Aabid Surti 

Septuagenarian writer and artist Aabid Surti is the founder of Drop Dead Foundation, an NGO (Non Government Organization) that repairs minor plumbing problems such as leaks in the households of Mumbai, India for free.

Born 5 May 1935 in Gujarat, Aabid obtained a Diploma in Arts from Sir J. J. Institute of Fine Art in 1960. He published his first novel Tootela Farishta (Fallen Angels) in Gujarati in 1965. Since then, Aabid has written a number of short stories, novels, plays, children’s books, comic books, and travelogues. In 1993, he won a National Award for his short-story collection Teesri Aankh.

In 2007, Aabid launched Drop Dead Foundation after a leaking faucet at a friend’s house bothered him so much and caused an epiphany. Since then, Aabid’s Drop Dead team (consisting of a plumber, a volunteer, and Aabid himself) makes the rounds every Sunday fixing plumbing leaks in the Mira Road suburb where he lives. Today, Drop Dead Foundation continues to provide free plumbing services to Mira Road(Mumbai) households.

K. Ashok Natarajan

K. Ashok Natarajan retired as CEO of Tamil Nadu water investment company . He has developed many water supply projects from concept to implementation through a model aimed at reducing life cycle costs and was personally involved in implementing the world bank operator training program in areas of NRW to over 200 engineers of Tamil Nadu State at Manila . He is a special Invitee and mentor for Central Public Health & Environmental Engineering Organisation , Govt of India . After retirement he founded Steady-Taps Consulting Private Ltd, and he has been actively involved in the areas of utility management and digital technologies .

Presently advise Suez consultants (Safege) France in the feasibility and design of wastewater system for Bangladesh Gazipur city wide sanitation with IFC funding and a major European MNC for their technology advice in water management. The company in the past has done consulting assignments for clients like WATCO special purpose vehicle of Odisha State to execute 24x7 water supply schemes in 13 cities of Odisha State and a leading financial institution promoted by WB at Chennai for the review of financial model, risk analysis and contract structure for their proposed investment in a desalination plant at Tamil Nadu. The company has also advised two leading corporate companies in their business strategy to achieve their objective of entering Indian water sector. Presently playing a role of a mentor to the Central Public health and environment organisation under the Ministry of Housing and Urban in the areas of digital initiatives , IOT , Scada , telemetry and instruments for their new investment program

Durga Das, Founder & CEO – aeronero.life-

Durga’s background in building technology in the Silicon Valley for 25 years led her to believe that water would be a world issue and decided to invest in the technology behind this. Durga developed the rights and technologies to patented solutions and launched a water solution company called AERONERO.

The technology is designed to bio mimic desert plants and creatures to collect as much water as possible in lower humidity conditions and at an affordable cost. She also fostered a relationship with IIT Chennai, IIT Kharagpur, NIIT Kurukshetra with the blessing of the Department of Science to develop a new product low cost, maintenance free solution that can deliver 4-5 liters of water to a village home.

Durga is an advisor to the World Talent Economic Forum which is a team of International Experts for Research Enrichment and Knowledge Exchange. Durga Das is also the Founder and Managing Partner of Das Star. Das Star was created as a vehicle to generate a new model of investing, enabling first entrant entrepreneurs to raise money and build expertise, leading them towards additional future funding or buy-out. Ms Das has more than thirty years of experience in the critical early stages of startups – with skilled emphasis on creation, management, business development, marketing and sales.

Durga brings to her businesses an amazing wealth of experience from years of managing successful startups. A continuous initiator of revenue generating concepts, she possesses an innate understanding of the market pulse at the ground level. All her previous companies have been successfully acquired; a testimony to an amazing track record of her strengths in creation, management and development of valuable start-ups.

