Akanksha Education Fund

Advisory Council

The Advisory Council consists of leaders in education, philanthropy and other special areas who advise the Board of the Fund and staff.  The Council provides strategic leadership and expertise and are not a formal governance body.  Their experience adds benefit and expertise to Akanksha’s work 

Janet Williams

Janet focuses on the needs of children in her professional and volunteer work. As a therapist, Janet specializes in treating children and adolescents at her private practice in Greenwich, CT. She served on the Akanksha Fund board from 2000 to 2013.

Constance Blunden

Constance has been teaching at Greenwich Academy for 20 years.  In the summer of 2001 and in 2011, she organized and led a trip to India for a group of students who spent two weeks at Akanksha centers. She served on the Akanksha Fund Board for almost 10 years and continues to work on joint educational initiatives between the US and India.

Joan Chioffi

Joan has spent the majority of her career teaching elementary and middle school at Greenwich Academy. After her initial visit to work with Akanksha’s children in 2001, she developed curricula in both math and language arts to be used in the centers. In addition, she conducted teacher training from 2001-2005 in both Mumbai and later in Pune.

Judi R. Kilachand

Judi is Executive Vice President at DHR Global Nonprofit Practice. She served as Executive Director of Global Business Development & Programs at the Asia Society where she played a leadership role in organizing major corporate conferences and global business and leadership-focused initiatives in the US and all over Asia. Judi has also held positions at American Airlines, Chase Manhattan Bank, American Express and Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York. She has also served on the Akanksha Fund Board of Directors.

Yvonne Dadoo de Lewis

Yvonne received her BA and her postgraduate degree in the field of Mass Media Communications in Mexico and England. Born in Buenos Aires and the child of an Argentinian mother and Indian father, she has traveled to India, extensively. She serves on various councils and trustee committees at the Museum of Modern Art, such as Contemporary Arts Council, Photography, Conservation, Latin American Fund and Garden and Education Department. She also served on the board of the Akanksha Fund.

Shyama Venkateswar, Ph.D

Shyama, also a former board member of the Akanksha Fund, is Distinguished Lecturer and Director of the Public Policy Program at Roosevelt House, Hunter College. As Director of Research & Programs for the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW), she focused on increasing investments in education, economic security for low-income women, diversity in higher education and the corporate arena, women’s leadership, and ending global violence against women. As Academic Adviser for Queens College, City University of New York she helped design the structure and curriculum for the College’s Year of India Initiative.