Overview
In 2007, Kotak Education Foundation embarked on a mission to empower economically disadvantaged children and youth through a holistic trinity of school education, scholarships and vocational education.
School Education
School education projects span Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, Communicative English Future Readiness, Digital Learning and 21st-century skills, making students confident and future-ready. Model School and Infrastructure Projects facilitate a safe, healthy, positive learning environment. Teachers are imparted leadership skills and modern teaching techniques, building academic excellence.
Integrally, we aim to build systemic capacity of educators and scalability of student learning outcomes in collaboration with the government and key stakeholders.
Scholarship
The prestigious Scholarship Project supports deserving students in their academic journey. Kotak Junior Scholarship, effective in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, enables students with excellent SSC scores to complete Class 11 and 12. The Kotak Graduate Scholarship helps high achievers in HSC pursue professional courses, and supports them till graduation. Kotak Kanya Scholarship aids meritorious female undergraduate students across India, in their pursuit of higher education at premier institutions.
These cherished scholarships provide mentoring, academic guidance, career counselling, and equip students with critical thinking abilities for all-round development.
Vocational Education & Livelihood
Vocational education empowers unemployed youth with domain-specific training and certification in BFSI, Customer Relations & Sales, Hospitality and Advance Beauty. The courses are free of charge and offer professional and life skills, spoken English, personality development, work readiness and 100% placement assistance for a secure career and sustainable livelihood.
Through vocational education and livelihood skills training, KEF strives to mobilise youth towards social and economic progress.
Vision
Every dream within reach. Pioneering fair and equitable education ecosystems.
Mission
Our mission is to support children and youth from underprivileged families through different education-based interventions to rise above the poverty line and lead a life of dignity through sustainable processes.
Values
The fundamental beliefs
that inspire and motivate us
Core Values
Key Principles
Integrity
KEF vows to practise integrity by engaging in mindful and ethical actions that are for the highest good of all
Commitment
KEF has a lifelong commitment to empowering children and youth through education while upholding their dignity and self-worth
Excellence
KEF is dedicated to creating an atmosphere of excellence whereby all processes and practices are delivered with utmost diligence
Executive Committee
Visionaries driving systemic change
through the education ecosystem
Mr. Shivaji Dam
Managing Trustee
The first employee of the Kotak Mahindra Group, Shivaji Dam played an important role in establishing it as one of India’s leading financial institutions.
Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank for nearly eight years, he was instrumental in setting up the life insurance business and establishing a partnership with Old Mutual Limited. He was the first Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance, now known as Kotak Life Insurance.
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Dr. Ganesh Raja
Chief Executive Officer
Ganesh Raja, Chief Executive Officer, Kotak Education Foundation, believes in fostering a growth mindset and driving social impact with empathy and purpose.
Envisaging scalability of student learning outcomes and access to academic and economic opportunity for marginalised children and youth, Ganesh pursues Impact-At-Scale with multiple state governments.
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Ms. Jayasree Ramesh
COO - Education
Jayasree Ramesh, COO - Education, leads for the future. Driven by a deep sense of purpose – to close the opportunity gap and help economically disadvantaged children gain access to quality education and reach their full potential – she joined Kotak Education Foundation seven years back.
Digitising pedagogy and integrating technology into every facet of instruction, she is an avid technophile, Fulbright Scholar in International Leadership in Education and a Master of English Literature.
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Project Heads
Experienced professionals and the driving
force behind successful outcomes
Passionate educator with three decades of experience. Specialised in early years education for over 10 years. Wide spectrum of roles from teaching, training and curriculum designing to managerial, monitoring and evaluation. Certified NABET assessor, POSH and POCSO trainer.
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Amita Vyas
Capacity Building
Two decades of experience in development sector; expertise in project design, implementation, evaluation; focus - Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, migrant populations, urban communities, public schools. Aritra-Leadership Accelerator Programme certified (IIM-B, Phicus Social Solutions). Special Educator. MSW, MA Psychology (Gold Medal).
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Ankita Yadav
Capacity Building
Ex-banker wanting to make a larger impact on humanity. Aiding and mentoring the brightest 14+ minds to ensure they complete their education. Over 25 years of experience. Wants to build the next generation of passionate, self-reliant youth.
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Arati Kaulgud
Scholarships, Vocational Education, Finance & Accounts
Development sector professional with 15 years of project management experience. Strongly believes in empowering individuals and communities through education. Deeply passionate about advancing female education in underprivileged communities. Postgraduate, Sociology; certified in Public Relations and Counselling.
