Prof. Richard Rose

Former Professor in Hong Kong, Prof. Richard is currently working closely with colleagues in two Swedish universities. He has served on UK government working parties in the area of inclusive education and has also conducted consultancy for several other national governments, including those in Sierra Leone, Ireland, and Malta. As the author of more than a hundred academic publications Prof. Richard has led major research and consultancy projects in Ireland, Estonia, China, Malta, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Armenia, and Georgia.

Ms. Phoebe Long

Ms. Phoebe Long is a Montessori trained teacher, with a vast knowledge in handling children with learning and behavioral difficulties. She is currently a licensed Brain Gym® Instructor, Double Doodle Play Instructor, Touch for Health™ Instructor, RMTI International Instructor and Director of Breakthru Enrichment Station™, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She is passionate about sharing her experiences and believes in partnership with parents /caregivers in creating the most conducive environment for the special needs children.

Dr. Julia Lindley-Baker

Dr. Julia Lindley-Baker coordinates and teaches on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion (SENDI) across University. She has taught and held senior leadership positions in a range of different settings, with a special education focus. Dr. Julia joined the staff of the Bishop Grosseteste University in 2010.  She coordinates and teaches on a wide variety of modules drawing upon her knowledge and understanding of SENDI. Her teaching interests include the sociology and history of special needs, pedagogy of special needs and the diverse nature of inclusive practice. She has delivered training locally, nationally and internationally. She is recognized as a senior fellow by the higher education academy (SFHEA). Recent Publications include book chapters: Children at risk of being missed and coping with children with ASD.

Ms. Mary Ellen Matsui

Ms. Mary Ellen Matsui has been leading the Atma story since its inception. Over the past decade, she has spearheaded Atma’s scale-up strategy, including its geographic expansion and growing the Atma Network, a resource sharing, and collaboration platform. She has also personally driven Atma’s strategic focus towards developing an inclusive education agenda through Gati. Ms. Mary Ellen is a graduate of the Telfer School of Management and a member of the inaugural Dasra Social Impact Leadership Program, as well as the CSC Leaders Program. She is an advisor on the board of Sol’s Arc and a panelist for organizations such as UnLtd India, InspirEd and UNICEF”.

Ms. Anita Iyer

Ms. Anita Narayan is a qualified, experienced and independent accessibility consultant. The EKansh Trust is empaneled by the Government of India under her expertise for access audits of Government Buildings. A double graduate in Law and Psychology/Sociology, her prime focus is an inclusive society where People with Disabilities are empowered. She has organized/conducted several workshops/sessions as a resource expert at BNCA, IIT Rourkee, NASA  [Arch]- North Zone Convention, West Zone convention, NICMAR, NIASA, Symbiosis School of Economics, MICA, etc.

                                               Ms. Ritika Sahni

Ms. Ritika Sahni is passionate about disability rights as human rights and advocates for positive change in the lives of persons with and without disabilities through her NGO Trinayani which she founded in 2006. She has worked in the disability sector for almost 25 years in various capacities, in premier organizations.  Ms. Ritika spearheads all advocacy driven initiatives of Trinayani. She owns a Bachelor’s Degree in Deaf Education (B.ed) in 90′, enabled her to teach and lecture at various institutions dealing with disability as a Consultant in Disability Inclusion. Ms. Ritika is also a professional singer performer with solo albums to her credit besides producing music for children. She combines her passion for performing arts with the effort towards achieving a more tolerant and thus an Inclusive society.

Ms. Majushree Patil

Founded in 2010, the Aatman Academy, an inclusive school, has been ranked among the top ten schools in the same category by the Education World Magazine. Ms. Manjushree Patil is a recipient of the Americans with Disabilities Act Anniversary fellowship on Inclusive Education, by the US State Department of Education at the University of Minnesota, she is also an Acumen India Fellow and a mentee of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women Mentoring Women in Business Programme (UK). She has been an Advisor, Consultant and Chief Trainer for a year-long statewide programme on Inclusive Education with the Gov. of Maharashtra. She is the Country Director (India) of THINK EQUAL which is the first global education initiative on Social Emotional Learning, that has been endorsed by the UN Human Rights Office.

