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Mr. Mittal is the former Chairman and President of NASSCOM, the premier trade body for the IT-BPM Industry in India. He has held corporate leadership roles in the IT industry at companies such as Wipro, Digital, Compaq, and Hewlett Packard. Mr. Mittal has served as a member of the Prime Minister’s Committee on National e-Governance and on the Global Advisory Council of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance. He is currently an independent director on several boards and is associated with several NGOs. He is also Chair of the Advisory Council set up for developing the IT Vision for Indian Railways.
Mr. Bhargava is the Chairman of Tata Communications Limited and GSK Consumer Health Ltd., and Director on the boards of several Indian corporations such as Tata Motors Ltd., Tata Steel Ltd., Larsen & Tubro Ltd., Tata Communications International Pvt. Ltd. and SunBorne Energy LLC. A Mechanical Engineer from IIT (Roorkee), Mr. Bhargava was earlier the Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Eicher Group of Companies. He is a former President of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), President of the Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, and Vice President of the Tractor Manufacturers Association. Closely associated with various IIMs, IITs,and a number of NGOs, he is presently member of the Board of Governors of IIM Kashipur & XLRI Jamshedpur, the BharatiyaYuva Shakti Trust, and Centre for Policy Research.
An alumnus of the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mr. Sinha started as a management trainee at Esso Standard Eastern in India. He joined the executive board of Hindustan Lever Ltd. in 1981, and was also on the boards of Brooke Bond India Ltd., Lipton India Ltd., Lintas India, and Nepal Lever. In 1992, he took over as Managing Director of Pepsi Foods Ltd., and went on to become the President of Pepsi Cola Beverages International South Asia. Mr. Sinha is currently on the board of Azim Premji Foundation, SURGE (Society Urban Regeneration Gurgaon), and NCPEDP.
Mr. Gupta is the Chairman of the CyberMedia Group, South Asia's first and largest specialty media house with publications, websites, events, and TV programmes in the areas of information-technology, telecommunication, consumer electronics, and entrepreneurship. An angel investor and mentor to a number of entrepreneurs, Mr. Gupta is the co-founder of Indian Angel Network and is and has been on the board of UTI AMC, IIT Mandi, TiE Global, PanIIT Global, Indian Newspaper Society, IvyCap Ventures’, etc. An engineering graduate from IIT Delhi and an MBA from IIM Kolkata, he is the recipient of the NCPEDP-Shell Helen Keller Award.
Mr. Keswani is the Chairman and Managing Director of The Lemon Tree Hotel Company, which owns and operates 27 hotels with over 3,000 rooms across 16 cities in India and employs 3,500 people. Before founding LemonTree, Mr. Keswani worked with the Tata Group for over 15 years and subsequently with A. T. Kearney Inc. as Director. He is the Chairman of the Skills Council for Persons with Disability, and Chair of the CII National Committee on Special Abilities 2015-16. He is a member of the University Grants Commission (Ministry of Human Resource Development); the Sector Skills Council for Hospitality, Travel and Tourism; and the Sector Mentor Council for the Hospitality, Travel and Tourism Industry (Ministry of Labour and Employment). Mr. Keswani graduated in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi and received his Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from IIM Kolkata.
A decorated war veteran, Major General Cardozo became the first officer with a disability in the Indian Army to be approved for command of an infantry battalion and brigade, after losing a leg during the battle of Sylhet in Bangladesh. He was also the first officer of the Indian Army to be awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry on a patrol in the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) in 1960. Major General Cardozo has been part of the Sino-Indian war of 1962, and the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971. After retirement as Chief of Staff of a Corps in the North East of India, he worked as Vice President of the War Wounded Foundation and was later appointed as the Chairman of the Rehabilitation Council of India. His books ‘Param Vir’, and ‘The Sinking of INS Khukri’ have been widely acclaimed.
Ms. Kapoor is the Managing Director of BarrierBreak. With an industry experience of 18 years in the field of accessibility, she has been instrumental in bringing about revolutionary changes in the lives of people with disabilities through her innovative ideas and initiatives. She has contributed to various accessibility policies as an expert such as National Policy for Universal Electronic Accessibility, India and the Model Policy for Inclusive Education for Persons with Disabilities at UNESCO. Ms. Kapoor is chairing Accessibility in India Community Group at the World Wide Web Consortium which promotes web and mobile accessibility. Her work has fetched her the NCPEDP - Shell Helen Keller Award in 2008. She is also an Ashoka Fellow.
A print journalist of 20 years standing, Dr. Subramaniam is currently Deputy Editor with The Hindu, where he covers international relations, political economy, and human rights. Blind since birth and a passionate cross-disability rights advocate, Dr. Subramaniam is under no illusion that in any country, improvements in the lives of people with disabilities are contingent upon the overall standard of living of the general population. Dr. Subramaniam is currently on the board of Sightsavers India, and NCPEDP. He holds a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and M.A. and M.Phil from Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Ms. Pamnani is a Solicitor practicing mainly in the Bombay High Court in the field of Corporate, Testamentary, Property and Disability law. A graduate in Commerce from Sydenham College and a postgraduate in law from the University of Bombay, Ms. Pamnani has completed two courses from the World Intellectual Property Organisation, Geneva and a course in Arbitration from the Indian Merchant’s Chamber and a diploma in Intellectual Property Law from the University of Bombay. She has passed the examination of the Bombay Incorporated Law Society and additionally the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test from the Law Society, England.
