Directors
Manoj Kumar
Chief Executive Officer, Kallam Anji Reddy Chair
A Robert S McNamara Fellow of the World Bank, Manoj Kumar is the founding CEO of Naandi Foundation, arguably the largest multi sector non-profit in India. Focused on poverty reduction through initiatives for empowering girls, women and farmers, Naandi in 25 years has impacted over 8 million lives.
Manoj spearheaded the transformation of over 2000 villages in tribal Araku Valley region in the Eastern Ghats combating poverty, Naxal insurgency, and ecological fragility. This two-decade effort resulted in the creation of ARAKU Coffee, a globally acclaimed brand that liberated 300,000 tribal lives out of poverty and put India on the world map of specialty coffee. The ARAKU brand’s retail avatar that started in Paris in 2017 is now in a full fledged restaurant format in Bengaluru and Mumbai.
The regenerative agriculture framework – Arakunomics, eponymously named after the Araku region, has been expanded to rural and urban India. This framework won the world Food Vision Prize in 2020 instituted by the New York headquartered Rockefeller Foundation.
Recognized as a McNulty Laureate and a Fellow of The Aspen Institute, Manoj co-founded Naandi Water, India’s largest community safe drinking water company, in partnership with the Paris headquartered Group Danone.
Manoj was named by the Financial Times, London as one of the 25 people to watch out for in India.
Dele Olojede
Head - Global Partnerships and Strategy
A Masters of Social Work from Delhi University, Rohini Mukherjee has been active in a range of critical roles within Naandi Foundation over the last 17 years. Currently, she leads the Policy and Strategy Cell and in her role as Naandi’s Chief Policy Officer has overseen the successful completion of two large-scale surveys; The HUNGaMA (Hunger and Malnutrition) Survey & the 2018 TAG (Teen Age Girls) Survey.
In her previous roles, she led a large RCT (randomized control trial) to test solutions to neonatal mortality – carried out in 460 villages of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, in partnership with London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She was also at the helm of the World Bank-funded action research ‘Bachpan Project’ in backward blocks of Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, to establish most efficient ways of extending government services for child development to families living below the poverty line.
Before joining Naandi, Rohini worked in rural West Bengal for over 14 years, as a founding member of a grassroots community group. A state level swimmer, Rohini has base level training in classical music and mountaineering.
David Menasce
Vice President - Araku Transformation
David Menasce is the Founder and CEO of Archipel&Co, a boutique consulting firm operating at the intersection of social impact and commercial business strategy with offices in Paris, Marseille, London, Mumbai, and Dakar. Leading a diverse talent pool, David has become the go-to-person in France for results-driven social innovation and impact with his 20+ years of experience designing and implementing sustainable business models for emerging markets. He has also set up an independent research institute focused specifically on Bottom of the Pyramid market accessibility strategies. This firm has an enviable track record for translating complex development challenges into scalable, commercially viable solutions for global enterprises, Fortune 500 companies, and even philanthropic organizations seeking to deliver economic, strategic, and social value through just transition initiatives.
Over his career, David has advised businesses and social entrepreneurs on social innovation initiatives, designed impact measurement systems for development organizations, and fostered innovation opportunities across sectors. He served as Academic Director of the Executive MBA in Innovative Business Models in Emerging Countries at HEC Paris, co-hosted with the University of Cape Town and Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, and continues as faculty at HEC Paris teaching sustainable development and corporate responsibility.
David has been the Editor of Revue Française de Gestion and Founder of the Sustainable Development Collection for ISTE, a European publishing company, where he publishes thought leadership on sustainable development and corporate responsibility. His expertise spans impact measurement frameworks, social innovation and business model design, stakeholder engagement, just transition strategies, and cross-sector collaboration, with particular focus on micro enterprises, smallholding farmers, and street vendors as engines of sustainable economic growth.
David holds a Master’s degree from HEC Paris and a degree from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po).
An Indophile, avid reader, a connoisseur of music, David lives in Paris.
Leadership Team
Anupama Sreeramaneni
President – Operations
With a solid work experience spanning over 7 years in the areas of IT & business in the US, Anupama Sreeramaneni joined Naandi’s Livelihoods division as a Volunteer in 2009. Combining her diverse work experience with a degree in Engineering & Management, she was able to effectively rise to the role of a core member in Naandi’s Senior Management team.
Anupama heads the Production, Ops, Certifications and Audits for Naandi’s coffee project, and was part of the core team which led Araku Coffee’s successful retail launch in Paris & India. Having spent around 10 years in Naandi, Anupama, fondly referred to as Anu by her colleagues, has been instrumental in exploring popular B2B markets across South Asia & Europe for Araku Coffee. Anu also heads the Ops team for the agroforestry venture under Naandi Livelihoods.
The care-taker of 40,000 farmer families that work with Naandi in the Araku region, Anu is a multi-tasker par excellence. In her spare time, she enjoys playing badminton, travelling, and socialising.
Rohini Mukherjee
Partnerships
A Masters of Social Work from Delhi University, Rohini Mukherjee has been active in a range of critical roles within Naandi Foundation over the last 17 years. Currently, she leads the Policy and Strategy Cell and in her role as Naandi’s Chief Policy Officer has overseen the successful completion of two large-scale surveys; The HUNGaMA (Hunger and Malnutrition) Survey & the 2018 TAG (Teen Age Girls) Survey.
In her previous roles, she led a large RCT (randomized control trial) to test solutions to neonatal mortality – carried out in 460 villages of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, in partnership with London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She was also at the helm of the World Bank-funded action research ‘Bachpan Project’ in backward blocks of Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, to establish most efficient ways of extending government services for child development to families living below the poverty line.
Before joining Naandi, Rohini worked in rural West Bengal for over 14 years, as a founding member of a grassroots community group. A state level swimmer, Rohini has base level training in classical music and mountaineering.
Advisory Team
David Hogg
Chief Agroecology Advisor (pro bono)
Jaspal Singh
Organic Regenerative Agriculture
Vivek Broome
Nursery Science
Circles