Ms. Ruchika Sachdev

With over 15 years of experience, in a range of teaching and administrative positions in special and general education, Ms. Ruchika Sachdev has a keen interest and motivation to develop inclusive education environments. She also believes in empowering general education teachers through differentiation and inclusive practices through workshops and training programmes. International Baccalaureate’s philosophy, values, and pedagogy fit seamlessly with her beliefs about education and she wants to continue learning and developing through, what she calls her best teachers- children!

Ms. Hiral Dholakia

Ms. Hiral Dholakia started her career as a Remedial Educator with the Compensatory And Remedial Education Centre (CARE) at the Centre of Special Education (COSE), SNDT Women’s University. Her role at Riverside involves teachers training, assessment of students with learning problems, remediating and counseling students.  She has also co-founded the REACH School in Mumbai for children with learning disabilities. She has also worked at a Preprimary School in Ahmedabad as an Inclusion Facilitator. She holds a Master’s degree in Special Education with a specialization in Learning Disability from SNDT Women’s University, and a Diploma in Counseling Psychology from Xavier’s college, Mumbai.

Miss. Aban Bana

Miss Aban Bana studied Anthroposophy, Waldorf/Rudolf Steiner Education and Eurythmy at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. She worked as a followed by teaching in Basel, Switzerland. Class Teaching in Steiner School in London. She introduced India to Waldorf/Rudolf Steiner Education, first in Hyderabad and then in Mumbai. Currently, she travels extensively to conduct courses and workshops on Waldorf Education and related subjects in India and Nepal.

Ms. Manika Khanna

Ms. Manika Khanna has a Masters in Clinical Psychology from the University of Indianapolis. She has been working at The Gateway School of Mumbai for over 5-years where she facilitates small group and whole group sessions on social-emotional development for the students. She also supports teachers with behavior and classroom management. As part of The Gateway School of Mumbai’s outreach initiatives, Ms. Manika is collaborating with and supporting two mainstream schools put in school-wide behavior structures, as well as identify child-specific support structures.

Mr. Karan Sood

Mr. Karan Sood taught middle school Math, Science and Literacy in a government school for 2 years as a Fellow with Teach For India. Currently, he leads a team of teacher coaches as a Program Manager Coach. His team supports higher secondary classrooms across 50 schools in the city. He supported a group of 20 teachers teaching in low-income private schools and government schools towards holistic student outcomes. He has also developed curricular resources for Mathematics and has played a key role as an Instructional Trainer to new teachers for two years.

Dr. A. L. Sharda

Dr. A. L. Sharada is active in the development sector for the last 32 years as a teacher, researcher, trainer, and programme manager. She is the Director of Population First for the last 15 years. She has had the opportunity to work with international agencies like UNICEF, UNFPA and other nongovernment organizations as a consultant. She was on the faculty of the Central University of Hyderabad and the Indian Institute of Health Management Research, Jaipur. She was invited by the State Department of the USA to represent India under the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) on the Role of NGOs in Global Gender Issues.  She is a special invitee to the State Supervisory Board on PCPNDT Act, and a member of the Committee constituted to suggest amendments to the MTP Act. She has been reviewing ads in Campaign India Magazine as Gender Expert for the last couple of years.

Ms. Disha Sheikh

Ms. Disha Sheikh works in the area of gender sensitization. She is the secretary of the LGBT multipurpose social organization at Shrirampur. She has been a chairperson for various events like the first Savitribai Phule Sahitya Sammelan at Mumbai, Jagatik Marathi Sahitya Parishad, Pune, and the Kavi Sammelan of the first Virodhi Yuva Sahitya Sammelan, Pune. She has represented the LGBT community at various social events and at many schools, colleges, and universities. She has also been awarded the Jeevan Sangharsh Puraskar from Muktangan, Pune, the Dabholkar Puraskar from Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti, the Savitri Puraskar from a people’s movement called ‘Act According to the Law’ (kayadyapramane vaga).

Ms. Pooja Taparia

Ms. Pooja Taparia is the Founder and Chief Executive of Arpan, an NGO based in Mumbai with a mission to prevent the occurrence of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) and heal those who have been affected by it. She started work on CSA in 2006 and has grown the team from 3 to over 100 professionals (the largest team in India) who run various activities, teaching, training and counselling services to deal with CSA. Arpan has so far helped over 200,000 children and adults directly through its services and over 900,000 individuals indirectly through trainings and capacity building. Ms. Pooja was awarded the Architects of the Future Award 2013-14, an international award for social entrepreneurs and her life work has been installed in the Melk Abbey, a museum in Austria.