Advisory Board

K.S. Gopal

Mr K.S. Gopal (59) is Scholar at Residence at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and serves as volunteer Director for Centre for Environment Concerns (CEC), Hyderabad. He has three decades of rural field experience wherein his contribution is on poverty alleviation and use of markets as the instrument for sustainable and equitable development in backward areas. His focus is innovations, action research and policy/practice advocacy. His current work is “Rights” as a way to address poverty, develop livelihood centric rural infrastructure and to provide food access to poor communities as empowerment to negotiate for their livelihoods and dignity. He is a Member of the Central Employment Guarantee Council.

Gopal has Masters in Business Administration and Diploma in International Business. He served as Faculty Member of the Management Development Division at Administrative Staff College of India but moved to rural areas in 1980. In 1983 he founded Deccan Development Society (DDS). In 1989 he moved to work on communal harmony and urban poverty in Hyderabad. After a stint of employment in bottom line workplaces in USA, in 1994 he joined the Centre for Environment Concerns as it Director in 1994. Gopal has lectured in India and abroad and written books on key development issues.

David Jeromin

David Jeromin is Co-Founder of Golden Mean Capital Partners and is responsible for the firm’s structuring of investments in Africa. Mr. Jeromin has experience in early stage deal structure in Africa and has represented clients in various transactions on the continent. Mr. Jeromin is also trained in the study and application of Social Return on Investment (SROI) analytics and believes the use of SROI and traditional valuation measures allows individuals and institutions to measure the full impact of their investments. Prior to founding Golden Mean Capital Partners, he was a Vice President with the investment bank Oppenheimer & Company from 2004-2007.

Mr. Jeromin is a graduate of the University of San Francisco and currently sits on the Board of Directors of Caranda Foods, an African specialty foods company and is an Advisor to the Kenya-based firm Back Pack Farm.

Manish Khera

Manish Khera is the Chief Executive Officer and Whole Time Director of FINO Limited. Since FINO's inception in 2006, Manish has lead FINO's efforts to connect micro-customers with businesses, banks, government and investors. Under his leadership FINO has dramatically increased its institutional acceptance, market leadership and global repute.

Manish's career began with ICICI Bank Ltd. in 1993. During his 13 years at ICICI, Manish has worked in various areas including credit, government & rural banking, technology and alternate channels. His last role in ICICI was of Joint General Manager heading Alternate Channels Group.

For his leadership and business vision, Manish was conferred as the Young Global leader by World Economic Forum in March 2011.

Manish holds a M.Phil in Environment & Development from the Cambridge University, UK. He also holds a MBA from Faculty of Management Studies (FMS, Delhi) and a BE (Electrical) from Delhi College of Engineering (DCE, Delhi).

Udaiyan Jatar

With over 20 years of experience creating, launching and promoting new products globally, Udaiyan worked in Brand Management at Procter & Gamble and was Global Vice-President for Coffee & Tea Innovation at Coca-Cola. He spearheaded the development of one of the first brands launched by a Fortune 100 company to be 100% independently certified by Fair Trade or Rainforest Alliance.

Udaiyan founded the Blue Earth Network in 2008, an organization specializing in creating transformational social enterprises. Udaiyan also teaches at Bainbridge Graduate Institute and is on the board of the Georgia Center for Nonprofits.     

Rustom Masalawala

Rustom Masalawala is Co-Founder of Golden Mean Capital Partners and responsible for the firm’s deal sourcing and due diligence assessments. Over the past twelve years Mr. Masalawala has worked in a large number of developing countries, with a particular emphasis on India and sub-Saharan Africa. In 2007 Mr. Masalawala joined the Millennium Village Project as Director of Business Development and ran the business development initiatives in ten countries in sub-Saharan Africa. He also served as a staff member at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Prior to that he ran the Health Portfolio at Acumen Fund, a leading Social Venture Organization, and was one of the founding team members. Over the years Mr. Masalawala has also run his consulting company and worked closely with a number of small and large companies as well as high net worth individuals.

Mr. Masalawala holds a Bachelor’s in Physics/Math from the University of Mumbai, a Master’s in Computer Science from SUNY, and a Diploma in Business Management from Xavier University.

Swaminathan S B

Swami has an entrepreneurial spirit and brings with him vast leadership skills and multi-cultural experience that spans over 20 years. His successful track record includes developing innovative models and concepts for businesses ranging from start-ups to global corporations such as CitiBank, Brilliant Tutorials, Paytel, etc. Demonstrated leadership in building strong teams, implementing innovative marketing strategies, and establishing strong relationships.

Sundara Rajan Sampath

Sundara is a Hyderabad based qualified management and marketing professional with vast experience in FMCG / Food Industry/ Agri Business / Housing / Logistics / Print Media industries. He has been involved with various projects on rural development with Government of India, World Bank, and IFFCO among many others. Currently, he runs a agriculture advisory firm called Janani Agriserv http://www.jananiagriserve.com