Andrea Jeremiah Aravind Balagi Prasad Playback Singer & Actress Co Founder Email : [email protected] Teach For India No 52, 2 Floor Abhiramapuram, Near RCSS Diagnostic Centre Chennai 600 018 Tel : +91 44 24990210 Email : [email protected] Website : www.teachforindia.org Andrea Jeremiah is a popular Tamil playback singer, Voice Actor and a Film Aravind Balagi Prasad is the co-founder of Teach for India. It is basically a and Theatre Actress. She began her career in playback singing, and has gone on to nationwide movement of outstanding college graduates and young professionals appear in critically acclaimed films such as Pachaikili Muthucharam and Aayirathil who teach full time in low income schools for two years. The Fellowship enables them Oruvan, winning praise for her effective portrayals. to become lifelong leaders advocating for the cause of educational equity. From the age of 10, Andrea was part of a Jackson Five-style troupe called In June 2009, Teach for India placed its first cohort of Fellows in low-income Young Stars which formed the base of her early singing career. She was also a municipal and private schools in Pune and Mumbai. theatre artist in her college and appeared in several stage plays organised by Madras Players and EVAM. Andrea also launched a company named The Show Must Go On Today, Teach For India is based in 5 cities - Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, (TSMGO Productions) to promote artistes and live art. Hyderabad and Chennai comprising of 550 fellows and 196 alumni working towards eliminating educational inequity. Aravind is a 2012 Fellow currently teaching a 4th She later ventured into playback singing in feature films. After rendering a Standard class in Kottur CPS. song in Gautham Menon's Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, she got an offer by the director to essay a lead female character in his next venture Pachaikili Muthucharam which she He has completed his B.Sc in Electrical Engineering, Purdue University. His took up. Pachaikili Muthucharam was a film adaptation of James Siegel's novel interests include Tennis, Badminton, Cricket, Short Stories, and TED talks. Aravind is Derailed, with Andrea portraying Kalyani, a homemaker. a regular speaker and a guest lecturer at various industry, business & academic forums/institutions. She subsequently received more offers to star in films, but the only project she eventually signed was Selvaraghavan's fantasy-adventure film Aayirathil Oruvan, which released in early 2010. The following year, she agreed to play a minor supporting role in Venkat Prabhu's multi-starrer Mankatha, which was released in August 2011. Andrea will next be seen in a pivotal role alongside Kamal Haasan in Vishwaroopam. STANDING TALL CONNECTED VALUES DISCONNECTED YOUTH The Young Indians Southern Regional Summit 26 - 27 October 2012: Chennai Aruna R Krishnan David Appasamy Editor and Publisher Management Consultant RITZ Magazine DA Associates 7 Floor Sigma Wing Flat 1 A, Block 5, Prakruti Appartments Raheja Towers Tirumalai Nagar Annexe Anna Salai 2 Cross Street, Perungudi Chennai 600 002 Chennai 600 096 Tel : +91 44 42113871 Tel : +91 9884075784 Email : [email protected] Email : [email protected] Website : www.ritzmagazine.in Aruna R Krishnan runs two of the widest read magazines in South India. David Appasamy is a Management Consultant advising clients in the areas She is the Editor and Publisher of RITZ, South India's premier Lifestyle magazine and of business strategy, marketing, brand identity, brand and reputation management, is also the co-owner of Southscope, India's leading south film magazine which is a as well as digital strategies. He has over 30 years of experience in senior positions in joint venture partnership with Allu Sirish of Geetha Arts - one of India's most reputed sales, marketing and advertising, hospitality services, internet, network and and successful production houses. Southscope celebrates the life and work of the ecommerce services, investor relations and financial services. Experience covers most sought after A-list film stars of South Indian cinema. Her acquisition of a stake in diverse verticals with widely differing customer segments. this immensely popular publication has redefined the magazine publishing industry in South India. Until recently, he was the Executive Director of a micro-finance company that transformed into a dynamic modern organization that provides cost efficient Aruna started her first business when she was barely out of college. RITZ is microfinance coupled with knowledge and information services that raise human her brainchild and the magazine came as a roaring and refreshing success at a capacity and organizational capability. crucial time when similar magazines launched in Chennai earlier had failed and eventually folded up. Today, her magazine RITZ has completed 8 years of its He was earlier the Executive Vice President at Sify Technologies. He served publication. In an effort to applaud young people for their determination and as the Co-Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce's