VCONNECT - Key Persons


Bapsy Patel

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Executive Committee
Bapsy Patel is currently heading Administration at Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited. She has over 40 years of service to her credit across various roles like HR, Administration, Training, CSR, Employee Engagement and Environmental and Occupational Safety. She has sound volunteering experience having trained and mentored youth in the field of Career Readiness and Mental Health. She likes sharing stories, knowledge and life's hacks with people and solves puzzles in her spare time.

Behroze Billimoria

Job Titles:
  • Programme Coordinator and a Mental Health Facilitator
Behroze is a parent of a 16 year old. Behroze is a B.Com graduate and has completed the ‘Parent Peer Support Mental Health Training', an 8 month programme conducted by VConnect Foundation in collaboration with Ummeed Child development Center and is now a trained Mental Health Facilitator and uses this approach in her interactions with caregivers and the team. Behroze has been working with VConnect in an honorary capacity since 2016. She is currently the Programme Coordinator for VConnect Foundation and manages the coordination and activities of VConnect Foundation. Apart from this, she coordinates for all the activities of our key area on Education for the various webinars being conducted for the Mainstream Guide. Behroze is a key member of our team who coordinates with the parents on all the different VConnect Circles on a daily basis. ×

Fatema Jagmaag - Founder

Job Titles:
  • Audiologist
  • Co - Founder
  • Language Pathologist
  • Trustee
Fatema Jagmaag is an Audiologist and a Speech/Language Pathologist. She is the founder and Principal consultant of Shaba Speech and Hearing Centre in Mumbai - which offers the entire spectrum of audiology and speech/language services to children and adults and has more than 30 years of experience. Her special interest is in candidacy selection and audiological management of Cochlear Implantation in children and adults.

Jeroo Buhariwala

Job Titles:
  • Director of Buhariwalas International Relocations
Jeroo Buhariwala is the Director of Buhariwalas International Relocations, a reputed firm in the relocations business. Jeroo has had an illustrious career in the Banking sector for over 24 years with the Banque Indosuez and Standard Chartered where she dealt with the various aspects of trade, cash management and treasury products. Jeroo is actively involved with social causes and is a member of CRSA (Colaba Residents and Association) working for a beautiful and hawker free Colaba Causeway. Jeroo is on the Alumni committee J.B.Petit High School for Girls and is passionate about giving back to her alma mater what she gained from it in terms of strength, growth and confidence.

Juliee Thakkar

Juliee Thakkar is a parent and has done her Mental Health Training Programme from Ummeed Child Development Center, Mumbai in 2019. Juliee is the Mental health Director for VConnect Foundation and one of the trainers in the Peer Parent Support Mental Health Training programme that trained 20 parents of VConnect Foundation virtually. She drives the Mental Health programme for VConnect, coordinates and manages the 16 Mental Health facilitators who conduct regular workshops on mental health and mental wellbeing. Juliee also plays a key role in coordinating the various day to day running of the organisation along with other members of the team. Juliee has done her diploma in commercial and secretarial practice. She loves teaching phonics and grammar in a fun way to kids. She is a practicing Tarot card reader and numerologist. Juliee is a parent of a child with hearing loss and strives to make a difference in the lives of caregivers of children with hearing loss. ×

Kashmira Surti - Founder

Job Titles:
  • Administrator
  • Founder
Kashmira is the Administrator for VConnect and works towards coordinating with funding agencies. Kashmira is the founder member of Doa Bakhshidan, a group of dedicated ladies raising funds to provide Medicaid, educational costs, provisions, etc. to the unfortunate and needy.

Mala Chadha

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Executive Committee
She is an Executive Committee Member of VConnect Foundation. She has been associated with Ummeed Child Development Center for fifteen years. She has worked neurodivergent children for over three decades. She claims to be a lifelong learner believes that it is the small things that add up.

Mr. Jamshed K Daboo

Job Titles:
  • Principal Advisor and an Executive Board Member
Jamshed K Daboo, is a parent and an Independent Advisor in the consumer, retail and hospitality space. Working closely with the leadership team of start-ups, small and medium enterprises to help scale up operations with a clear focus on unit economics and path to profit. Partner at TenX2, an accelerator working with companies aligned to UN Sustainability Goals and Strategic Advisor with MergerDomo, a financial marketplace connecting start-ups and SMEs to key eco-system players. Mentor with Social Alfa.

