Diana Cyrus Bharucha, Author and Managing Trustee of Kinder Trust.

Having vast experience in the Garment export field spanning 38 years, in India and abroad. Diana Cyrus Bharucha was entrepreneur of a successful Garment Export business for 28 years, she was awarded “one of the fastest growing accounts” by her bankers, the State Bank of India. Where ever possible, differently-abled persons were employed at her factory and her employees helped in social causes with great enthusiasm, initiating a need for starting a trust.

Diana learnt to be a team leader from an early age, be it at school or Girl Guides, as the Secretary/ President of her Resident Welfare Organisation (for two decades) or managing a large work force at her factory, she has the ability to motivate her workers, friends, committee, even neighbourhood to join in social causes she undertook. In 1995 as the Secretary of her Residents’ welfare Association, Diana along with the Bangalore Municipality started door to door garbage collection in her area, to avoid disposing garbage into street bins (the first in the city).

Passionate to assist the differently-abled, Diana retired from her export business, in 2014 to pursue full time, her dream of organizing a charitable trust for the assistance and welfare of the differently-abled, destitute women, weaker sections of society and to assist in education for the under privileged. Being environmentally conscious and having initiated many campaigns of tree planting and Solid waste management, environment protection and improvement feature in the objectives of the trust.

Looking forward to partaking in making the world a better place, she is committed to Kinder Trust and welcomes any kind of assistance from all sources.

V S Ramana, is a Commerce Graduate from the Madras Christian College, Tambaram.

Having served for 38 years in many organizations across different sectors – from Consumer Durables, Advertising Agency, Pharmaceuticals, MNC leader in Agricultural Machinery & Tractors and with India’s one of largest Engineering and Construction Company. He is a professional from Marketing, Product Sales Promotion, Advertising, Corporate Communications, Corporate Social Responsibility and Skills Training.

His career has spanned the DCM Group (Usha International), Speer Communications, Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, Cadilla Pharma, New Holland Tractors and ASL Graphics & Technologies Limited and Larsen and Toubro [L&T]. At L&T – ECC, from 2001, he rose to be a General Manager Corporate Communications and CSR till January 2014. He later headed CSR and Construction Skills Training for L&T Construction till his superannuation in December 2016, after a 15 years long association in L&T. Ramana was also a key member of the L&T’s CSR and Sustainability APEX Committee.

The Corporate Museum ‘Holck-Larsen Centre’ he set up at L&T Chennai won the ‘Best PR Initiative Award’ at the International PR Conference at Mauritius in August 2008.

His post-retirement drive is to take his HeART BEAT Foundation and Kinder Trust to greater heights. HeART Beat Foundation is a family Trust, that promotes art done by the specially-abled. HeART BEAT Foundation was established in 2014, has so far identified specially-abled artists, held shows in Chennai, Pondy and NOIDA and has generated Rs 13 lacs – all the proceed earned through art exhibition/sale go to benefit the artists. www.heartbeatfoundation.in . This is an 80G Trust that extend tax Rebate for Donations and purchase of works of art of the artists.

At the Confederation of Indian Industries [CII] Chennai, Ramana has been a member of the CSR Sub-Committee, a part of the Core Committee at the CSO Partners with UNICEF on ‘Business Principles and Children’s Rights’, in the areas of advocacy and practices. He was also a Member CSR Sub-Committee in the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Much earlier, Ramana was associated with an NGO in Delhi – Prayas Trust, which works for upliftment of underprivileged delinquent children.

On the PR front, Ramana has been the Past Chairman of Public Relations Society of India – Chennai Chapter. In his tenure, the Chennai Chapter won the ‘Best Chapter Award’ and he was also presented the ‘PR Excellence Award’ for initiating many Seminars & Conferences on PR in the Chennai Chapter under his leadership.

Ramana’s interests apart from social service, include painting, cartooning, photography, music, blogging and travel www.va-si-ramana.sulekha.com . He is now engaged in with many Institutions for Training, Motivation, educating on CSR with practical projects with Corporates /NGO/Industry bodies and Service Trusts; being useful through consultation as well.

Samantha, A postgraduate in English Literature, Samantha has her roots in the township of Coonoor Nilgiris, where she presently resides.

An inborn ardour for travel made her take up a course in Travel and Tourism after her post graduation. After an eight year stint with various reputed airline companies and travel agencies, she set up her own travel agency, YATRA, in Coonoor. The very same passion as well made her frequently tour not only through the length and breadth of this country, but also abroad, and she is known to have frequented African, European and South East Asian countries.

Mark Twain is known to have stated that travel broadens a person’s outlook and makes one take a sympathetic view of the world around. Little wonder that she developed a liking for the wilds and God’s creatures both great and small that dwell therein, an affection which made her take up nature / wildlife photography in earnest. The very same fondness soon made her to take up campaigning for environmental issues, and this she does effectively through various social media platforms ; Adopt a Forest, a group involved in afforesting the Hills, and the Wynter-Blyth association, a body of butterfly enthusiasts working towards setting up butterfly gardens in schools and developing a keen interest in nature in young minds ; being a few.

One of the very small number of unassuming individuals who possess compassion both for humanity and the wilderness, Coonoor town from 2014 onwards, witnessed her founding and heading the movement, ‘Clean Coonoor,’ an organisation committed to clean up activities in and around this town, and to serve as a bridge of communication between the municipal authorities and the general populace. She is also a member of the Citizen’s Forum of Coonoor in which she helps out in initiatives both eleemosynary and municipal. Her links with corporates such as the United Planter’s Association of South India (UPASI), the Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation Limited (TANTEA) and others, have facilitated much in mobilising much needed volunteers and acquire sponsorships for the many social awareness programmes, clean up drives, tree planting and other environment related activities that the town of Coonoor has witnessed. On the social platform, her Facebook Group named Coonoorian is a model of all its kind, where issues related to this district are widely discussed.

Her community oriented ventures do not confine themselves to this town alone, for she only too willingly lends a helping hand to other organisations in Ooty and Kotagiri.

Samantha’s dream project was to clean up and prevent further sullying of the Coonoor River, an uphill task for her and her team, but which through her undaunted resolve and perseverance, is sure to materialise and succeed.

Sreenivas Naidu - DHM, BSC ( Electronics) , MBA, MRCI, Certified auditor ISO 9000 & 27001, He is a corporate professional with over 28+ years of measurable experience in all facets of projects and facilities at Fortune 500 companies. His vast experience stems from internationally renowned firms in the IT industry consisting of 18000 + employees, where he was responsible for Office Administration, Facility Management,Security Management, CSR & Infrastructure projects. He led and managed a leadership portfolio composed of premium flagship IT centres providing world class iconic working environments and employee experience. His greatest strength is that he is always passionate to move upward in the learning curve, working collaboratively, being a key influencer while overcoming barriers, insisting on highest standards of efficiency and sustainable operations. Sreeni was handling one of the key CSR Vertical (Corporate Social Responsibility) in his corporate stint to create social and environmental benefits which impacts the deserved and needy. He is also a trustee with Smilecharitabletrust.org based at Bangalore. At present he is an entrepreneur in Coonoor and is focussed on nature with flora & fauna of the Nilgiris.