The Founder's Circle is Avasara's main governance body and provides valuable mission-based leadership and strategic advisory.

Mr. N. Chandrasekaran

Chandra is the Chairman of the Board, Tata Sons, the holding company and promoter of more than 100 Tata operating companies with aggregate annual revenues of more than US $100 billion. He joined the Board of Tata Sons in October 2016 and was appointed Chairman in January 2017. Chandra chairs the Boards of several group operating companies, including Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), of which he was Chief Executive Officer from 2009-17, as part of a  30-year career at TCS.

Chandra is the Chairman of the Board, Tata Sons, the holding company and promoter of more than 100 Tata operating companies with aggregate annual revenues of more than US $100 billion. He joined the Board of Tata Sons in October 2016 and was appointed Chairman in January 2017. Chandra also chairs the Boards of several group operating companies, including Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) – of which he was Chief Executive Officer from 2009-17, as part of a  30-year business career at TCS.

Chandra holds a Master's in Computer Applications degree from Regional Engineering College, Trichy, Tamil Nadu and a Bachelor's of Science in Applied Sciences from the Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu. Chandra lives in Mumbai, with his wife Lalitha and has a son, Pranav. 

 

Ms. Nisaba Godrej 

Nisaba Godrej is the Executive Chairperson of Godrej Consumer Products. She has been a key architect of GCPL's strategy and transformation in the last decade. In 2007, she initiated and led Project Leapfrog, which created a playbook for GCPL to accelerate domestic organic growth through innovation and consolidation, and to become a more global company by investing in emerging markets outside of India. Over the last ten years, GCPL's market capitalisation has increased twenty-fold - from INR 3,000 crore to INR 60,000 crore. Under Nisaba's leadership, GCPL is consistently ranked as a great place to work and in leading product development, she has institutionalised design driven thinking.

Nisaba is also passionate about identifying and developing the talent required for the Godrej Group's future growth. She has also spearheaded the Group's Good & Green agenda to drive more inclusive and sustainable growth. Her previous assignments within the GodrejGroup have included the successful turnaround of Godrej Agrovet and the creation of a Group strategy function to oversee the Group's portfolio. In addition to GCPL, Nisaba is on the Board of Directors of Godrej Agrovet and Teach For India.

Nisaba has a BSc degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is passionate about girls' education, the human mind, design, trekking and equestrian sports. She lives in Mumbai with her husband, Kalpesh Mehta, and their children, Zoran and Aidan.

 

Mr. Saurabh Mittal

Saurabh Mittal is the Founder and Chairman of Mission Holdings, his private global investment holding company. He partners with world class entrepreneurs and helps them achieve massive scale with both capital and strategic value-add. Mission Holdings is typically the largest shareholder of its core portfolio, operating as a true partnership. His portfolio holdings include ONE Championship, Incedo, BSI Financial, SelfScore and others across a wide spectrum of industries and geographies.

Prior to Mission Holdings, he was a senior partner at Noonday, an affiliate of Farallon Capital Management, one of the world's largest hedge funds. Mr. Mittal also was co-founder at Indiabulls, India’s leading financial services and real estate conglomerate.

Mr. Mittal holds an MBA from Harvard Business School where he graduated as a Baker Scholar. He holds a BS in Electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi where he was the Best Graduating Student. He is also a member of the Harvard Business School Alumni Board and Paarivar, a leading charitable organization running India’s largest residential school for destitute children.

 

Mr. Atul Nishar

Atul Nishar is the Founder & Chairman of Hexaware Technologies Limited and is the driving force of the company's strategic direction and marketing focus. He also founded Aptech Limited in 1985, a computer training company which he grew into a leading global IT training outfit with over 2,400 centers across 52 countries. Atul is associated with several government and trade bodies which play an instrumental role in the development of India's IT sector.

Atul is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and received his Bachelor's Degrees in Commerce and Law from the University of Bombay.

 

Mr. Vikas Oberoi

Vikas Oberoi is the Chairman and Managing Director of Oberoi Realty Ltd. He is involved in the formulation of corporate strategy and management and concentrates on the growth and diversification plans of the company. Headquartered in Mumbai, Oberoi Realty is one of India’s leading real estate development companies. While it’s primary focus is on residential projects, the company today has a diversified portfolio covering key segments of the real estate market like office space, retail, hospitality and social infrastructure verticals. Through it’s developments Oberoi Realty seeks to create environments and spaces that enhance the quality of lives of it’s customers.

Mr. Oberoi has more than two decades of experience in the real estate industry and is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades for his thought leadership and contribution to the sector. He firmly believes in overall societal development and is passionate about contributing to society. He is the founder trustee of ‘Oberoi Foundation’, which focuses on the development of educational institutions and other social infrastructure. The Oberoi International School in Mumbai is one such initiative of the Foundation and the school aims to provide world-class education focusing on the holistic development of young learners.

He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School and on HBS’s India Advising Board. He is an avid reader, a keen traveler and has a passion for flying and skiing.

 

Mr. Sameer Sain

Sameer Sain is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Everstone Group, a leading private equity investment and real estate development firm focused on India and South East Asia. Headquartered in Singapore, Everstone has more than 200 employees across six offices— Singapore, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Mauritius, and London. The Group is one of India’s largest real estate developers as well as the largest owner, developer and manager of industrial warehousing and logistics parks with over 20 million square feet of logistic developments across India. The Everstone Group has invested in, owns and operates over 30 companies across industries in India including such marquee brands as Modern Food, Burger King, Ritu Kumar, VLCC, S Chand, and Hinduja Leyland Finance. The group also has a Non-Banking Financial Company, IndoStar, which now has over INR 6,000 crores in assets and a diversified credit book.

Prior to founding Everstone, Sameer spent 11 years at Goldman Sachs where he was Managing Director of the Investment Management Division. He was also head of the Special Investments Group (International) and the Institutional Wealth Management Group (Europe).

Sameer has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting from the University of Mumbai, a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management. Sameer lives in Singapore and India, and is on the board of several companies in the region.