Board of Trustees

Mr. Rajendra Joshi

Founder and Managing Trustee of Saath

Rajendra Joshi is the founder and now, Managing Trustee of SAATH. He has initiated and developed the Integrated Slum Development Program, written and published papers on recycling of construction material, pro-poor accountability in WATSAN and on Integrated Slum Development. He has received the Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2009, Nagrikta Puraskar in 2004 by the Ahmedabad Management Association, has been a finalist for Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2007 by the UNDP, CII, Schwab and Khemka Foundation; Listed amongst 50 “Pioneers of Change” by India Today in July 2008; is an Ashoka Fellow, September 2008; and was awarded the Karmaveer Puraskar, by iCONGO, as a Real Wealth Creator for the communities on the 26th November, 2008.

Dr. Dinesh Awasthi

Expert – Entrepreneur Education, Research and Training

Prof. Dinesh Awasthi, an Economist by training, is Vice Chancellor, L. J. University, Ahmedabad. He was a Professor of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship at the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. Till recently, he was Editor ‘ANVESAK’, a Research Journal, at the Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research, Ahmedabad. He was also a Professor and Director, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, better known as EDI, Ahmedabad from 2003 to 2015.

Prof. Awasthi has over 60 research papers and eight books, 31 research reports on SMEs and technology entrepreneurship, to his credit. Prof. Awasthi has chaired and has been Member of a number of Committees set up by Government of India, Government of Gujarat and several Non-profits.

Prof. Awasthi has also worked as a Consultant to several UN agencies like ILO, UNIDO, UNDP and other multilateral bodies like The Ford Foundation, WS Atkins, DFID, UK.  He has extensively travelled across the globe in connection with various professional assignments.

Keren Nazareth

Senior Director, Companion Animals & Engagement

Keren Nazareth, has been with HSI in different capacities since 2011. She has risen to the role of Senior Director, Companion Animals & Engagement, HSI/India in 2023. Over the years, Keren has successfully led a team of over 90 people in programs related to humane and scientific dog population management and community engagement in India and supported projects across Asia and Africa. 

Keren has worked extensively in community mobilization, participation, youth development, livelihoods – including some pioneering work in non-traditional livelihoods for women, setting up a rural artisans marketing platform, and working with displaced communities in India. She has over 15 years of experience in both human and street dog related development work. Keren holds a master’s in social work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and was an Aspen Institute Fellow (2011), in their program on Emerging Leaders in Development and is an alumnus from the Leadership Academy (Janvikas) along with being an American Express Leadership Program participant..

Pallavi Vyas

Labour Economics, Human Capital Theory, Public Health, Gender and Discrimination

Pallavi Vyas holds a PhD in Public Policy from the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago. She also holds an MA in Economics from Bowling Green State University and a BA from Mumbai University. Her fields of interest are Labour Economics, Human Capital Theory, Public Health, Gender and Discrimination. 

She is currently an associate professor of Economics and Public Policy at Ahmedabad University, India. Prior to her current position, Pallavi worked at the World Bank where her projects involved calculating poverty rates for India using Survey to Survey Imputation methods, establishing the relationship between anthropometric indicators for children and wealth measures, a labour market analysis for the Maldives and access to justice in 14 countries. She continues to consult at the World Bank. Between 1999 and 2008, Pallavi worked as an economist in economic litigation consulting at Economic Analysis/LECG, in Los Angeles. Her work included analysis in antitrust, securities, brand valuation and corporate labour cases. Prior to joining Economic Analysis/LECG, she worked at the Milken Institute in Santa Monica as a Research Analyst to the President of the Institute on global economic trends.