NEEV - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Academy Educational Leadership Team
- Head, Diploma Programme
- Teachers Education Network
Job Titles:
- Director, Kanpur Education Society
Abhishek is a Doctorate in Commerce & Business Administration and a member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. He is a law graduate and has done his MBA from Symbiosis Pune. Currently he is the Director of Kanpur Education Society, which runs schools in Kanpur and is making commendable efforts in bringing quality education within the reach of the masses.
His deep acumen in school management and finance and legal aspects helps Neev board provide the directives to school management. He is part of Infrastructure and Finance committee at Neev.
Job Titles:
- Eminent Lawyer, Founding Partner ASLF Law Offices
- Legal Expert
Anup Shah is a renowned legal expert and has been in the domain since 1981. He started his career in Mumbai serving as a counsel in the High Court of Mumbai before moving to Bangalore to pursue a long and successful stint in the Bangalore High Court and Civil Court. He established his own firm in 1993 that has now grown to 70 employees in Bangalore and Chennai.
Anup Shah is also on the board of organisations in the construction and energy industry. He specializes in matters pertaining to commercial documentation, real estate transactions while advising developers and investors. As a recognizable expert in the legal domain, Anup continues to inspire and actively contributes to several legal forums. He responds to queries from the general public in the Times of India under the heading "Legal Eagle".
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Early Years Educational Leadership Team
- Professional Development
- Teachers Education Network
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Early Years Educational Leadership Team
- Branch Head, Neev Early Years Queens Road
- Teachers Education Network
What do we wish for our children's future? An important question to ask ourselves as educators and parents. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. We cannot foresee the future, but definitely help our children prepare for it!
Growing up in the 80's,teaching and learning was synonymous with ‘finding or knowing the right answer'. It more or less lead to supposed knowledge acquisition and guaranteed academic success. The beauty in today's futuristic education systems is that there is an emphasis on the ‘poignant learning process' of each child, where the quest is not for the right answers instead it leads to a continuous journey of testing theories, innovating and constant questioning of one's thinking! We are in the 21st century where our children are moving towards a generation of innovation boom, predisposed towards creativity, collaboration, risk-taking and problem-solving. So what will work or help the future generations to succeed and flourish?
I have been fortunate enough to experience different schools of thought over the years in various early childhood centres across the world.
Neev itself has undergone an exciting evolution of early childhood education philosophies, thoughts and practices over the years. As an ever evolving organisation catering to the needs of our children today and tomorrow; keeping in sync with globally researched and significant practices we have come to give power and meaning to our curriculum to enable a stronger future for our children. At Neev, the play-based curriculum revolves around the child, his needs, capabilities, strengths and interests. We focus on what the child can achieve rather than what they cannot! Thus we work on building skills and dispositions so children are ignited with a life-long love of learning. As we give this gift of ‘love for learning' we are gearing our children with skills like research, negotiation, problem-solving, creativity, collaboration and critical-thinking to be, become and belong as a citizen of this great planet!
Job Titles:
- Professor and Dean ( Education and Outreach ) at the University of Trans - Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology ( TDU ), Bangalore
- Teachers Education Network
She received her Ph.D. in Physics from the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore. Her thesis as well as her postdoctoral work at ETH Zurich involved high-performance computing. Since then, she has been a researcher at several places in India and abroad including the National Centre for Software Technology (NCST, now CDAC), TIFR, and IIT Bombay, all in Mumbai, CERN and EPFL in Switzerland, and the Observer Research Foundation, Mumbai, where she was engaged in research and policy advocacy in the areas of education, public health, renewable energy, and agriculture. Besides her scientific publications, she has brought out several reports and publications in these areas. She also served in the corporate sector, as Senior VP and CTO, of a start-up company in the Telecom sector (Netcore Solutions, now Netcore Cloud).
