Lena Acharya, the visionary behind IINREM, began her career as a journalist in the Press Institute of India, continued as a free-lance writer and consultant to the United Nations Environmental Programme and the Asian Development Bank. Her wide-ranging work in development and environmental resources management took her to Nepal, the Philippines and the Pacific Islands. Upon retirement in 1991, she was struck by the urgent need to support and rehabilitate the farmers and pastoralists whose livelihoods had recently been challenged by industrial development in the Greater NOIDA (New Okhla Industrial Development Area). Determined to build entrepreneurship skills, particularly for women, she and Shree Narayan Acharya together founded IINREM, and immediately launched two flagship initiatives - the Surajpur Women Weavers’ Cooperative (Surajpur Mahila Bunkar Sahakari Samiti) and the Uttarakhand Greenhouse Horticulture project. Today, Lena Acharya continues to serve as President of IINREM, and is also a successful artist.
Shree Narayan Acharya was an IAS officer who served the Government of India for 34 years, starting out in 1958 as SDM Ranikhet and completing his service as the Chairman Board of Revenue in the Government of Uttar Pradesh in 1990. In 1991, in recognition of his many years of service and experience, he was called upon to serve as Senior Advisor to the Government of Uttar Pradesh. During the course of his career, he was also seconded as an expert in industrial development to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Peru and in Austria. As co-founder of IINREM, he served as President and steered the organisation for twenty five years.
Retired veteran (1935 Born) from Indian Navy, with over 35 years of varied professional service experience, mainly in the fields of Personnel and Logistics Streams.
Graduate of College of Defence Management and Master’s Degree in Defence Studies from National Defence College .
Post retirement in 1991, activities of interest covered the areas of Community Development, Environmental Awareness and Human Resources Development at underprivileged level. Mission in Focus: : There is No Limit to what can be Achieved, If It Does Not Matter, who Gets The Credit'
Deepak Dasgupta is a retired IAS officer with experience of working both at the State and Central Government levels. In the State, apart from the usual district appointments, he has been the Secretary Public Works and Secretary Health. In the Central Government, he was in the Finance and Defence Ministries as also in the Cabinet Secretariat, both as a Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary. He retired from the position of Chairman, NHAI, after a tenure of six years, where he helped launch the iconic National Highways Development Project. Post retirement from Government he has been Advisor, ADB in Sri Lanka and served as an Independent Director on the Boards of some infrastructure companies. He studied at St Stephens College and Delhi University where he did Maths and played Cricket.
Khalid Mahmood Ansari is a postgraduate with overall twenty seven years of experience in private and developmental sector. He has worked with leading Indian and international NGOs and corporate and has a rich experience in programme development and management in rural and urban areas for disadvantaged and marginalized communities. He has strong research and analytical skills encompassing skills development, enterprise development, education, health, poverty alleviation and environment. He is dedicated to the cause of poor and under privileged.
With exceptional relationship development and management skills, he has successfully implemented key projects of Central Government and State Government in areas of skill development, employment generation, and enterprise promotion including cooperatives, cluster development, and startup enterprises for rural and urban disadvantaged groups.
Tara Acharya, PhD Global Health and Food expert Tara Acharya, PhD, has 20 years of experience in a career that spans across the non-profit sector and Fortune 500 multinational companies. She has deep knowledge of global health and food systems, and how to build successful public-private partnerships to achieve global sustainability goals. She has led diverse, cross-functional teams in both the developed and the developing world. Her personal passion is wildlife conservation.
Uzma Ansari is a Postgraduate in Economics from Meerut University. She has been working with women artisans for building skills and enterprises for last 10 years and also runs Speakwell English Speaking Academy, a spoken English master franchisee in Delhi.
She has experience in programme management in urban clusters for disadvantaged and marginalized communities in Stitching and Tailoring based livelihoods for women.
Vikram Singh is an Account Advisor with L&T; Finance, and has over 17 years of prior working experience with Reliance Capital, HDFC Bank & Standard Chartered Bank. He is also an Adjunct Professor at one of India’s top B-School, Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) where he teaches Wealth Management.
Vikram has been a regular Guest Faculty and a Session Panelist at events organized by IIT Delhi, IIT Roorkee, IIT Kanpur, IIM Jammu, and in Delhi University. He has co-authored an Article with IIT Delhi on new age Technology in Banking & Finance, published in the Indian Management magazine, June edition. Vikram has a Master’s degree in International Business from ESC Grenoble, France and an MBA from Pune University.