Durga has captained the Cricket team of USA and the joint Americas over 5 years and has played tours in South Africa, England, Argentina, Bangladesh and Canada and has played at the national level in India. Durga, a Rotarian, is also an amateur competitive golfer and an avid Sailor. She rides a Harley Fat Bob on weekends and long rides with her brotherhood to clear her mind. Durga, who believes “SPORT builds character,” has always motivated the younger generation to take to active sport for not only for fitness of mind and body but also to learn the higher lessons that playing a sport can teach. She is presently writing a book to address entrepreneurs and how to “do it right”

Dr. Mansee Bal Bhargava

Dr. Mansee Bal Bhargava is a transdisciplinary learner of the built environment that includes architecture, urban design, planning, management, and governance of large-scale developments. Her engagement of nearly three decades through entrepreneurship, research, education, speaking, and mentoring has built her interests around sustainability and liveability. She has her PhD from Erasmus University Rotterdam, MPhil from University of Cambridge, UK and Masters from CEPT University Ahmedabad. She has received global scholarships with fellowships including Commonwealth, Fulbright-Nehru and with Nobel Laureate Prof. Elinor Ostrom. She has deep concerns on the challenged state of water governance in India as well as across the world. She is developing her understanding of water governance and sustainability and vows to dedicate herself to the cause. She believes that water conversations are crucial to move towards water conservation. With this belief she has initiated online conversation series namely, Wednesdays.for.Water and Friday.Waters. She is also deeply concerned about the weak representation of women in the key aspects of the built environment and has initiated studies on Women.in.Architecture and Women.for.Water. She has also set a mission to inculcate environmental research aptitude and attitude among youth. She believes that research, as a systematic investigation, must lay the foundation of any collective decision and action. She also believes that science with conscience & common sense are crucial for peace & ecology in society. More about her experience as an individual is at www.mansee.in, at her institution is at www.edc.org.in, and her water initiative is at www.wforw.in. 

Amer Alkayed

Amer is Irish Palestinian lawyer, advocate, consultant and legal advisor, human rights activist, Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Global Refugee Led Network. He is also the Chairman of Woder, a holistic water initiative that aims to meet SDG 3,4 6, 10, 11, 13, & 17 with an emphasis on SDG 6 & 17

Amer is currently based in the United Kingdom, spend most of his life in the Middle East where he initiated several refugees led organisations to serve and advocate on behalf on refugees in host countries.

Amer has been involved in networking for refugee led organisations around the globe with a vision that refugees become involved in decision making mechanism at all levels.

Amer has been elected as the new chairperson for the Global Refugee Led network as from September 2022 for a two year term as well as sits on the advisory council of the UNHCR.

Ajit Nair

An Engineering professional with proven expertise in design and installation of large projects specifically in water, sanitation and hygiene spread over 40 years. Currently is the Chair of water Mission, an initiative of Rotary District 3232 and also on the Technical Advisory of Rotary International

Burning desire, Strong passion, Exciting infatuation, Enthusiastic intensity - To save and conserve and find solutions to one of the most precious gifts to humanity -WATER.

Armed with an Engineering degree from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore after schooling in Asan Memorial Higher Secondary School, Chennai, I ventured out to Muscat, Sultanate of Oman to work for Delta Limited dealing with Sourcing, marketing and installation of world renowned building material products in the construction Industry. This international exposure paved the way in 1986 to start my own Engineering firm as Co-Founder of ESSENCO, India involved in Design, Installation, Marketing, Training of Water supply, drainage, firefighting, treatment plants, pumping equipment’s for large projects all over India and overseas. We have delivered over 500 large projects of value over 100 million dollars and maintain a workforce of 500 team members.

Rtn.Dr.B. Dakshayani PhD

Rtn. B.Dakshayani is the Co-Founder of Green Signal Bio Pharma Private Limited in Chennai . Her company has supplied close to 500 million doses of BCG Vaccines to the Government of India and UNICEF between 2009 and 2016

Another major vertical as Head of Institutional Sales for Avon Cycles Ltd. Ludhiana, her company has supplied 3.2 million cycles through Government tenders from 2001 till date

She has also built 1572 houses for Tsunami victims from Thoothukudi to Kanyakumari between 2008-2011 through tender called for by the Government of Tamil Nadu.

She is a Post Graduate in Fine Arts from Stella Maris College and earned her Doctorate Degree from the prestigious Madras University.

