Dr. Senthil N.S. Kumar has 22 years of experience in the field of rehabilitation across areas in clinical, academics, research, innovation, commercialization, strategic development, and grant writing.
His experience is enhanced by 8 years at Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore. Further, he has 9 years of International work experience at reputable universities and hospitals in Malaysia.
Senthil has completed his Ph.D. in Rehabilitation from the National University of Malaysia (University Kebangsaan, Malaysia). He also represented UKM in the International arena as a Graduate Ambassador for 2 years.
Senthil has more than 15 international peer-reviewed journal publications and 4 Intellectual properties (2 patents & 2 copyrights). He has also authored a book on biomechanics under Jaypee Brothers, medical book publishers.
Senthil was brought up in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. His spouse is a physiotherapist. They have two children. He is a nature lover, enjoys gardening, music, and reading.
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Sunil Kumar K P is a seasoned professional with a post graduate diploma in Marketing Management from Bangalore University with 44 years of experience in Sales & Marketing function.
Sunil worked with Madura Coats Ltd, a multinational company with operations in over 70 countries and having worked as Marketing Manager - Exports based in Dubai overseeing UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Syria & Turkey.
Sunil also had a brief stint as a publisher, publishing his own children’s Magazine titled “Apple Bees”.
Sunil is passionate to serve the differently abled people and hence joined APD since January 2020 as Director – Marketing & Communications.
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Shiva Hiremath has been with APD a long time and worn many hats.
He has been the Principal of the Training Center and Livelihood Program Head (Institutional and Community based). He has facilitated effective and appropriate livelihood opportunities for persons with disability (PwDs). He is also involved in training APD staff and other NGOs on leadership and promotion of livelihood for the disabled.
He has participated in several symposia and presented papers on vocational training for PwDs. Currently, he takes care of the implementation of the District Disability Development program in three districts of Karnataka state.
Shiva Hiremath now heads the outreach efforts of APD to various divisions of Karnataka.
He loves to play volleyball, badminton, carom and chess, likes to travel and enjoys the beauty of nature.
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Passionate about community-based rehabilitation (CBR), Janardhan joined APD in 2007 as the Project Coordinator for the Urban Community Based Rehabilitation Program.
He has donned multiple roles at APD and is currently the Deputy Director - Education, Mental Health and HRD.
A high school teacher from 2000 to 2003 and a Common Purpose graduate, Janardhan worked as a state-level resource person in the Grama Panchayath Members Capacity Building Training satellite program for the Karnataka Panchayath Act, 1993 at the State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD), Mysore. From 2003 to 2007, he worked with a rural NGO called Grameena Abhudaya Seva Samsthe (GASS) at Doddaballapur, Bangalore Rural District as the Program Manager for CBR programs.
At APD, Janardhan is the resource person for seminars, workshops and training on CBR, CMHP, disability, human rights, child rights and advocacy as well as lobbying from state to village level. He is also the master trainer for Census 2011, Govt. of Karnataka.
Furthermore, he is a committee member of the Commission of Persons with Disabilities, Bangalore Metro Access, and State Malnutrition Eradication (Disability Wing).
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Ganesh Shivaram Hegde began his journey at APD in 1992. He leads the Horticulture Training Unit of APD which is the only one of its kind in India.
The Unit has been in existence since 1987 and has seen over 1800 underprivileged persons with disability find gainful employment in the areas of gardening, horticulture, cookery, sustainable agriculture, and allied fields.
The Horticulture program promotes ecology/green environment and is also therapeutic. Ganesh is undoubtedly one of the very few individuals who have expertise in both the areas of horticulture and disability.
During his years at APD, he has trained many gardeners, gardener specialists, supervisors and entrepreneurs. He has supported other NGOs to initiate horticulture therapy projects to reach out to more people with disabilities.
Ganesh presently runs all livelihood programs of APD for gainful employment such as horticulture, industrial training centre, employment led training, job readiness program, and other departments connected with them.
He holds a bachelor's degree in Science (Agriculture) and is a post-graduate in Environmental Science.
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As Assistant Director, Strategic Partnerships, Ramesh works with Strategic Partners to improve their operational excellence. He also provides the local network and contacts to support and sustain projects and monitoring & evaluation of APD divisional programs.
Ramesh has 16+ years of experience in the development sector. He has worked with Kalike, an Associate Organization of TATA Trusts, as Project Director in Yadgir for 5 years. Another 5 years were with Diocesan Social Service Centers under Karnataka Regional Organization for Social Services (KROSS) Bangalore, State Training & Resource Center (STRC), a collaborative project of BIRDS, KSAPS and NACO.
Ramesh's areas of expertise are elementary education, health, disability, community development, monitoring and supportive supervision. His engagement with "disability" includes support to children with learning difficulties, conducting surveys & needs assessment of people with disability. He has represented NGOs of Yadgir district for UNDP's Human Development Index study, 2013-14. He also participated in KSAPS annual Targeted Interventions (TIs) evaluation as an external evaluator in 2008-09.
Ramesh is a post-graduate in Social Work from School of Social Work, Roshni Nilaya, Mangalore and an MBA in HRM & Rural Management from IIBM, New Delhi. Also graduated from Common Purpose’s Meridian Leadership Programme 2017-18, Bengaluru.
He enjoys listening to music, watching cricket, gardening and conducting sessions on Personal Growth & Professional Development and Project Management͛ for students of Social Work and NGOs.
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Babu has over 15 years of experience in pro-people groups and the development sector. As Assistant Director, Policy & Advocacy he works with the advocacy team and Government at state and district levels to proactively develop strategies to build ecosystems for sector growth.
Prior to APD, Babu was with Child Rights and You (CRY) as Manager, Development and Support team of Karnataka. His engagement with disability includes support to the Disability Collective for 4 years as Coordinator.
He has also worked with the non-profit Equations as a program coordinator. He has been the voice of nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes in Karnataka for their rights.
Babu's areas of expertise include child rights, disability, perspective building, advocacy, community development, monitoring and supportive supervision.
He holds a Master and M. Phil degree in Psychology from Bangalore University. He enjoys reading, writing and travelling.
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