Board of Directors

Mr. Ramesh Ramanathan, Chairman

The Founder and Chairman of Janalakshmi, Mr. Ramesh Ramanathan has a proven track record in addressing many of the issues faced by urban India. Ramesh has to his credit strong international banking experience, creating innovative institutional products, working with cutting edge technology and risk management systems. He possesses an Honors degree in Physics from BITS Pilani, and an MBA from Yale University's School of Management. He has co-authored the book "Urban Poverty Alleviation in India," and is a champion for the advocacy of poverty-related and public governance issues.

Mr. R. Srinivasan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

A long-time civil servant, Mr. Srinivasan has had a lengthy and illustrious career in the fields of banking and taxation, with more than four decades of experience in both the public and corporate sectors. He has been a member of the Indian Revenue Service, and chaired the Economic Affairs Committee, Financial Services Committee and the Delhi State Committee, among others. He served as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, India of ANZ Grindlays Bank and later served as a senior advisor to both Fitch Rating and JP Morgan. Mr. Srinivasan has an M.A. in Economics from Delhi University.

Ms. Geeta Dutta Goel, Director

Geeta Goel manages the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation's (MSDF) microfinance initiative in India, which includes a portfolio of over 10 microfinance (and related) institutions. Prior to joining the Foundation, she spent over 12 years with the Corporate Finance Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers in India, advising large Indian and multi-national clients on joint ventures, mergers & acquisitions, business plans and valuations. Geeta has also advised clients in capital structuring and raising private equity. She is an alumni of IIM (Ahmedabad) and Lady Shri Ram College (Delhi).

Dr. Donald Peck, Director

Currently the Treasurer of the Lok Foundation, one of Janalakshmi's main capital partners, Mr. Peck is also the Managing Partner of ACTIS (previously known as the Commonwealth Development Corporation), one of the premier social venture capital investors in emerging markets around the world. He has had prior experience in emerging markets, having worked with IFC, Washington D.C and before that in investment banking in Latin America for Lloyds Bank and Morgan Grenfell. Mr. Peck is known in South Asia as a veteran venture capitalist.

Mr. Uday M. Chitale, Director

Mr. Chitale has a wealth of experience in the banking and corporate sectors. He serves on the Board of Directors for ICICI Bank, GMR Industries, and Jindal South West Holdings Ltd., apart from being a member of expert committees set up by the ICAI, SEBI, RBI, IRDA, IBA and others. He is also a partner in the firms M.P. Chitale and Company, and M.P. Chitale and Associates, the director of the Indian Council for Dispute Resolution, and a member of the governing council for the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Mr. Chitale possesses a B.Com. and an F.C.A degree.

Mr. Viswanatha Prasad, Director

Mr. Viswanatha Prasad, has over 18 years of experience in mainstream finance as well as microfinance. Mr. Prasad is the founder of Caspian as well as a co-founder of The Bellwether Microfinance Fund. Prasad has an intimate knowledge of Indian microfinance with expertise in the areas of fund raising, product development, MIS, internal control, risk management and regulation, among others. A highly respected member of the microfinance community, Mr. Prasad has served on various committees including a high level Task Force constituted by the Reserve Bank of India, to focus on the Funding Issues of Micro Finance Institutions.

After a long stint in mainstream finance companies, Mr. Prasad joined BASIX, a pioneering and one of the country's first regulated microfinance entities. Prasad held the positions of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Ltd (BSFL), the flagship company of the BASIX group before he left in mid 2004 to set up Caspian.

Mr. Narayan Ramachandran, Director

Mr. Narayan Ramachandran is an investor and entreperneur with a focus on social businesses. He is the former Country Head of Morgan Stanley in India. Prior to these roles, Mr. Narayan was the Head and lead portfolio manager of Morgan Stanley's Global Emerging Markets and Global Asset Allocation teams, managing over $25 billion in assets. He joined Morgan Stanley in 1996 and has 20 years of investment experience. Before joining the firm, he was a managing director at Rogers Casey (now CRA Rogers Casey. In addition, Mr. Narayan was director of research at Rogers Casey and president of its investment advisory subsidiary. He began his career at Goldman Sachs. He received a B.Tech. in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Mr. Narayan holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Mr. Narayan has a keen interest in using market-based solutions for poverty alleviation in areas such as micro-finance, social venture capital, micro-insurance and affordable housing.

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