Team

EMMANUEL HERUR, Managing Trustee

The driving force behind Grass Root Foundation is Emmanuel Herur, who is a textile technologist with over 35 years of experience with building and operating Synthetic Fibre Manufacturing Units.

As part of his journey in the corporate world, he has held various positions that cover different aspects of managing an organisation – product design, project management, plant erection and commissioning, sourcing, plant operations, quality control, plant maintenance, pre-sales, sales, after-sales support and financial management. His travel on work in India and overseas have given him a rich exposure to global processes and best practices.

His desire is to bring his vast experience in the corporate world to the NGO domain and change the life of underprivileged children in a way that ensures their dignity.

CHETHAN PUNITH, Trustee

Chethan Punith is a dynamic person with good skills in communication. He is an excellent event organizer, well-known among youngsters and easily socializes with the strangers. Chethan’s team leadership instinct was recognized from his school days to begin with he was student leader, Interact President while in St. Mary’s High School and Rotaracter in B.V.B. Engineering College. Event management for cultural programs, award nights and conferences and seminars for professional bodies are some of his skills.

Chethan is currently engaged in the ITES industry as a senior Editor in the Medical Transcription sector was also Team Lead with the First Source and Head Operations for Hertz Rent a Car in Hubli, assisted Somany Pilkington to set up dealership and showroom operation in Hubli.

LAWRENCE MANGALARAJAN, Chief Mentor

Lawrence has over 27 years of experience in the development sector in various capacities with over 20 years in the middle and senior management levels at World Vision India and Compassion International.

A specialist in development of the urban poor with a greater understanding of the grass root realities of the poor and endowed with excellent team facilitation skills, Lawrence has served as the chair/member of various task force/cross functional groups for development of strategy papers on sectors/policies/bi-lateral strategies etc.

Good understanding on Project Management cycle –Design, Monitoring, Evaluation, Transition and the necessary Project Management Systems to tracking the key deliverables.

He has traveled extensively in India and oversees to understand both local and global level contexts in development sector.

Lawrence is passionate about quality education and mainstreaming being the only sustainable solution for India’s children living in the poverty trap.

Joan Elango

Mrs. Joan Elango is an educationist and administrator par excellence with 25 years of experience in teaching, designing education programs, leading schools and committees for schools and college education. She brings wide experience and exposure to teaching methodologies and values based education from India and overseas.Joan is currently the principal of Anita Methodist School in Chennai. She has qualifications in Science, Masters in English and in Education and an M.Phil in managing educational institutions.

Her accomplishments and activities include the following.

• Was a Member of the Guidance & Counselling Cell at St Christopher’s College
• Has managed a Peace Education Project – from conceptualization to execution – with financial grant from UBCHEA
• Was In the College Working Committee that prepared the UGC/NAAC Appraisal report
• Served as a Lecturer and a Resource Person for TNOU B.Ed. courses
• Was a Resource Person & an Author in the Committee that redesigned the English syllabus and text books for the Tamil Nadu State Board in 2003
• Serves as Resource person in workshops for teachers
• Teaches Senior Sunday School classes at Emmanuel Methodist Church
• Is a member of the Editorial Board of NEPER, the Research Journal of Nazareth College of Education
• Is a Board Member of Lady Doak College, Madurai
• Runs vibrant student exchange programmes at Anita Methodist in partnership with the Greijdanus, Netherlands and AFS, USA