Board

Born in 1935, Rajmohan Gandhi has been writing on democracy and human rights from 1964, when with a few friends he started a weekly called HIMMAT in Mumbai. Over the years Rajmohan has been a journalist, a professor teaching history and politics in the U.S. and in India, an author of biographies and histories, and a member of the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of India’s parliament).

Margaret Eastman Smith has devoted her life to exploring the nexus between personal growth and social change. Her doctoral research, at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, focused on new ways dissemination of historical ideas can be used to mitigate conflict. Between 1999 and 2017 she was on the faculty of the Program on International Peace and Conflict Resolution at American University. Her areas of specialization include nationalist and ethnic conflict, uses of memory in politics, and post-conflict reconstruction in deeply divided societies. Before becoming an academic, she worked with the international program of Initiatives of Change, spending four years in Papua New Guinea and a further four years in Richmond, Virginia working on projects to improve community relations.

Born in independent India in 1947, Mridu Sekjar was inspired by the leadership of Gandhi and Nehru and educated in the Rishi Valley School’s humanist philosophies of J Krishnamurthi. She worked in Information technology & healthcare at the University of Chicago Medical Center. She spent two critical decades during the breakup and restructuring of the Soviet Union (1985- 2008) building relationships in the countries of this region. Since 2015 she has lead Kalapriya Center for Indian Performing Arts, a small organization that uses the performing arts to provide accessible avenues for people of all backgrounds to engage meaningfully with issues and becoming powerful catalysts for change.

Edward Peters worked with Moral Re-Armament/Initiatives of Change since leaving school in 1970, in over 50 countries. He was responsible for formal training programmes for young people and a commissioning editor & monthly columnist of 'For A Change magazine' from 1990-96. From 1993-98 he served as international co-ordinator of 'Foundations for Freedom,' a programme of courses aimed at strengthening democracy in Eastern Europe. From 2002-2008 he managed the global internet work of Intiatives of Change. From 2009-2010 he assisted Rajmohan Gandhi during his Presidency of IofC International. He was Executive Vice President of Initiatives of Change International from October 2010 to December 2014. Edward’s wife is Swedish, they have two children, and live on the west coast of Sweden where Edward works in web development.

Belonging to Malta and the United States, Charles Aquilina worked in his youth at a bank in Malta, where, in his late teens, he also presented music programs on radio and television. An overcoming of prejudice towards Arabs, which had stemmed from centuries of conflict in the Mediterranean, set Charles on a course of attempting to build bridges across this and other divides, rather than remaining a slave to what history may have bequeathed. Towards this aim, Charles has worked with others to initiate inclusive dialogues in Malta and in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the USA. Long a resident in the U.S., Charles has also lived in India, Australia, and Britain, and made numerous visits to Middle Eastern countries, always as a guest of friends there.

Kalpana Sharma is an independent journalist, columnist and author based in Mumbai. In five decades as a journalist, she has worked with Himmat Weekly, Indian Express, Times of India and The Hindu. She was Consulting Editor with Economic & Political Weekly and Readers' Editor with Scroll.in. Currently, she writes a column on the media in Newslaundry.com. She has written two books: "The Silence and the Storm: Narratives of violence against women in India" and "Rediscovering Dharavi: Stories from Asia's Largest Slum and edited "Single by Choice: Happily Unmarried Women" and "Missing Half the Story: Journalism as if gender matters".

Aniket Shah is a practitioner in the space of sustainable finance, whose career has bridged the public and private sectors. He is Managing Director and Global Head of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Sustainability Research at Jefferies Group LLC. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, where he leads the organization's efforts on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment research in the public and private sectors. Aniket serves on various boards and as an advisor to leading organizations around the world. He was the International Treasurer of Amnesty International from 2018-2022. He previously served as the Chair of the Board of Directions of Amnesty International USA from 2017-2018, as the Treasurer beginning in 2013, and was a board member since 2006. He is a member of the National Council of World Wildlife Fund USA and The Economic Club of New York. Aniket has a doctorate from Oxford University in Economic Geography, with a focus on sustainable finance at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.

Ketan considers himself a student of “Be the change you wish to see in the world” and “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” He believes in “Vote and Volunteer” approach to solving problems. He is passionate about youth centric initiatives. He works with a few non profits which “Help those who can’t help themselves.” He is a family man, a business man and a fellow traveler who loves Indian music, cricket and traveling. He resides in Ohio, USA.