Leena had the privilege of being a member of the technical secretariat to the Dr. Kasturirangan committee on the National Education Policy (NEP), and a member of the drafting committee of India's Draft NEP 2019. Her present focus is in the area of vocational education and its implementation in the spirit of NEP 2020. She co-authored a recent report on vocational education for UNESCO in 2020, in their ‘State of the Education Report for India' series. She has also contributed to the preparation of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for school education, in the area of vocational education.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Early Years Educational Leadership Team
- Branch Head, Neev Early Years Sadashivnagar
- Teachers Education Network
We are almost at the quarter of the 21st Century and the way the world is functioning today is a testament to what is to come. Are we preparing our future citizens to thrive and make a positive change in that world? We will require them to be global citizens who have the dispositions to think critically, ethically, creatively and be able to problem solve. Skills like collaboration, perseverance, grit, resilience and patience will be valued. And these skills, dispositions and attitudes are imbibed only when they are nurtured and developed right from early years.
Neev's vision and mission are founded on these very principles. Our image of the child upholds the belief that every child is born capable, competent, curious and much more. We advocate play as the way of learning for children and that the environment that is created for the child to engage, explore, and experiment with is their third teacher. At Neev Early Years, we create opportunities through play to nurture their innate curiosity, build on their dispositions, attitudes and skills, which if cultivated through the years, will lead to an adult who is an intrinsically motivated self directed learner, a disciplinary thinker, an effective communicator, a collaborator and a community builder.
In my years at Neev, earlier as a homeroom educator and later as a leader, I have experienced the impact of joyful learning at Neev, even in children as young as six years old, who display confidence, independence of thought and action, resilience and perseverance, as they embark on their grade school journey. And that brings me the satisfaction that we are on the right path.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Operations Leadership Team
- Head - Admissions and Accreditation
- Teachers Education Network
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Academy Educational Leadership Team
- Head - Reading
- Teachers Education Network
As author-illustrator Chris Riddell says, "Children's books are engines for empathy. They allow us to see through the eyes of others. By transporting us to other worlds they help us to understand our own."
We are looking to grow students as readers through a mix of methods that are responsive, empathetic, qualitative, and data-based. The reading sessions at the Neev libraries are aimed at developing students' information literacy and critical thinking skills, alongside encouraging them to read widely and deeply. We make reading exciting with conversations that bring books alive, as well as with events such as the R K Narayan Reading Growth Awards, the Neev Literature Festival (NLF), and the NLF Reading Challenge. Readers get to experience the magic of books themselves, and share it with their friends, teachers, and librarians.
Job Titles:
- Head of School
- Teachers Education Network
"I believe in equality of opportunity - and the only route to it is finally through great education. When Gandhi came back from South Africa in 1915, Gokhale told him to "Make India proud of herself". I find solace in the thought that Neev Kids will complete what Gokhale and Gandhi started. I hope to create an academic institution which remains true to our mission and values and outlasts me, my generation and many others - schools where Neev alumni are proud to send their great grandchildren for an education which continues to stand for excellence forever." Kavita has worked in diverse fields of scientific research, corporate restructuring, finance and now education. Her interests include reading on education, brain development, History and India. She is a science post graduate from Bombay University, and an alumnus of Harvard Business School. She founded and heads Neev Schools and Neev Academy. Her passion for revolutionizing education in changing India inspires the educators at Neev and provides strategic direction to the board.
Job Titles:
- Teachers Education Network
- Vice Chairman - TeamLease Services Ltd
"Education is the only way to change the reality that the two most important decisions a child in India makes are choosing your parents and pin code wisely". Manish Sabharwal is currently Vice Chairman of Teamlease Services, one of India's largest employers. Prior to Teamlease he had co-founded India Life which was acquired by NYSE listed Hewitt Associates; consequently he served as Managing Director of Hewitt Outsourcing (Asia) based in Singapore. He is a member of the Central Advisory Board of Education, Member of the Advisory Board of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, and a Governing Board Member of the National Council of Applied Economic Research. He has also served as an Independent Director on the Board of the Reserve Bank of India. Manish is also Managing Trustee of the New India Foundation (that offers fellowships to write books about post-1947 India), a columnist for Indian Express, and a Board Member of Neev Academy. He has an MBA from the Wharton School and Bachelors degree from Shriram College of Commerce, Delhi.
Manish is part of the Finance and governance committee as well and guides the institution towards financial sustainability and strong governance structure.
