Chief Executive: Ronak Shah

Ronak Shah has been in development sector for over two and a half decades. His association with Seva Mandir family is from 2007, during which he worked primarily on addressing water, sanitation, climate change, and energy challenges in rural areas. He led Udaipur Urja Initiatives, a community-owned company, for four years, where his efforts cantered on advancing cooking technology and carbon finance initiatives.

Since 2018, Ronak Shah has served as the Chief Executive of Seva Mandir. He is an alumnus of L.D. College of Engineering, Centre of Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT), and IDPM at the University of Manchester.

General Secretary: Narendra Jain

Narendra Jain joined Seva Mandir in 1991 as Development Associate in Natural Resource Development Unit (NRD). He is a Post Graduate in Agriculture holding a specialization in Plant Breeding and Genetics from Rajasthan Agriculture University, Bikaner. In NRD, he worked on Afforestation and Pastureland Development in Udaipur and Rajsamand districts.

He worked as Secretary in Badgaon, Girwa, Jhadol, and Kotra blocks. As Director Operation, he was involved in the implementation of all activities related to rural development in the Seva Mandir working area. Narendra Jain started working as General Secretary in May 2022.

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.  He also served as president of the Vidya Bhawan Society, Udaipur. Currently, he serves on the board of various organisations,, and has been active in several government committees.

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.

Neelima Khetan

Neelima Khetan brings over four decades of experience in addressing development issues, having held leadership positions in both non-profit and for-profit organizations. She served as the Chief Executive of Seva Mandir from 1999 to 2011. Presently, she operates as an independent consultant specializing in organizational and program design, impact measurement, systems perspective, and good governance. She co-edited the book "Anchoring Change," published by Harper Collins in 2022. Neelima is an alumna of Shri Ram College of Commerce and the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA). 

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. 

Sara Rai (Co-opted)

Sara Rai is a distinguished writer and translator. She writes in Hindi and English. She translated stories from Urdu into English and crafted her own narratives, written in Nagari, with Urdu as their foundational element. Her known books are 'Raw Umber' and 'Ababil ki Udaan', among others published. Her sensibilities reflect India’s plural and syncretic culture. Her respect for all languages and dialects draws from her commitment to local and face-to-face democracy.