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Arijeeta Basu
Scholarship
Teacher and learner furthering the cause of education. His passion and studies are in drawing out leadership skills in everyone he meets. M.Ed., SET, PhD with over 35 years of work experience in schools, B.Ed. colleges and leadership development.
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Farhiz Panthaky
Capacity Building
Data-driven leader with 30 years of experience, including a decade in the social sector. She builds strong monitoring and evaluation systems, leads multi-stakeholder programs, and uses data to drive decisions, improve outcomes, and strengthen organisational effectiveness at scale.
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Gagandeep Kaur
MERA, Human Resources, Admin and Volunteering
Dedicated educator with over 18 years of experience in the NGO sector, passionate about empowering students and teachers through English language education, leadership and technology. PGPDM, S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research.
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Jyoti Poojari
Communicative English Future Readiness
Educator, trainer and content designer. Transforming learning through engaging and effective teaching-learning practices is her passion and life’s work. Bachelor's in Education and Master’s in English with 25 years of work experience in classroom teaching, teacher training and content designing.
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Jyoti Singh
Centralised Content Team
Chartered Accountant, 22 years of experience. Results-driven leader, expertise in governance, process, risk management, strategic data insights, finance, analytics. Core team member, merger of Kotak Mahindra Bank and ING Vysya Bank. Spearheaded digital initiatives at Kotak Mahindra Prime, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Kotak Mahindra Trusteeship Services.
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Karishma Agrawal
Monitoring, Evaluation, Assessment and Business Excellence
Globally recognised educator with decades of experience. Committed to academic excellence, progressive pedagogy, inclusive education. Groundbreaking work - Global Outlook STEAM curriculum. Principal, SVKM’s CNM School, Mumbai. Master’s in Physics, Education & Philosophy of Education; Certificate in Advanced Educational Leadership, Harvard University.
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Kavita Sanghvi
Education
Education practitioner passionate about contributing to the Public Education System of India. Empowering educators of public schools in Gujarat is her current focus. M.Sc., Fulbright Fellow at Pennsylvania State University. Over 18 years of experience in the social development sector.
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Khyati Bhatt
Capacity Building
Seasoned IT professional with 12 years experience in IT - Project Management, Security and Audit, Infrastructure. Played a pivotal role in implementing IT systems at IDBI Trusteeship Service Limited, Gati-KWE Pvt Ltd. B.Tech. Computer Science. Committed to delivering excellence.
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Milind Pandey
Information Technology
Marketing, Digital Communication and Public Relations strategist; 16 years of passionately driving 100+ key accounts across diverse sectors. Worked with leading PR agencies; Co-founder, Detales Brand Communications. Postgraduate, PR & Corporate Communications (XIC, Mumbai); Master’s, Communications & Journalism (MIT, Pune).
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Priyanka Lillaney
Brand Communication
Her passion lies in primary education, ensuring equal opportunity and quality education for every child, regardless of background. TISS graduate, Master’s in Elementary Education. Over a decade of enhancing the educational experience of primary school teachers and students worldwide.
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Sangita Dandapat
Foundational Literacy and Numeracy
24 years in development sector blending academic rigour with hands-on experience in programme implementation. Led livelihood, parenting, education projects; championed community development, child rights. From rural roots to Master’s in Social Work. Striving for lasting impact & transformation.
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Santosh Dhamale
Vocational Education
Dynamic, impact-driven, 21 years experience in strategic project management, cutting-edge PedTech, Continuous Professional Development, curriculum development, optimising learning outcomes across diverse, resource-constrained landscapes. Mentor in Pedagogy, National Mission for Mentoring, Ministry of Education. Certified in EdTech Tulna, Schools of the Future.
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Sudipa Mondal
STEM Education
Driven by curiosity and over 17 years of expertise, this SPJIMR PGPDM and Master’s in English Literature from Mumbai University excels at crafting compelling content and leveraging data for impact. He collaborates with passionate teams to champion meaningful educational transformation.
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Sushant Bhagwat
Capacity Building
Seasoned Human Resources strategist, Learning and Development advisor, educationist, accomplished trainer, teacher, team leader, with over 30 years of work experience. Led projects in the non-government sector. Steered international management development workshops. Master's in Political Science and Public Administration, PGDBA.
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Thomas Adaikalam
Human Resources
Passionate finance professional. MBA, over 15 years experience in delivering top-notch accounting and tax compliance services. Always keen to learn new technologies and contribute to open-source projects. Accounting expertise with forward-looking attitude embracing innovation and collaboration.
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Vaibhav Naikade
Finance & Accounts