About us

Shahani Academic & Global Empowerment (SAGE) Foundation was incorporated in 2007 to educate under-resourced children and provide them with wealth-generating skills training for gainful employment. It has been widely recognised for its work and works with a range of partners.
SAGE Foundation is a non-profit organisation incorporated under Section 8 of the Indian Companies Act. It has 12(A), 80(G), CSR-1 & FCRA clearances.

FCRA Registration Number: 083781294
80G Registration Number: AAKCS7990LF20079

Board of Directors

Maya Shahani

Chairperson of the SAGE Foundation

Maya Shahani, the Chairperson of the Shahani Group, is also the Chairperson of the Thadomal Shahani Centre for Management, and the Thadomal Shahani Centre for Media and Communications.

Ms Shahani is the Trustee of the Thadomal Shahani Trust and the HSNC Board running 27 prime educational institutes with over 50,000 students graduating every year. The Thadhomal Shahani Engineering College named after the Shahani family is a premier institute of the Board.

As the Vice Chairperson of Global Dialogue Foundation which works in collaboration with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, Ms Shahani focuses on bringing a Unity in Diversity through embracing all cultures. She inaugurated the first Peace Garden in India under the auspices of UNAOC and the Brahmakumaris.

She is a Founder Trustee and Chairperson Emeritus of the Women’s Movement for Peace and Prosperity, an initiative of the Times Foundation which gives a voice to the voiceless women.

As the Vice Chairperson of the Bombay Mothers and Children Welfare Society. Ms. Shahani helped to redevelop a tribal school with the active involvement of Inspiring Lives Global which has become a role model for other rural schools.

A recipient of several awards such as the Glory of India (Gold Medalist) Award, Global Peace Award, the Jewel of India Award, the Jamnalal Bajaj Award, the Women Achievers Award, Bharat Jyoti Puraskar, the Entrepreneur Business School Award and the Clinton Global Initiative Certificate, she was selected for the first cover of the Rock Your Life’s conscious leadership magazine “LEAD”.

Maya is as comfortable meeting global leaders as she is working in villages and slums. With “Ethical Excellence” as her credo, she fulfils her duties with compassion, love and commitment.

Dr. Akhil Shahani

Managing Director of SAGE Foundation

An MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Akhil is trying to bring international methods of education to India through the group’s various initiatives. He believes that quality education involves not only academic learning, but also developing one’s network, personality and values. He is also involved with Kaizen Private Equity, which invests in education and mentor’s young entrepreneurs in his spare time.

He is on the Board of Unltd India – supporting start up social entrepreneurs in India and on the Higher Education Task Force of the Confederation of Indian Industry, India’s premier industry association. Akhil loves to get involved in enterprises that truly add value to society.

He was the past president of the American Allumni Association and The Rotary Club of Mumbai Mid Town. He is also a member of the Young Entrepreneur’s Organization, the CEO Forum, the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, Indian Merchant’s Chamber & Indian Institute of Management Consultants.

Akhil is listed in ‘Asia’s Whos Who – Men & Women of Achievement’, was awarded the ‘Bharat Shiromani Award’ in 2006 for excellence & contribution to society. Received the ‘Bharat Gaurav Award’ in 2007 for contribution to Indian Business, PIMR Award for Outstanding Educationist and the ‘Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award’ in 2009 for his work in education. He was also selected as ‘India’s Man of The Year’ By The American Biographical Institute.

Jetu Lalvani

Independent Director

Jetu is a Managing Partner of Kaizenvest, an education focused fund management firm, headquartered in Singapore. He is responsible for driving the firm’s portfolio management, impact assessment and sits on the firm’s investment committee. He is Kaizenvest’s ESG officer and supports portfolio companies in strategy definition, operations execution, hiring, reporting management, and corporate governance.

He has 30 years of experience in investing and building companies from the ground up. Prior to his current role with Kaizenvest, Jetu has helped nurture emerging companies in the fields of engineering and chemicals with world-leading joint ventures in India, such as Saab from Sweden, Dresser Industries & Emerson Electric from the US and Degussa from Germany, among others.

Jetu is also a trained DiSC® profiler under Thomas International for evaluating individuals and teams, a capacity he has used to conduct corporate team analysis for portfolio companies and conducted trainings in multitude areas including creativity, execution, effectiveness and business ethics. He has also provided corporate leadership advice and was the Ethics Officer at Emerson Electric’s Saab Rosemount for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance.

