Mathew, Alka, and Alison

The organisation is being promoted by its founder and chairman, Matthew Spacie, and boards in India and the UK. Since its inception and as part of its culture, Magic Bus has focused on creating a high calibre, result driven team. It has been able to attract high performance individuals from the both the corporate and the social sectors to create a balance of the required skills to take the organization forward. Although a small organization, we have a very progressive human resource, training and career planning strategy.

Matthew Spacie
Organisation and Board Chairman
Matthew is a UK citizen with residency status in India and lives with his wife in Mumbai. He first came to India in 1986 where he worked as a volunteer with The Sisters of Charity in Calcutta. Following his graduation and a number of management positions in the UK, he was posted to India ten years later working as the Chief Operating Officer for Cox & Kings, then India’s largest travel company. In February 1999, Matthew initiated the Magic Bus, working with children from the Akanksha Foundation. Having played international rugby for India, he used this as his platform to start the sports programme for Magic Bus. He resigned from his job in 2001 and now works full-time for Magic Bus. In July 2002, Matthew was awarded an Ashoka Fellowship.

Alka Shesha
Director - Programme
Alka graduated in Arts from Mumbai University and is a trained teacher and counsellor. Her vast experience in conducting summer camps and self-development workshops with children and adults has added tremendous value to the Magic Bus curriculum design and implementation.

Alison Adnitt
Director - Fundraising and Communication
Alison joined Magic Bus from Christie’s Fine Art Auctioneers, London where she worked for six years as a senior specialist in British and Anglo-Indian Art following her MA in History of Art and German language. Before moving to India she worked for Magic Bus as a fundraiser in the UK. She has prior experience of the non-profit sector, having volunteered in the UK for the St. John’s Handicapped Children’s Trust where she worked as a project manager.

Roopashri Sinha
Research Manager
Roopashri has an M. Phil in Political Science, specialising in Development Adminstration from Mumbai University. She has been part of the development sector for the past 18 years as a researcher and a resource person. Her contribution has been mainly in the field of public health, gender and children’s issues. She has several published research reports, papers, articles and has co-authored books, and monographs.

Aileen MacEachen
Training Consultant, Impact Development Training Group
Aileen has a wealth of experience of designing and delivering experiential courses on developmental issues with themes such as personal development, leadership, change management and team building. She has worked with a huge variety of populations from young people at risk to senior executives. She currently works as a Senior Training Consultant at Impact.

Samantha Nayar
Member
Samantha has worked in Advertising & Marketing, with many of the major global agencies in Account Management, for 16 years. Her experience is international, spanning the World from the US and Australia to Latin America and Asia. She has worked with a varied range of high-profile names including Coca-Cola, Nestle, Bayer, Johnson and Johnson, Unilever, Goodyear, United Distillers, Ferrari, Guerlain, De Beers and Gillette.

In her former position as Executive Vice President, Worldwide Account Director for BBDO in New York, she was running $250 million of business in 70 markets.

Samantha has been involved with numerous charities in the US and Australia primarily in the areas of disabled children and AIDS.

Samantha lives with her new family in Bombay and is a Director of EcoLife, a genetic testing and management center that specializes in introducing new systems to India for Genetic, Pre-natal and Newborn testing.

Dr Usha Parekh
Member
Dr Usha is a retired management consultant and expert in the field of psychometric testing.

Deval Sanghavi
Member
Deval Sanghavi has been working for the past four years in building sustainable NGOs in India. His roles include being co-founder and managing partner of Impact Partners (social venture philanthropy fund) to currently heading Dasra (technical assistance provider) in India. He has been actively involved with Magic Bus since July 2000 in advisory, management and funding roles. Prior to moving to India, Deval worked at Morgan Stanley’s headquarters in New York City in their Mergers and Acquisitions Department. He holds two Bachelor of Business Administration degrees from the University of Texas at Austin majoring in Honours Business and Finance with a concentration in Asian Studies.

Strategic Advisory Board
Ramanan Raghavendran
Chairman

Ramanan Raghavendran, Chairman

Ramanan is the co-founder and managing partner of Kubera Partners, a private equity firm that invests in crossborder businesses. Prior to founding Kubera, Ramanan led the cross-border investing effort at TH Lee Putnam Ventures as a senior partner (and continues to oversee the THLPV portfolio). He was formerly a senior partner at Insight Venture Partners, where he invested in business process outsourcing and enterprise software companies, including crossborder investing via ConnectCapital, an Insight affiliate. Prior to joining Insight, Ramanan was a senior member of the investment team at General Atlantic, where he initiated the Internet-related investment effort and also led sector efforts in technology services and enterprise software. Ramanan began his professional career at McKinsey & Company in New York and London.