Ms Anisa Lalani

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Psychologist and Counsellor
  • Mental Health Director
Ms Anisa Lalani is a Clinical Psychologist and Counsellor & Narrative Practitioner. She works at the department of psychiatry, NKP Salve Institute of Medical Science and Research Center and Lata Mangeshkar Hospital. She specializes in Psychometric Assessments and Analysis.

Navaz Master - CEO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive Officer
Navaz Master has committed her career of over two decades, towards child centric issues, be it education, child rights and safety or ensuring they have a normal childhood of happy memories. A graduate in psychology and a certified professional in strategic HR, she prefers to focus on underprivileged and children with disabilities, and their activities, to ensure they can ease into mainstream society.

Purvee Parekh

Job Titles:
  • Trustee
Purvee Parekh is a parent and a Trustee of VConnect Foundation. Purvee has been instrumental in initiating VConnect Foundation's Mainstream Guide project which has been greatly successful. Through the project we have successfully launched mainstream guides in 4 different languages and conducted several workshops for parents and professionals to enable successful mainstreaming of children with hearing loss. Purvee worked as a parent coordinator at K.D.N Shruti School for children with hearing loss for over 12 years.

Rhia Marshall

Job Titles:
  • Partner
  • Legal Advisor
"Rhia Marshall is a Partner, Dispute Resolution at Jerome Merchant + Partners. Rhia read law at ILS Law College, Pune. Rhia has over a decade of experience in complex domestic and cross border disputes with a focus on arbitration. Rhia worked with Wadia Ghandy & Co. and Economic Laws Practice before joining Jerome Merchant + Partners."

Rukshan Gotla

Job Titles:
  • Coordinator
Ms.Rukshan has completed her Bachelor of Commerce. She has worked with Swissair for 5 years. She's been a homemaker for the past 29 years moving around different countries. Rukshan loves helping people and has always wanted to give back to society. She has completed her course in Emotional Freedom Technique.

Vahishtai J Daboo - Founder

Job Titles:
  • Co - Founder
  • Managing Trustee
  • Trustee
Vahishtai J Daboo is a parent and a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist, Certified Auditory Verbal Therapist from the Alexander Graham Bell Academy, U.S.A. https://agbellacademy.org She is one of the five Listening and Spoken Language Specialist, Certified Auditory Verbal Therapists in India. She is a Mental Health Trainer and Practitioner, and uses the Narrative Approach for guiding and counselling families. She is the Co-Founder and Managing Trustee of VConnect Foundation. Vahishtai has been in Professional Practice for the last 18 years. She is the Principal Consultant of INTEGR△TED, Services for Listening and Spoken Language www.islsl.in She conducts AVT sessions with families via Tele-practice and face to face, mentors professionals for LSLS Certification and consults with a variety of organisations. Vahishtai has been teaching as a Guest Faculty at the AYJNISHD(D) http://www.ayjnihh.nic.in/post-graduate-courses at the Post Graduate Diploma Auditory Verbal Therapy, nearly since the inception of the Auditory Verbal Therapy Course at the university. She is the trustee of Shrimad Rajchnadra Seva Kendra, Umang Education and Research Center for the Hearing Impaired, Ahmedabad http://www.umangschool.org/team

Vaishali Pendurkar

Job Titles:
  • Data Administrator
Vaishali Pendurkar has done her Bachelor's in Arts in Psychology and several related courses like the Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), the advanced course to name a few. She joined Tupperware as Business consultant and then as Associate Sales Development Manager for the Western India region. She took care of the training needs for the region and conducted classroom and field training sessions to enhance sales opportunities with the Distributors. She managed the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of training programs in Mumbai as well as in outstation locations. She is currently working as a consultant to a trust to change the working of 4 clinics from manual to digital. Vaishali has experience as a Hospital Administrator, where she set up the hospitals' non-medical activities. Put in place procedures for billing and inventory management. Organised schedules for recruitment and training of staff and its implementation.