Ms. Meera Isaacs Ms Isaacs , an alumna of Mumbai and Pune universities, began her career at the Carmel Convent School, Delhi (1973-1977) before signing up with the Cathedral and John Connon (CJCS) School in 1977 as a substitute teacher, just for a month to teach History and English. Mrs. Isaacs has been associated with School for the past 44 years out of which 25 and a half years have been spent as Head of the School. She was the first Lady Principal/Dean of this 160-year-old institution and the first internal promotion as Principal. Since then, she transformed this historic institution into a contemporary K-12 school providing modern infrastructure and internationally bench-marked curriculums and pedagogies supplemented with excellent sports and co-curricular education. A committed educationist, she has been conferred several awards and recognitions for her dedicated efforts to upgrade K-12 education standards. Mrs. Isaacs's credo as an educationist is to put the child as the focus of all educational activities, so that they may grow into an assured and confident person who is able to evolve strategies and skills to deal with the ever-changing environment. If they are able to do this, it naturally follows that the joy of life with be theirs.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Academy Educational Leadership Team
- PYP Coordinator
- Teachers Education Network
Ms. Meera holds a Master's in Arts (Language and Literature) and a Bachelor's in Pure Sciences from Ravi Shankar University, Raipur. She also holds a Bachelor's in Education degree from Singhania University. After a corporate stint, Ms. Meera began her teaching career by teaching Language for Middle Years and Upper Elementary in the IGCSE curriculum.
She has been with Neev Academy for over nine years, first as a Home Room Teacher and later as a Grade Level Coordinator for Grade 5.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Academy Educational Leadership Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Early Years Educational Leadership Team
- Branch Head, Neev Early Years Whitefield
- Teachers Education Network
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Neev Academy Educational Leadership Team
- Teachers Education Network
All journeys start with hope, aspiration, excitement and that butterflies in the stomach feeling of doing new things, reaching new places, meeting many new people and building relationships.
Our journey of Neev is now at a helm where we are walking along with many people who share the passion, vision and drive to impact early education. It's a dream not of one but for many to come along in this journey where the fruits of labour will be there for generations, long after the ones who believed in the dream and tread the path to its reality.
Neev took the cudgels in 2004 to create a space in early years that was of a quality, that was not available in Bangalore. 13 years later Neev is still evolving, that it must continue to do, yet a very mature organisation that has its own unique mark in early years space. From 35 children and 18 teachers to more than 500 children and 100 teachers it's not only grown in number but also in stature.
At the core of it is the child who is capable, curious, competent. Neev is a place for children to build and enhance their capabilities in all areas. We strive to nurture in them all abilities that will allow them to flourish in all environments with confidence and independence and be caring, compassionate and happy individuals.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Academy Educational Leadership Team
- Head - MYP Programme and MYP Coordinator
- Teachers Education Network
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Early Years Educational Leadership Team
- Associate Director and Branch Head - Neev Early Years Indiranagar
- Teachers Education Network
As an early childhood educator I believe that each child is unique and needs a secure, caring and stimulating environment to thrive emotionally, intellectually, physically and socially. We believe that the children are valued, nurtured and respected as individuals from an early age to instill confidence that shapes personality. As an educator it is my role to assume responsibility for each child's all round development whilst they are in my care.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Academy Educational Leadership Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Academy Educational Leadership Team
- Head - Primary School
- Teachers Education Network
"I firmly believe in reimagining education where I see myself as a facilitator in the growth and development of every learner. It's my responsibility to empower learners with all the possible opportunities that will broaden the horizons of mind, build their character and impart them skills to thrive in this ever changing environment. Each child is blessed with unique gifts and it's on me to nurture them with care and empathy. My mission is to make education a catalyst to make students the best version of themselves."
With this mission, Ms. Shilpi has given over 15 years to education.She has taught CBSE, ICSE and IB curriculum and was privileged to work in prestigious institutions -Ryan International School (Delhi), Sophia High School (Bangalore) before joining Neev Academy in 2015. She holds a Bachelor degree in Elementary Education from Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University. Being a passionate educator, she has also completed M.A and M.phil in Education. She takes pride in being a student centric instructor, academic facilitator and a coach.
