Our Governing Body
Emily R Menon - Chairperson
Emily has over 20 years experience in establishing and managing Non Profits and community organisations in India and Australia.
Amrita Isaac Roy - Vice Chair
Amrita Isaac Roy has 18 years of work experience in the fields of social development and academics. She heads a school in Barrackpore.
Dr Annamma John - Secretary
A Leprologist with 27 years experience in clinical management of leprosy, training, M&E of leprosy programmes and research.
Geoffrey Rodrigues - Treasurer
Geoffrey has extensive experience in business management/administration, and is the Regional Manager (Eastern India) at ASI Services Pvt. Ltd.
K Mohanchandran - Member
K Mohanchandran has 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry and has worked at the Taj Group since 1989.
Rajkumar Fenn - Member
Rajkumar Fenn has over 45 years experience and has worked extensively in the hospitality and training industries.
Mahua Hazarika - Member
Founder & Director of Rickshaw Communication & Design, Mahua has vast experience in marketing having worked for Diagio, Condenaste, Publicis & Lowe
Management Team
Dipak Prakash Sahu
Director
12years experience Managing Children's Homes as Director of SOS Children's Village, Kolkata. 20years experience working with children in NGO sector.
Adrija Mitra
Assistant Director
Adrija has over 13 years’ experience in the field of child development, child rights, child protection and public health in presigious NGOs in India.
Jayanta Samaddar
Home Superintendant
13years experience working in a School and 1 year with World Vision as Program Manager. 9years working in Africa.
Bijoy Saha
Accountant
Graduate of Masters of Commerce and 5 years experience managing accounts in the NGO sector in India.
Swapan Naiya
Para-Medical Officer
30years experience working with Children in NGO sector in Home setting. Specially trained in Leprosy care and management.
Our Founder
Father James Stevens was born in Gloucester England and worked in various businesses in soft furnishings and haberdashery prior to coming to India. He volunteered for 2 years in Calcutta with Freres des Homes, a French Social Organisation, where he worked on a school feeding program which fed up to 10,000 children 6 times a week.
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In 1970 the French Centre for the Protection of Children asked him to open a Home for children that no one else was working with. He met Mother Teresa to seek her advice on the matter, and together they concluded that the children of Leprosy Sufferers were being terribly neglected due to the stigma.
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On 25th March, 1970, he took the first 11 children to a building he had rented in Barrackpore Cantonment, and Udayan was born.
He studied to became a priest at Bishops College in Kolkata, however Udayan is, and always has been, a secular organisation. In 1972 he married his wife Lallita, together having one son, Ashwani, who lives in the UK.
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Sadly, Father James Steven's passed away on Easter Sunday in 2019 - he will be forever loved and remembered.
Our Patrons
Dominique Lapierre
The French Author of renowned book 'City of Joy,' Philanthropist and Founder of the City of Joy Foundation.
Shamlu Dudeja
A Former Mathematics Teacher, Social Entrepreneur and Socialite who founded The Calcutta Foundation.
Steve Waugh
Former Australian Cricket Captain and Philanthropist who dedicates his life to the Steve Waugh Foundation.