A woman cricketer since 1976, she represented Tamil Nadu State Junior and Senior Women’s cricket team and Southern Railways, a Pilot Trainee from the Madras Flying Club and a cultural ambassador for District 3230 to represent Rotary International are a few of her other achievements.

She has held many Positions

• Committee Member of Royal Madras Yacht Club since 2004
• District Secretary for the Chennai Women’s Hockey association since 2002 till date
• Member, Planning for Mother Teresa College for Women in Kodaikanal during 2011-13
• Senate Member of Tamil Nadu State Dr. MGR Medical University between March 2015 to June 2018
• Secretary of Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs (COWE) TN Chapter 2017-18
• Currently she is Committee member of the women’s wing of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association
• Most importantly she is at present Member of the TN State Commission for women

She is an active Rotarian, Major Donor level 2 by donating USD 30,000 to Rotary Foundation ,has held many positions as District Officer and has attended many Rotary International Conventions .Most importantly as TRF Chair of RC Meenambakkam she has been engaged in five Global Grant community service projects worth INR 4.14 Crores. She is the District Rotary Foundation Committee Chair for RI District 3232 from 2022-25

She has recently set up a Proprietorship company for artworks named “Thuriya“ and Co-Founded a LLP for artworks named “Art Cube Gallery” and has successfully conducted two fund raisers for Rotary both in India and the UK through Charity Art Shows.

Presenting an Entrepreneur, Sportsperson, Visual Artist, Motivational Speaker, Adventure sports enthusiast and Philanthropist.

Charlotte

Charlotte is an ethnobotanist and medical anthropologist specialized in traditional knowledge systems with work experience on medicinal plants in the Netherlands, Suriname, Africa (Mali, Uganda, South Africa) and India. She has been conducting fieldwork since 1998 in the interior of Suriname among the Carib and especially the Saramaccans Maroons. From 2001-2003 she worked at the National Herbarium of the Netherlands and published the book ‘Index of Vernacular Plant Names of Suriname’. After this she worked as a PR-communication advisor for the Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences of the Free University of Amsterdam (VU) from 2004 to 2008, preparing her self-written PhD in her free time for which she kept going back to Suriname. In 2009, she continued her fieldwork among the Saramaccan Maroons and gathered most of her PhD data. In February 2011, she accepted a four-year research position at the Amsterdam International School for Social Science Research (AISSR) at the University of Amsterdam where she participated in the EU funded Multi-disciplinary University Traditional Health Initiative (MUTHI project) to build sustainable research capacity on plants for better public health in Africa. Within this role she was responsible for the work package Ethnobotany & Medical Anthropology for which she developed workshops on Ethnobotany & Medical Anthropology, and IPR & Ethics. Besides teaching, she supervised African participants in the writing of their ethnobotanical research protocols, Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), fieldwork, writing of their final manuscripts and revising them for peer reviewed publication. Towards the end of 2013 she moved to India with her husband and two small children to live a sustainable life on their organic farm. She continued working for the MUTHI project out of India till it finished end of 2014. In February 2015, she accepted a Fellowship on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) at the Centre of Biodiversity Policy and Law. This Indo-Norwegian bilateral cooperation project was administered by the National Biodiversity Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. She was responsible for the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol in India and provided need-based advisory services to the above-mentioned Ministry, in relation to access and benefit sharing of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. This included providing need-based country responses to the Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on TK and ABS and to environmental organizations. In 2016, she did not extend her project with the Indian Government, instead she chose to work as an external PhD researcher for the Leiden University Medical Center, in cooperation with Naturalis Biodiversity Center, to complete her work on the traditional knowledge of the Saramaccan Maroons living in Suriname. Meanwhile Charlotte and her husband have been running their organic farm (Jacob & Klooster Farms) where they, among other activities, conduct children education programs (based on the UN SDGs) and show people how to live in harmony with nature. Charlotte completed two Master’s programs; Biology (Free University of Amsterdam, 2000) and Medical Anthropology & Sociology (University of Amsterdam, 2009 with honors), a post-doctoral study (Master) in Education & Communication (Free University of Amsterdam, 2003) and holds a PhD in Medicine. Charlotte is the scientific advisor for the US based NGO Reserva, the youth land trust to empower children to conserve nature.