She has been with Neev Academy for over seven years where first as a Home Room Teacher and later as Grade Level Coordinator, she implemented best practices for education and drove key initiatives that align with Neev's philosophy of nurturing the thinking through whole child approach.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Operations Leadership Team
- Head - Human Resources
- Teachers Education Network
Job Titles:
- Author
- Eminent Writer & Columnist
"In an ideal world, schools would do the following things: teach skills and knowledge that are relevant to the times we live in; cultivate a growth mindset; identify and nurture a child's passions and unique talents; impart a moral compass; develop character and grit. Even achieving one of these goals is hard to do but Neev aspires for all of the above. That is why I'm delighted to be a trustee."
Shoba Narayan is the author of five books. She has been a journalist and columnist for over 30 years, writing about health, relationships, identity and culture for global publications, winning a James Beard award and Pulitzer Fellowship. She has taught courses at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Bangalore. She lectured at universities in the US. She is the host and anchor of Bird Podcast: about birds and nature. She is the overseas correspondent for Radio New Zealand. Her work and understanding of relationships, identity and culture brings diverse perspective to the board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Early Years Educational Leadership Team
- Branch Head, Neev Early Years Koramangala
- Teachers Education Network
In the early years of childhood, every moment is a stepping stone, and curiosity ignites a lifetime of learning and wonder. Education should be a beacon that stimulates young minds, fosters individuality, and nurtures children from their toddler years, guiding them to become self-directed, disciplinary thinkers who are communicative, collaborative, and dedicated to making positive contributions to their world.
Our mission is to cultivate a quest for knowledge, encouraging students to dig deeper and find answers to their questions. I believe teaching and learning should open a window for the free flow of ideas, innovations, and thoughts. This can only be achieved by deriving the curriculum from the learners' interests rather than directing learners to a predefined curriculum.
In our unpredictable world, it is essential to enhance our students' capacity to adapt, develop resilience, and apply their knowledge to real-life situations. At Neev, we understand that meaningful learning thrives on the healthy exchange of diverse ideas through interactions, debates, and discussions. Without these vibrant exchanges, the pursuit of profound and far-reaching learning is improbable.
I am proud of the vibrant and nurturing community we have built at Neev through our child centric curriculum and most importantly, I am proud of our children, whose boundless curiosity, resilience, and passion for learning continue to inspire and motivate us every day.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Early Years Educational Leadership Team
- Associate Branch Head, Neev Early Years Sadashivnagar
- Teachers Education Network
"Children are not things to be molded, but are people to be unfolded." - Jess Lair
These words beautifully capture the essence of early childhood education. At Neev, we believe in the transformative power of nurturing each child's unique potential. Early childhood is a pivotal period of discovery, where every moment is a new opportunity to explore, learn, and grow.
Our approach at Neev is rooted in the understanding that children learn best in an environment that is both stimulating and supportive. We create a space where curiosity is encouraged, and every question is a step towards deeper understanding. Through play-based learning, we integrate academic concepts with hands-on activities that engage the mind and the senses, fostering holistic development.
The role of educators and parents at Neev is to act as guides and facilitators, providing the tools and support children need to navigate their learning journeys. We value the individuality of each child, tailoring our methods to meet their unique needs and interests. Our goal is to inspire a lifelong love of learning, equipping children with the skills and confidence to explore the world around them.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Academy Educational Leadership Team
- Head of ICSE
- Teachers Education Network
Somdatta Mukherjee, Head of ICSE, holds a Master's Degree in Computer Applications and has more than 15 years of experience in some of the country's most prestigious schools. Her tenure at DPS International School in Singapore saw her play a pivotal role in fostering an inclusive educational environment. Throughout her career as an educator, she has taught diverse boards CISCE, CBSE, Cambridge and IB, she has been captivated by children's curiosity and eagerness to explore and learn, gaining profound insights into their perspectives.
One of the youngest Supervising Examiner to be appointed by CISCE, Somdatta is deeply committed to the principles of Neev and collaborates closely with teachers to guide, plan, and implement curricular experiences that cater to children's interests, their innate need for exploration, and their keen sense of inquiry. Her dedication ensures that each child's educational journey is both enriching and responsive to their natural curiosity.
In her spare time, Somdatta likes to read, dance, travel, and learn more about the world around her.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Neev Early Years Educational Leadership Team