Geeta Shah is a pharma marketing professional with over 30 years of experience in the field. Her parents who were dedicated to helping underprivileged people instilled in her a strong sense of equality and compassion. The turning point in her life came when she read an article about a student from a nearby village who had achieved great academic success despite facing monetary and other difficulties but had no means to pursue further studies. This led her to take action to bridge the divide she witnessed in society. She believes that education is the key to alleviating all social problems. She got together with Bhau Naniwadekar in 2005 and founded VSM in 2008. VSM has now reached all 36 districts of Maharashtra and Geeta’s vision is to expand its reach to all villages in these 36 districts and eventually to grow pan-India.

Arun Sheth is a self-made businessman and a true philanthropist at heart. Starting his own business, SMC Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, in 1965 and serving as the MD of the company, he now dedicates much of his time and resources to social work, always willing to lend a hand to those in need. Ten years ago, he generously provided a space and initial financial support to VSM, forming an indelible bond. He continues to be impressed by their transparency and selfless dedication to the cause of empowering through education, leading to nation building. He hopes to see VSM scale up mindfully without diluting its unique system. He envisions VSM being run by its successful alumni in the next ten years.

Sandeep Bhagwat, the owner of a successful electronic instruments manufacturing unit, is not just a successful businessman, but also a dedicated volunteer, mentor, and donor for VSM since 2011. Sandeep has been working on managing hostels for VSM students, as he recognized the difficulties they faced finding accommodation in a city like Mumbai. Through his business connections, he was able to secure housing for both boys and girls, making a significant impact on the students’ lives. He finds personal fulfilment in this work and wishes for a sustainable and organic growth for VSM.

Aditi Pandit brings a wealth of professional experience having worked as a lecturer and entrepreneur. At a certain point in her life, she realised the best way to effect change in society was to become an integral part of VSM. In her 7-year association with VSM, she has mentored 10 students and is currently fulfilling her role as the Coordinator of the Pune Branch, Mentor of the Be Frank team, and Leader of the Media and Arts career guidance team, besides being a part of the admission committee. Aditi’s efforts at creating a brand name for VSM has led to the formation of a strong media team. She believes that standardization should not take away the personal touch that VSM is known for. She envisions VSM having a global presence and is committed to the cause of further skill development of mentors so that the empathy to truly touch the lives of the students, which VSM is known for, remains intact.

Varsha Joshi, a Chartered Accountant with 15 years of corporate experience, started a journey of transformation when she joined Vidyadaan Sahayyak Mandal (VSM) in 2015. She transitioned from a successful corporate career at Bluestar to becoming a dedicated educator and mentor.
With a deep desire to contribute to society, Varsha found her calling at VSM. Drawing from her expertise, she began as a Karyakarta Palak (Volunteer Parent), guiding and nurturing deserving and needy students. Her dedication grew to include teaching and coaching students, especially those who are getting ready for PSU bank exams.
Varsha’s role evolved as she merged her professional acumen with VSM’s philosophy of empathy. She became an integral part of the career guidance team, offering subject-related and academic assistance. Her efforts have yielded tangible outcomes, including several students successfully completing the prestigious Chartered Accountancy program.
Varsha envisions a future where VSM employs innovative approaches to reach and empower even more deserving students. With a focus on market-oriented, contemporary courses, she strives to equip students for the evolving job landscape, ensuring their dreams become reality.

Narayan Ponkshe is a retired professional with over 28 years of experience in the corporate world, who has dedicated his time and expertise to VSM since 2013. He began with setting up an efficient and comprehensive performance evaluation system for the organization’s students, and hasn’t looked back since. He is also involved in coordinating the various students’ annual camps. In addition to his administrative duties, he is also a mentor. He hopes to see VSM become more systematic and digitized in the future and believes that the organization’s alumni should take on leadership roles in the next five years.

Nivedita Joshi is a Tax Consultant with over 22 years of experience in the field of Accounts. While she had known about VSM since its foundation days, she joined VSM in 2013 after a plea for volunteers by one of the founder members in a newspaper article. She took over the accounting work at VSM and has been mentoring students, guiding them towards a brighter future. Her role involves maintaining transparency in the organization’s operations. She feels proud to be a part of VSM and wants to see the same model replicated by other NGOs to reach more beneficiaries.

Subodh Jathar retired as a pharma professional with over 35 years of experience in sales, distribution, and marketing in international markets. His passion to give back to society and trying to find a sense of purpose after retirement led him to VSM and he joined it in 2013 as a mentor. Thanks to his experience as a freelance sports writer, he was also given the responsibility to edit Connect, the VSM newsletter, which he has been doing successfully for six years now. He is also a member of VSM’s Projects team. He finds his work at VSM gratifying and hopes to be a part of its inspiring journey for a long time to come

Pramathesh Navalekar, a skilled and accomplished retired Electrical Engineer, bid farewell to the corporate world in 2017 and joined VSM in 2018 to follow his calling to do social work. He has been playing a vital role in the core project team and fundraising efforts, during the Indian festival season, starting with Ganesh Chaturthi. Apart from mentoring students, he has now taken on the task of consolidating the data of the alumni and tracking their progress. He finds great fulfilment in being a part of VSM and his vision for VSM’s future includes expanding the organisation beyond Maharashtra.