GOPI GOPALAKRISHNAN

Gopi Gopalakrishnan has over two decades of experience in implementing large-scale service-delivery programs in low-resource settings. He has founded two large organizations—World Health Partners which focuses on delivering primary health care to rural communities by innovatively harnessing existing resources in the poorest states of India and Kenya; Janani which delivers reproductive health services in Bihar and Jharkhand, two of the poorest states of India. Gopi’s work relates to operationalizing public–private partnerships in which private sector resources are tailored to complement public sector service provision. Increasingly, his recent work has devoted attention to integrate stronger management systems and technologies into public sector programming.

Gopi has been a member of India’s Population Commission and has advised the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and numerous national and international organizations on large-scale cost-effective service delivery. He has served on the global technical advisory board of the International Finance Corporation, an affiliate of the World Bank, and is currently a member of the Advisory Group on Community Action (AGCA) of the National Health Mission.

During his career, Gopi also worked as the Director of International Programs of DKT International based in Washington DC and as Country Director of DKT Vietnam based in Hanoi. He has been awarded by the Skoll Foundation, the Schwab (World Economic Forum) Foundation and Ashoka Foundation for social entrepreneurship, and is the recipient of a prestigious civilian honor from the Government of Vietnam.

DR. INDRANI GUPTA

Professor Indrani Gupta heads the Health Policy Research Unit of the Institute of Economic Growth at the University of Delhi, a primary forum for policy-oriented research in the health sector. Prof. Gupta has also held teaching positions abroad and was part of the Policy Research team at the World Bank, Washington DC.

A well reputed health economist, Prof. Gupta works very closely with various government departments and international organizations to strategize around the constraints and costs of providing services to the poor. She has worked extensively on issues related to demand for health and health care, health insurance and financing, costing and cost-effectiveness, economics of HIV/AIDS, poverty and health, and implications of global agreements on the health sector in India.

Presently, Prof. Gupta is a member the prestigious Technical Review Panel of the Global Fund. She is also a member of the IRDA Group on Rural Health Insurance, WHO South-East Asia Advisory Committee on Health Research, UNAIDS Reference Group on Economics, and is a board member of International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and the Naz Foundation, India.

SYEDA ASKARI IMAM

A world renowned advertising professional, Mrs. Imam has won awards at Cannes and has been published in the prestigious international showcases, including the New York Festivals, D&AD London and in various issues of Archives and Communication Arts. Her work has been widely acclaimed in India, especially the 11 Mera Bharat Mahaan films, most of which won awards and national recognition. In addition, she was the recipient of the Super Achiever Award by the Institute of Change Management, Pune. Mrs. Imam represented India at the World Muslim and U.S Conference in Doha in 2004.

Mrs. Imam is currently the Executive Creative Vice President of Contract Advertising, an agency she co-founded for J. Walter Thompson in India. Presently, she oversees the creative sectors servicing India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal. In London, she has worked with McCann and Wasey and Campbell Ewald. Mrs. Imam has helped to build many outstanding national and international brands over the years, including Nescafe, Complan, Shell, Lakme, Lipton, Lux, Pepsi, De beers, NIIT, Himalaya, Philips, Whirlpool, Levers and ITC Corporate.

In public service advertising, (which won her the prestigious Max Lewis international award twice) she is remembered for her work on girl-child, conservation, anti-dowry, AIDS, family planning, communal harmony, blood donation and nation-building campaigns.

A. VENKATRAMAN

Prof. Venkat Raman has been teaching HRD and Health Policy at the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, since 1990. He received Master’s degree from TISS, Mumbai; Ph.D. from FMS, Delhi, advanced professional training from Harvard Business School, Boston, and World Bank Institute, Washington DC. Before entering academics, he worked with an international NGO. His research interest is focused on exploring and leveraging Public-Private Partnership (PPP) options to improve equitable access to health care services for the poor. He is actively engaged in advisory responsibilities with many bilateral and multilateral development partners such as The World Bank, WHO, DFID, USAID, and other international agencies on strategies for engaging the private sector for health service delivery in Asia, Africa, and Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Prof. Venkat Raman has several research publications, including a book on ‘Public-Private Partnership in Health Care in India: Lessons for Developing Countries’ (by Routledge, London). He has been member of several committees, including Working group on PPP (for 11th Five Year Plan), National technical working group on engaging Private Sector in TB control, US-India Health initiative, developing Model Concession Agreement for PPP in NCD Care for Niti Aayog, and task force on performance based incentives for primary care providers by the Ministry of Health. He has been a recipient of several awards and fellowships, notably McNamara fellowship of The World Bank; Ronald Coase fellowship, UC-Berkley; and ICSSR International Senior Research fellowship, Erasmus University. He has been a visiting faculty/ fellow at the Institute of Social Studies, Netherlands and ISB, Mohali.

GEETA ATHREYA

Geeta has a master’s degree in Economics, Planning and Business administration. She has worked with UNICEF as Programme Communication Officer handling all mass media and research activities related to polio programme. Prior to UNICEF, she was an independent development consultant for women’s programmes and income generation programmes. She has extensively worked with several bilateral and donor agencies, including Ford Foundation, Dutch Water Mission, and UNICEF. She has a number of publications to her credit.

VENKATRAMAN JAYASHANKAR

Mr. Jayashankar retired as a Principal Secretary of Bihar’s Public Health & Engineering after four decades of administrative service and now combines his innate entrepreneurship skills with his range of administrative experience to direct socially impactful interventions and set-ups.

During his active service in government, he held various positions and was involved in developing policies, resource management strategies and budget plans, which elicited commendations from the World Bank. Mr. Jayashankar also served the Spices Board of India and represented the federal government at various international congresses and conferences. Since retirement, he has served as the Senior Advisor to the Bihar Technical Support Program of CARE India, Circus Federation of India, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, Star Health Allied Insurance Company, to name a few.

He is currently serving as a Member of an arbitration tribunal in the matter involving NHPC Ltd, a public sector undertaking focused on hydroelectric power generation.

Mr Jayashankar has studied for MBA from University of Leeds, UK. He has a master’s degree in economics, agricultural economics and agricultural marketing from the Delhi School of Economics.

SATISH DUA

Lt. Gen. Satish Dua retired as the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff which was the culmination of 39 years of active service in many deployments in India and abroad. He specialized in security and counter terrorism and had his tours of duty in many conflict areas leading his teams both at the operational and planning levels. This entailed developing acutely honed organisational skills for handling men, materials and resources within the time and financial constraints. Lt. Gen. Dua is a recipient of many military hours including the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, Sena Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal.

Lt. Gen. Dua holds two M Phil degrees, one in Defence Management and the other in National Security and Strategy. He is a polyglot with proficiency in English, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Vietnamese, German & French.

Since retirement, Lt. Gen Dua has been devoting time to mentoring the younger generation through lectures in prestigious institutions and universities.