Trustees
Bhasker Sharma
Ex-IT professional, Volunteer – Development sector, Bangalore, India (Managing Trustee from October 2023 onwards)
Bhasker is an alumnus of BITS, Pilani and IISc Bangalore with 33 years of experience in the IT sector, after which he worked in the development sector with organisations such as Wadhwani Foundation, Dell Technologies(CSR), Meghshala and Mentor Together for over 6 years.
He has been volunteering with non-profits since 2009 including Gita Krishnamurthy Trust, with education, youth empowerment and disability being the focus areas.
His other interests are long-distance running, cycling, travelling and reading.
Bhasker’s wife Asha is a teacher who also volunteers for GKV. His son Rahul is a media professional while his daughter works in accounts in a public sector insurance company.
Mr Krishnamurthy settled in Bangalore in 2000 after superannuation from Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. as the Managing Director. Alumni of the College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University, Mr Krishnamurthy held senior leadership positions at organisations like Caltex, IOC, Engineers India Ltd and ACC Ltd.
He set up Gita Krishnamurthy Trust in memory of his wife, a committed school teacher, in 2003 in line with her motto of ‘quality education for every child irrespective of social or economic background’.
In partnership with Jai Sankara Education Trust, he started Gita Krishnamurthy Vidyalaya in Sankarnagar in 2009. As a managing trustee of GKT, his commitment and relentless efforts have been instrumental in building GKV to the institution it is. He transitioned from managing trustee role to that of a trustee in October 2023.
A.Krishnamurthy
Managing Director (Retd) Haldia Petrochemicals, Bangalore, India
Mrs . Meera Isaacs
Principal (Retd.), Cathedral & John Connon School, Mumbai, India
Mrs Meera Isaacs retired as the principal of the Fort, Mumbai-based iconic Cathedral and John Connon school in May 2022 after 44 years of service – first as an English teacher and later as its principal. As the second longest-serving principal of the 162-year-old school , Meera was known for her no-nonsense ability to reign in cheeky children and cheekier parents. She strived to create a democratic and cosmopolitan environment in the school. Meera, who went to Queen Mary School and Pune University, was named as “one of the 10 most inspiring women in school leadership” by a leading education magazine. One of her most enduring contributions has been to ensure girls always felt safe.
Satish grew up in Bombay and, after completing his education – engineering from the University of Poona & MBA from XIM-Bhubaneswar – spent three decades in the tech sector with long stints at companies like Microsoft, Intel and others.
He now lives in Bangalore and loves being with family – his wife Vani, who’s been with the software services industry – and their twin boys – Aakash & Aditya. He is a serious recreational runner and enjoys spending some time in the mountains every year.
Satish dreams of a liberal, inclusive society which provides opportunities for every individual to realise their potential.
Empowerment of the girl child is very close to his heart. He really looks forward to being involved in the activities of GKV school.
Satish Sangameswaran
Ex-IT Professional, Bangalore, India
Shyam Ramamurthy
Operations & Supply Chain Management Professional - Consultant/Educator, Chennai, India
Shyam grew up in Delhi and worked in four organizations across different geographies in India and in Singapore over his 36-year corporate stint after his engineering from NIT, Trichy. His areas of specialization were in Operations & Supply Chain Management both of which he continues to pursue through his consultation with Small & Medium Scale Enterprises & Start-ups. He also teaches students and working professionals in the areas of Operations, Logistics & Supply Chain and Lean Customer Discovery, both online & in-person.
He loves a good game of football and does not miss an opportunity to watch it, whatever the time of day.
Rajyashree and Shyam have two wonderful children—Shruti, a Graphic Designer who works out of New York, USA, and Ashwin, an economic research analyst who works out of Victoria, Canada. Rajyashree continues to pursue her passion—learning Hindustani Classical (vocal) and working toward a Master’s in Psychology.
Venkat is a serial entrepreneur, all-around product guy, and hands-on leader. He has founded and operated multiple startups that have reached a liquidity event through an IPO or acquisition. He is an Alumnus of IIT-Kanpur (CS) and Stanford (Ph.D. in CS) and received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 2001. He currently runs Alignable, which is well-funded and is the definitive hyperlocal and social network for SMBs.
Venkat has been on the leadership team at both public companies and startups at every stage across a number of domain areas. Fields he worked in a significant depth prior to Alignable include enterprise Software, Computer Graphics, Retention marketing for high ASP products, RFID, IOT, CAD, Manufacturing, Metrology, Orthodontics, and EAS/Security.
Venkat is passionate about access to quality education for underprivileged (and really all) children.
Venkat Krishnamurthy
Entrepreneur and IT Professional, Boston, MA, USA
Teachers and Staff
GKV is led by Mrs. Kausalya Meenakshisundaram – the school’s principal since its inception in 2009. Kausalya was teaching mathematics for primary and middle school at Jayendra Golden Jubilee School and immediately accepted the opportunity to build a school for disadvantaged children from the ground up. Starting with less than 150 children in 3 grades in a rented building, she has led the school to its current strength of over 500 students from grades LKG to 10th. She leads a team of 20 teachers (1 teacher for every 25 students) and 5 support staff, all of whom are passionate and committed to helping the children learn and be good human beings. Apart from Kausalya, Mrs Usha Rani and Mrs Selva Rani, LKG and 4th standard class teachers, respectively, have been with the school since its inception. 7 other teachers have been with the school for over five years.