A life-long learning champion, Jetu has been in the sector for close to three decades. His notable contributions include building village schools, working with student councils and teacher unions as well as holding various administrative and leadership roles at leading education institutions in Mumbai.

Jetu holds a Bachelor’s of Commerce from Sydenham College, Mumbai and an OPM (Owner/President Management) accreditation from the Harvard Business School.

Gaurav Singh

Independent Director

Gaurav Singh is the Founder of Futuristic Wealth Creation Network – a venture-building and scaling platform enabling the legends of tomorrow to support the #RiseOfBharat.

An adept business strategist, start-up mentor, and a growth leader with 20 years of entrepreneurial experience, Gaurav has proven expertise in business planning, growth strategy, and M&A across a wide array of sectors- education, aviation, consumer tech, real estate, manufacturing, healthcare, energy, and leisure. He is a seasoned angel investor backed by a history of building a diverse and
robust global investment portfolio for large single-family offices and the UHNI community.

With a vision to enable entrepreneurs to become global giants, Gaurav has a penchant for impact-driven investments; supporting sustainable startups that are shaping the future. Gaurav has guided and mentored CXOs and Founders of young businesses, based on the fundamentals of geoeconomics, geopolitics, and spiritual economics. He has also set up various industry-leading VC funds and investment ecosystems.

Prior to his entrepreneurial stint, Gaurav has a rich experience in serving businesses from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies such as Thomson Reuters and Refinitv, where he managed a US$ 1 Bn financial intelligence ecosystem.

During his career, Gaurav has received various awards, recognizing his leadership skills and contribution to businesses’ growth achievement, the most recent ones being the ESG Impact Award 2022 for Empowerment of Rural Communities and the Global Visionary Iconic Award 2022 for his contribution to the startup ecosystem and the business world.

Gaurav holds a Masters degree in International Business from Aberdeen Business School and holds Board observer positions in various businesses. He is an Independent Director on the Advisory Board of SAGE Foundation- the foundation arm of the Shahani Group

International Board of Advisory

Mike Handcock

Chairman at CIRCLE of Excellence Group

Mike is a professional conference presenter, expert trainer and business innovation coach. Known as Asia’s leading Edu-trainer, Mike takes a keen personal interest in promoting SAGE. Mike is the Founder of Rock your Life and Conscious Leadership Movement.

Landi Jac

Managing Director and Global Business Strategist at Circle of Excellence Group

Landi Jac is the Creator and Founder of The Consultant Code, and works exclusively with Consultants, Coaches, Trainers, and Speakers from all over the world, empowering them. Landi provides innovative solutions for SAGE and is an avid promoter through the Rock Your Life Conscious Leadership Movement.

Elizabeth Coffey

Founder of Spark Leadership

Founder and MD of Spark Leadership, is an internationally recognized consultant, focused on developing CEOs and Board Executives of FTSE 100 and the Global 500 companies. Elizabeth will help SAGE with skills training centres in villages and slums for creating Indian arts and crafts which will be marketed globally.

Janet Attwood

Co Founder of Enlightened Alliances, LLC.

Helps people live the life of their dreams through her Passion Test. Co-Owner of Enlightened Alliances and Co-Founder of The Transformational Leadership Council, Janet is also on the advisory board of Thadomal Shahani Centre for Management, the educational body of SAGE Foundation.

Shazar Robinson

Consultant Advisor at SANKALP Rural Development Society

A Spiritual Activist, Writer and Transformational Educator, works on water sustainability in rural India and as a volunteer at the Shikshangram Shelter for Children supported by SAGE. She has lead Enviro Tours to raise funds through extraordinary journeys of learning, feeling, and giving back while discovering the heart of India.

Peter (Pece) Gorgievski

Chairman & C.E.O at Global Dialogue Foundation

Peter is a humankind enthusiast devoted to humanitarian progress. His greatest passion and focus is creating a culture of peace throughout the world. He is co-founder and Chairperson of Global Dialogue Foundation.

Iliana Schmatelka

Director Consulting Expert at CGI

Deputy Director- General, Global Dialogue Foundation, Vice President – International Leadership Institute, Founder & Managing Director Strategic Consulting, Business Coaching, Interim and change.

Annual Report

In our 2023 Annual Report, we are excited to share how SAGE Skilling helped more than 12000 low-income youth gain white-collar jobs in the BFSI sector and how UnLtd India incubated 48 dynamic startup social entrepreneurs.

View Report

Download Report