He is a member of the advisory board of the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania, the only research institution in theUnited States dedicated to the study of contemporary India.

Deepak I. Shahdadpuri - Member
Managing Director, Baer Capital Partners Chairman, Capco Advisors

Member Managing Director, Baer Capital Partners, Chairman, Capco Advisors

Deepak I. Shahdadpuri is the co-founder and Managing Director of Beacon India Advisors Private Limited. Deepak has over 10 years of successful private equity investing and advisory experience in India, UK and the United States. Prior to joining Beacon India, Deepak was co-founder and Managing Director of GEM India Advisors (“GIA”), an Indian consumer focused private equity fund.  Investments made by Deepak at GIA include Sula Wines, Bakers Circle, Mason & Summers, Mark Pi Restaurants and Cleartrip. Deepak also co-founded FS Capital Partners, a principal investment company focused on early stage investment where his investments included India’s leading art auction company, Saffronart. Other investments were Active Health Partners and Subway Southeast. Prior to GIA and FS Capital Partners, Deepak was a Principal with RVC Europe, a leading early stage venture capital fund that spun out of Reuters plc, where he helped run RVC’s portfolio of about 40 companies and invest a US$450million fund. Deepak worked on and executed a number of investments including Epoch Partners (sold to Goldman Sachs), Advertising.com (sold to AOL Time Warner), Investis, Zero Knowledge, Corizon, and Medsite. Deepak also led RVC’s investment in Westbridge Capital Partners Fund I. Prior to joining RVC, he was a Senior Consultant with Bain & Company, where he provided investment and strategic guidance to Fortune 500 companies and leading Private Equity funds. Before joining Bain & Company, Deepak was a Senior Accountant with Ernst & Young in London, with whom he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

Deepak is the Founder and Chairman of Capco Advisors, which launched the first Indian Modern and Contemporary Art Fund. Deepak is currently on the Board of Sula Wines, Baker’s Circle, Trak Services, Subway Southeast and Capco Advisors. Deepak is an associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a Charter Member of TIE UK.

Deepak has an MBA with distinction from INSEAD, where he won the Andersen Consulting Prize in Strategy, and has an undergraduate honours degree in Law from King’s College, University of London.

Asif Rangoonwala - Member

Asif Rangoonwala

Asif is a self-styled entrepreneur who worked his way up through the family business. He left the business when he moved to the UK and has created his own business in the industrial baking sector – Eurobuns Limited. Since then Asif has taken over the reigns of the family business which is involved in; Consumer Goods, Service Industry, Investment Management. Asif has a very deep knowledge of Charities and social work, which he inherited from his late father.

Positions and Memberships held within the UK:

• Chairman - Rangoonwala Foundation
• Chairman - World Memon Foundation
• Fellow - Duke of Edinburgh's Award
• Trustee - Whitefield Development Trust
• School Governor - Whitefield Schools and Centre
• Trustee - ZVM Rangoonwala Foundation
• Vice Chairman - The Indus Entrepreneurs - UK
• Trustee - UK Memon Association
  

Mahesh Mathai - Member

Mahesh Mathai- Member
Mahesh Mathai is an ad-film turned feature-film director who was born in Kerala. He started directing in 1982 and quickly established a reputation as the new sensation in Indian advertising. Many films and countless awards later in 1988 he formed Highlight Films, a highly successful Production House in Bombay that features several other directors and has continuously been counted as one of the best Production Houses in the country. In 1994 he became the first Indian Director to be included in a panel of Directors for a Singapore based Production House with Directors from around the world and also served as President of the IAAFA (The Academy of Indian Advertising Film) for 2 years.

By 1998 Mahesh started on work several stories one of which became his debut award-winning film Bhopal Express, set against the backdrop of the Bhopal gas tragedy which claimed thousands of lives and was known as the 'Hiroshima of the chemical industry'. Bhopal Express went on to win many awards at Film Festivals all over the world. Mahesh now lives in London and is working on his next feature film.