About our team
Seva Mandir has over 400 full-time employees and over 1,000 village-based workers who are from the communities they serve. 59% of our staff are under 40. Our full-time employees hail from all over India; 32% of them are women. 30% of our staff are graduates, and 39% hold postgraduate degrees, including Masters in Social Work, Development Studies and Environmental Planning, and M.Sc. in Botany, Genetics and Plant Breeding, and Reproductive Biology. 247 members of staff are from Seva Mandir's work region.
Our employees' average length of service is 14 years, a remarkable testament to our team's dedication and belief in our mission. 141 current team members have worked for Seva Mandir for more than 10 years.
The Board of Trustees
President: Janat Shah
Professor Janat Shah is the President of Seva Mandir from 2018. He is the Ex-Director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Udaipur. He was for twenty years a professor of Production and Operations Management at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. He is also a Special Professor at Nottingham University Business School (UK) in the Operations Management division. He conducts management education programmes for executives in a number of companies. Janat is an alumnus of IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), Mumbai, and IIM (Indian Institute of Management), Ahmedabad.
Ajay S. Mehta
Ajay Mehta served as the Chief Executive of Seva Mandir from 1990-1999, and as the President of Seva Mandir Board of Trustees from 2003 to 2018. He was the Executive Director, National Foundation for India for ten years. Currently he is the president of the Vidya Bhawan Society, Udaipur, serves on the board of various organisations,, and has been active in several government committees.
Mohan Singh Kothari
Mr Kothari is a scientist and has been head of Engineering & Design in CSIR National Institutions, adviser for development and director for industrial and technical development, Government of Sikkim, chief consultant for industrial development in Punjab and founder General Manager of soybean project in Rajasthan. He was appointed a trustee by Seva Mandir's founder, Dr Mohan Sinha Mehta.
Pamela Philipose
Ms Philipose has worked with the Times of India and other eminent newspapers such as the Sunday Observer, Eve's Weekly and the Indian Express. Until 2014, she was Director and Editor in Chief of Women's Feature Service. She is currently a Senior Fellow with the Indian Council of Social Science Research.
Suraj Jacob
Suraj Jacob is a political economist affiliated with the Azim Premji University (Bengaluru). His interests lie in the fields of development policy, institutions, and social practices. His co-authored book Governing Locally will be published shortly. Suraj served as the Chief Executive Officer of Vidya Bhawan Society (Udaipur) from 2017-2019 and also worked with NGOs in India and the US.
Rakhshanda Jalil (co-opted)
Rakhshanda Jalil is a well-known Indian writer, critic and literary historian. She is best known for her book on Delhi's lesser-known monuments, Invisible City: The hidden monuments of India and a well-received collection of short stories, Release & Other Stories. Her PhD on the Progressive Writers' Movement as reflected in Urdu literature was published as Liking Progress, Loving Change. Ms Jalil runs Hindustani Awaaz, an organisation devoted to the popularisation of Hindu-Urdu literature and culture.
Dr Laxmi Jhala (Co-opted)
Dr Laxmi Jhala is the Managing Trustee of AlakhNayan Mandir Eye Institute, a premiere health eye care organisation based in Udaipur. She is on the board of various organisations. She is a member of the Executive Council of the Eye Bank Society of Rajasthan, Udaipur Chapter, and the head of the Healthcare Council, Women Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI), Rajasthan.