Tejas Kotak is the Executive Director of Hunnarshala Foundation. A Civil Engineer, he has a passion for research and technology. At Hunnarshala, he leads the Artisan Empowerment Division that is instrumental in promoting Earth-based construction techniques.
He has played an important role in encouraging and inspiring building artisans to take the path of entrepreneurship. He holds a degree in Civil Engineering.
Stanzin Tsephal is a sustainability leader and social entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in environmental innovation and community empowerment. Raised in a small farming family devoted to organic agriculture, his early connection with nature shaped a lifelong commitment to regenerative development. He holds three master’s degrees, including one from Oxford University, and is a recipient of several prestigious fellowships such as the Tata Fellowship, Anant Fellowship, Ford Fellowship, SEI, and the Fulbright Program.
Over the years, Stanzin has led several groundbreaking initiatives. He played a key role in promoting sustainable agriculture through Organic Ultranachil and was instrumental in developing a community-owned solar power plant that electrified over 30 remote villages in Ladakh. He also pioneered nature-based wastewater treatment systems across India, helping to implement decentralized and sustainable sanitation solutions. Additionally he also conceptualized and established one of India’s first solar-powered mud house cafés and launched Ladakh’s first city compost project. Among his notable contributions is the leading design and implementation of India’s first faecal sludge treatment plant, a model that has since been replicated in over 500 cities nationwide. His work further extends to waste segregation, biogas systems, blackwater treatment, and constructed wetlands, making him a key contributor to climate-resilient infrastructure.
Stanzin currently leads Stonehedge, Ladakh’s first carbon-neutral hotel, which integrates sustainable tourism with community engagement. He also serves as the Vice President (and former CEO) of CDD Society, where he continues to champion innovative solutions in environmental infrastructure and decentralized sanitation across India.
A sanitation professional with experience and interest in sanitation and water resource management specifically in conceptualising and developing projects, planning and implementation as well as knowledge management. Susmita has over 25 years of wide-ranging experience in the wastewater and environmental resource management sector. She is currently working as a freelance consultant in the sanitation sector supporting various organisations. Prior to this, she has been associated with Consortium for DEWATS Dissemination (CDD) Society and Bremen Overseas Research and Development Association (BORDA) for 14 years supporting Research and Development, Knowledge Management and Capacity Building as well as conceptualisation, design of decentralised wastewater treatment systems and faecal sludge management initiatives. Before working with CDD she has been associated with environment education and environmental management consultancies.
She has extensive experience with providing support to organisations/governments in India and other developing countries to develop technology options for used water and faecal sludge management, developing guidelines for managing used water and faecal sludge and design and implementation of used water and faecal sludge treatment technologies. Additionally, she has been closely associated with knowledge management and capacity building on various aspects of sanitation for stakeholders across the sanitation value chain. Her key expertise is in assessing and developing sustainable sanitation solutions based on local conditions and integrated approaches and sanitation related capacity development. She holds a Masters in Environment Management.
Manas is a management advisor to non-profits and social startups in the environment and sustainable urbanization sector, with a deep focus on wastewater and solid waste. He has worked with BORDA, CDD, Dasra, Shelter Associates and others, is the founder of LEAP Cities and Mumbai Donut CoLAB, and helped set up the Dutch WASH Take-a-Stake Impact Fund. Manas has been involved in research projects with ADB and BMGF, was involved in the NFSSM Alliance since its early days. Earlier, he led PE and M&A deals at Avendus Capital, and studied Mechanical Engineering and System Dynamics at MIT and the Sloan School of Management.
Gurunathan is the Director of the DHAN Academy, since April 2015. He has 17 years of experience at DHAN Foundation, where he worked as Chief Executive of DHAN Foundation's Water Theme Collective called DHAN Vayalagam (Tank) Foundation, leading a team of 150 professionals and para professionals. He has trained "Water" Professionals from Government, Academia, NGOs and Civil Society Organisations. He was also instrumental in setting up the prestigious Automatic dairy plant with Anand Milk Union Ltd, (AMUL), Anand, Gujarat.
He has served in the advisory committee of National Water Academy, Pune and National Hydrologolical Institute for hard rock areas, Belgaum; was involved in the committee for preparation of State action Plan for Climate Change, Tamil Nadu; and was one of the working committee members constituted by the Central Planning Commission Government of India on Water Governance in drafting the 12th five year plan. He pursued a Masters in Rural Management.
He is the executive director at Ladakh Ecological Development Group (Ledeg). Prior to this he has handled a variety of responsibilities in the education sector for more than 4 decades in the Ladakh area.
Israel obtained his degree in Architecture from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka in 1983. He moved to Pondicherry in September 1983 and joined Auroservice D'Auroville trust as a Junior Architect. He was made chief design coordinator in 1987 and became chief of the ADAT in 1989.
In 2000, he founded Auroservice Private Limited with others. He was Managing Director of Auroservice till he resigned in 2009 to start Design Collaborative. He has specialized in HealthCare facilities and Institutional design.
He has led multidisciplinary design teams and delivered many complex projects including Townships, Healthcare facilities, Hotels, Swimming Pools, Pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. Stadia's, Educational institutes, University campuses etc. He was one of the founders of CDD, and is founder President of IIA Pondicherry Center. He also serves as advisory consultant to many agencies. He has a degree in architecture.
Koshy Mathew is a journalist by training but was engaged in developing and publishing development literature for about 30 years from 1987 to 2015. He was an editorial and publishing consultant to several ecumenical and secular organisations such as the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society (CISRS), Indian Social Institute, Public Affairs Centre and so on. For a brief while, he was designated Executive Publisher of Books for Change, a unit of Action Aid India. He has also been associated with Karl Kubel Institute for Development in Coimbatore as a guest trainer/faculty for five years from 2004.
In 2015, Koshy gave up an active life in the field of publishing and chose to be an Advisor to organisations that seek his help.
Latha Raman Jaigopal is a founding Partner of Inspiration – a unique 'nature-friendly architect-builder' group, who over the last 25 years have grown as a team who cater to a niche clientele who genuinely take the resolve to achieve higher standards of ecology sensitivity in the built environment.
With a multidisciplinary in-house team and a network of national and international subject expert associates, Inspiration has completed over 500 projects ranging from single houses and community housing to institutional campuses, high end hospitality projects and townships, spread over a wide range of geographical locations from mountains to beaches in India. She holds a degree in architecture.