Mr. Narayanan has been working with the hearing impaired community for the past 25 years. He is the Secretary of National Association of the Deaf, India. He is actively involved in the setting up and functioning of Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre. Currently, he is leading the campaign for the recognition of Indian Sign Language as one of the official languages of India, issuance of driving licenses for deaf people, and captioning on TV, among other issues.
Mr. Abidi is the pioneer of the cross-disability movement in India having founded the Disabled Rights Group in 1993 to work specifically on cross-disability issues. He was instrumental in setting up of National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) in 1996 and has been its Director since 1997. He is also the Convenor of the National Disability Network, India. As an impassioned advocate of ‘Nothing About Us, Without Us’, he has given voice to an "invisible minority"- one that has been denied to them for decades, by catalyzing pathbreaking changes in the policy and legislative space. As the Global Chair of Disabled People’s International (DPI), Mr. Abidi has successfully focused the world’s attention to needs of people with disabilities in the Global South. Under his leadership, DPI has hosted the first Global Forum on Disability, the first and only such initiative for voices so far unheard in the global disability movement. He has also been instrumental in promoting cross-disability civil society participation from the Global South at multi-lateral platforms such as the Conference of State Parties to the CRPD, among others.
Mrs. Henrietta Davis-Wray is a Justice of the Peace; and is a graduate of the Jamaica Commercial Institute, School of Business Education and the Management Institute for National Development. She is one of the founding members of the Combined Disabilities Association (CDA), an organisation that advocates for the rights and development of persons with disabilities. Mrs. Davis-Wray is currently serving as the Chairperson of CDA. As a long-serving member, she has been instrumental in several of its advocacy achievements. Mrs. Davis-Wray has served on various Government Committees, including the National Advisory Board on Disability. She is recognized as a specialist in the requirements for physical accessibility and is called upon occasionally to inspect buildings for renovations and provide guidance to contractors and engineers. Mrs. Davis-Wray’s contribution to disability regionally and internationally has led to her elevation to the present positions of President of Disabled People’s International North America & Caribbean Inc., and Director and 1st Deputy Chair (Human Rights) of Disabled People’s International.
Ms. Lakkis is the Chair of the Arab Forum for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (AFRPD), and the President of Disabled People’s International (DPI) Arab Region. She is also the President and CEO of the Lebanese Physical Handicapped Union (LPHU). Ms. Lakkis has led a series of campaigns for promoting rights of persons with disabilities in Lebanon, particularly for the enforcement of the Lebanese Disability Law; the ratification of CRPD; and promoting disability inclusion mainly in the areas of environmental accessibility, employment, inclusive education, political participation, and access to information. Between the years 2008 to 2012, she was appointed as a disability advisor for the Minister of Social Affairs in Lebanon. Ms. Lakkis is also recognized as a disability rights expert internationally by several agencies such as the International Labour Organization, The Employers Forum on Disability, The Zero Project Initiative, Civicus, The World Congress on Inclusive Tourism, and many others. She has spoken at major regional and international events and has also authored many articles and book chapters on issues of disability inclusion.
Mr. Morales is the President of Organización de Revolucionarios Discapacitados (ORD) in Nicaragua. He has thirty-five years of experience in the field of disability rights, having worked at the municipal, national, and international level. His areas of expertise include rehabilitation, skill development, policy making, law making to promote inclusion in industry, and project formulation. Mr. Morales is also a Director of Disabled People’s International (DPI), and the Chair of DPI Latin America.
Mr. Subedi is a leading international disability and human rights promoter. He is credited with pioneering the trend of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) in the area of disability rights in Nepal that have benefitted persons with disabilities across the country. Mr. Subedi is the Chairperson of Disabled People’s International (DPI) South Asia, and Vice Chairperson of DPI Asia Pacific region. He is the Founder President of Disabled Human Rights Centre, Nepal (DHRC-Nepal). He is also the President of National Federation of the Disabled Nepal (NFDN). As President of NFDN, his responsibilities include training on disability and human rights promotion and protection, supporting people with disabilities through legal aid, and liaising with international organizations, among others. He has recently led the campaign for inclusion of disability in the new Nepalese Constitution for greater political participation of people with disabilities. Mr. Subedi has several awards to his name, including the Champions of Change award from the government of Nepal (2005), and the UNESCAP disability rights promoter award (2012). He is also an Ashoka fellow.
Mr. Idriss is a Director of Disabled People’s International (DPI) and the President of West African Federation of Persons with Disabilities (WAFOD). He is also the Vice-Chair of the recently formed African Disability Forum. He has extensive experience of promoting disability rights and inclusion in Niger as well as in Africa and internationally. Mr. Idriss holds a degree in taxation and is currently serving as Head of Taxation at Tillaberi Centre in Niger.
Mr. Guzman-Jara is currently a Director of Disabled People's International (DPI). He is the immediate past Chair of DPI and was also Chair of DPI Latin America Region. He is one of the founders and former President of the National Confederation of Disabled People of Peru – CONFENADIP, and was President of the National Council for Integration of Persons with Disabilities or CONADIS. Mr. Guzman-Jara has a PhD from the Graduate School of the National University of Education Enrique Guzmán y Valle, a management degree from the Universidad Nacional Federico Villareal, and a degree in law and political science from the National University of San Marcos.
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