies include program management, conflict resolution, human resource management, and fundraising. His areas of technical expertise include PPTCT, prevention among street children, and care and support services. At SAATHII, Manish has been responsible for establishing, expanding, and overseeing programs across west-central and north-east India. In this capacity, he has led programs on decentralization of HIV care services, clinical mentoring of pediatric care providers, community based HIV testing and counseling among antenatal women, and operational research on assessing the feasibility of multitasking by frontline healthcare workers. He was also instrumental in establishing organization-wide systems for governance, capacity strengthening, and human resource management, while helping to expand new areas of growth for SAATHII. In 2018, he leads SAATHII’s prison intervention initiative Subhiksha (supported by Elton John AIDS Foundation) and an EU-supported initiative Sangraha that focuses on SFG 16 and its applicability to preventing and addressing violence faced by the LGBTIQ+ communities. He has previously worked as the Project Director of PPTCT initiatives in Maharashtra and Manipur, and coordinating the dissemination of HIV/AIDS fact sheets translated into multiple Indian languages. Currently he oversees organisation operations.

Santanu Pyne

Mr. Santanu Pyne is the Associate Director, Administration and Finance, and divides his time between Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi. His expertise is in financial management. Santanu has been involved in most of SAATHII’s projects in eastern India, and is currently involved in strengthening organization financial systems and donor compliance.

Anupam Hazra

Mr. Anupam Hazra is the Associate Director of Programs, and divides his time between Kolkata and Delhi. His expertise lies in program management, strategy planning, and development and strengthening of MSM and transgender community groups. In 2018, Anupam leads the Community Based Screening project Sahay (supported by Mac AIDS Fund) and is involved in business development and technical support to most of our LGBTIQ+ initiatives. Anupam has previously been involved in most of SAATHII’s community strengthening initiatives such as the Support Centre Project, Coalition-Based Advocacy Project, and Project Pehchan.