Team

Saraswathi Padmanabhan

Founder & Director

Passionate about investing in the lives of children, Saraswathi embarked on this journey in the beginning of 2016. A trained Montessori teacher and Counsellor, Saraswathi has a deep understanding of child development. Saraswathi also holds degrees in accounting and worked as an auditor in California. She completed her undergraduate in BITS, Pilani, and her graduate studies at California State University.

Shyamal Kumar

Trustee

Living in Bangalore, Shyamal could not escape witnessing the challenges migrant workers had in providing primary education for their children. Together with his wife, Saraswathi, he was inspired to take the Montessori system of education to children from such backgrounds. Shymal holds degrees in electronics engineering and management from BITS, Pilani. He serves on the Board of Yuvalok Foundation, and is a visiting teaching faculty on Leadership at St. Andrews Center for HRD, Coonoor.

Aparna Ponnappa

Trustee

With over 22 years of experience in operations, retail, HR, coaching and facilitating workshops for leading global corporations, Aparna brings a host of skills to the table. She is passionate about inspiring people and creating social impact through her coaching initiatives and philanthropy. She was instrumental in leading a food relief project during the Covid-19 lockdowns, an undertaking that helped over 11,00,000 individuals and counting. Aparna is an alumnus of XLRI and has over 1,000 hours of coaching experience under her belt. Aparna joined Diya Ghar as a Trustee in 2020.