Poorna Malavath

Poorna MalavathPoorna Malavath is an Indian mountaineer. On 25th May 2014, Poorna climbed the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest at the age of 13 years and 11 months and became the youngest Indian female in the world to have reached the world’s highest Mountain.

Her mountaineering journey did not stop after Mount Everest; she went on an expedition to climb seven tallest mountains in each of the seven continents, The 7-Summits.

She successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa in the year 2016, and Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in Russia and Europe, on 27 July 2017. It was a proud moment for her when she unfurled a 50ft long Indian tricolor and sang Indian National Anthem at the top of Mt. Elbrus. Her feat of climbing continued with Mount Aconcagua (South America, 2019), Mount Carstens pyramid (Oceanian region, 2019), Mount Vinson Massif (Antarctica, 2019), and other few Indian mountains. She Successfully completed Mt. Denali (Alaska, North America) on 5th June 2022 and completed “The 7-Summits.”

Poorna was born on 10th June 2000 in a tiny village, Pakala in the state of Telangana, India. Coming from poor family background, both her parents are agricultural laborers. She graduated from Telangana social welfare residential school (TSWREIS) and went to Minnesota state university, USA as an exchange student. She studied Political sciences to understand and fight for woman empowerment.

A film based on Poorna’s life story was released in 2017 named “Poorna” (Courage has no limits). A book, “Poorna the youngest girl in the world to scale Mount Everest,” is also published on Poorna’s life journey. The book captures Poorna’s journey from her hometown Pakala, a village in Nizamabad district of Telangana, to climbing Mt. Everest. The book is an inspiration for people to achieve their dreams despite life challenges. Poorna was listed on the “Forbes Indian List” of “Self-made Women” in 2020.

She has received many awards and appreciations from the government and different organizations across the world. Some of the notable awards she received are the Ruby Jubilee Healthcare award from the then President of INDIA Sri APJ Abdul Kalam, The excellence award by the president of India shri Pranab Mukherji, the Amazing Indians Awards 2016 from the Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi, and the JFW Awards 2018

Dr.R.C.Jain

Dr.R.C.Jain is a former Chairman of Central Ground Water Board and Central Ground Water Authority, under Ministry of Water Resources,River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India. He spearheaded the National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme, the largest groundwater mapping endeavour in the world, as National Coordinator and standardised protocols for aquifer mapping in diverse hydrogeological environments in the country. His core competency areas include Rainwater harvesting and Artificial recharge to ground water, Aquifer Mapping and Management, Ground water exploration and testing, Ground water governance and regulation, Conjunctive use of ground water and surface water , Climate change, Applied ground water modelling and database management, Remote sensing applications, Ground water resource estimation, Regional hydrogeological surveys.

He obtained his Master’s degree from IIT, Roorkee and Ph.D. on Integrated Water Resources Management from University of Rajasthan, Jaipur . He has authored more than 50 papers in international/national peer-reviewed journals and delivered more than 100 lectures and keynote address in national and international seminars/workshops. Besides, Dr. Jain has also conducted expert courses for UNESCO,IIT’s, and NGO’s for Ground Water Management and Managed Aquifer Recharge.

He was Chairman of the “Water Resources Divisional Committee on Ground Water” , Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for formulation of Indian Standards in Ground water Sector . He is the recipient of the Award of Excellence in Ground Water Management conferred by the Indian Chapter of International Association of Hydrogeologists in 2019.

Dr.R.C.Jain has also rendered his expert services to the National Water Mission during 2015-16.

Presently, his services are retained by the Govt. of Gujarat as Adviser (GW) to Gujarat Water Resources Development Corporation, Narmada, Water Resources, Water Supply and Kalpsar Dept., Govt. of Gujarat for successful implementation of World Bank aided ‘Atal Bhujal Yojna’ , ‘National Hydrology Project’ and the Centrally sponsored ‘ Prime minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojna- Har Khet Ko Panni’ in Gujarat ( since 2016).