Task Force on the pioneering efforts in their respective fields, Aruna has also instituted the prestigious Internet and Telecom Infrastructure & Services of the Commission on the Digital RITZ Icon Awards, recipients of which include an enviable cross-section of the Economy from 2006 to 2011 (formerly the e Business, IT & Telecoms Commission biggest stars, entrepreneurs, musicians, bureaucrats, social activists and others. (EBITT). As Co-Chair, he was leading the development of global business positions and practical tools. In a never-before initiative, the 4th edition of the RITZ Icon Awards conducted recently in association with the nationally reputed news channel Times He was selected by the UN Secretary-General to serve on the Multi- Now honoured South Indian icons on a national platform. Aruna has won several stakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) for the Internet Governance Forum (IGF); worked Awards for her entrepreneurship including the NDTV Hindu Award for Best Lifestyle to advocate business priorities to governments, the IGF and other forums, inter- Journalist for her magazine RITZ. governmental and international organizations, Internet technical community organizations, as well as civil society. Aruna R Krishnan is also the Executive Director of IBEX Products, an auto components manufacturing company, allied to the renowned UCAL Group. He has a degree in hotel management and business management from the IIM, Ahmedabad. An avid photographer, his other interests include traveling, reading, blogging apart from being a social media enthusiast. STANDING TALL CONNECTED VALUES DISCONNECTED YOUTH The Young Indians Southern Regional Summit 26 - 27 October 2012: Chennai Gayathri Sriram Dhruv Lakra Managing Director CEO & Managing Director Ucal Products Pvt Ltd Mirakle Couriers SPP Complex, 324 Anna Salai Industry House Nandana Behind K C College, Church Gate Chennai 600 035 Mumbai 400 020 Tel : +91 44 24314088 Tel : +91 22 22483121 Fax :+91 44 24346170 Email : [email protected] Email : [email protected] Website : www.miraklecouriers.com Website : www.ucalauto.com Dhruv Lakra is the CEO / Founder of Mirakle Couriers which is an Gayathri Sriram has a Master's degree in English from Carnegie Mellon innovative social enterprise that employs low-income deaf adults. Through its University, Pennsylvania, as well as a Master's in Reading and Language Arts from business it generates employment for the deaf resulting in their empowerment and Rider University, New Jersey. She is a reputed educationist from the US where she financial independence. It works on the premise that delivery does not require verbal headed several public sector educational programs, focusing on creating the communication. The entire operations are conducted in Indian Sign Language and optional classroom and also on teacher development. distance communication is done by texting which are both very efficient means of communication for delivery of couriers. Logistics is a fast growing vertical in the She returned to India in 2003 to join the UCAL group of companies. As country and this particular marginalized section can take full advantage of the growth Managing Director she has worked successfully with her team to increase sales potential that exists. turnover and expand the customer and product base, with a focus on optimizing her companies' strengths in the global automotive marketplace. Dhruv has a strong background in the social and financial space. He started his career in investment banking at Merrill Lynch and shifted to the social sector after Gayathri has been active as an elected member of the TN State Council of the devastating Asian tsunami of 2004. While living with the fishermen community for Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the past 6 years. She has served as the four months he found his true calling and decided to work in the social sector. He has Past Chairperson of the Chennai zone comprising of about 500 plus members and helped a lot of social organizations scale their impact through these programs, and was also the Chairperson of the Women Empowerment Forum of CII Southern strategic planning. After working for two years in this sector he went on to pursue his Region for the year 2011-12. MBA on a full scholarship from the University of Oxford. After completing MBA from Oxford, Dhruv founded Mirakle Couriers in Mumbai which is for profit courier service She is also an invited member of the World Young Leaders Forum that employs low income deaf youth. associated with the BMW Herbert Quandt Foundation. The deliveries are done by deaf men, and the back office is run by deaf women. For his innovative work with the deaf at Mirakle Couriers, Dhruv has been awarded the Helen Keller Award, CNN IBN Indian of the Year, the prestigious echoing green fellowship based in New York, the national award from the President of India, and more recently the Highest Civilian award from the Jammu and Kashmir government. Dhruv has completed his MBA from the University of Oxford, and B.Com from HR College of Commerce and Economics.