TEAM

Anita Rajan
Chief Executive Officer,
Tata STRIVE
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Anita Rajan is the Chief Executive Officer of Tata STRIVE and Vice President, Tata Community Initiatives Trust since 2015. Tata STRIVE is a Skills Building initiative of the Tata Trusts and has established itself as a leader in the Skill Development sector in India. Over 4 lakh people have been impacted through the skilling development work of the Tata Trusts.
Anita was deeply involved with the Indian National Skilling Ecosystem during its formative years having worked with the Advisor to Prime Minister on Skill Development as his Chief of Staff and later with the Chairman, National Skill Development Corporation
Anita has over thirty years of diverse experience in the education and management sectors. She has been with the Tata Group for 17 years. Anita is an active member of Industry bodies, she is the Co-chair of CII CSR committee (Western Region) and an active representative of Industry as a speaker at seminars in India and overseas.
Prior to Tata STRIVE, Anita was with Tata Consultancy Services for 13 years, where she worked closely with the CEO on numerous initiatives of the company; including supporting the publication of a bestselling book on the company. Prior to TCS she was head of Research and Training at Schoolnet India, an e-education company that aimed to leverage technology in education. Earlier she worked with the advertising firm Lintas in advertising research. Her corporate career was preceded by a decade of teaching in High Schools across India.
Her academic credentials include an MBA in Marketing from Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, she is an alumnus of the prestigious St Stephens College, Delhi University where she earned a BA Maths Honours degree. She also holds a Bachelors in Education from Mumbai University.

Ameya Vanjari
Head – Operations, Partnerships
& Technology - Tata STRIVE
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Ameya is Head of Operations, Partnerships and Technology at Tata STRIVE. In this role, reporting to the CEO of Tata STRIVE, he is responsible for leading the organization - defining the strategic priorities, plans, facilitating governance, and steering the team towards the goals set.
Before this, he was heading technology and Innovation at STRIVE, where he was responsible for shaping digital capabilities to deliver value for the organization and its ecosystem. He established and led STRIDEA - an initiative to establish a culture of innovation within the organization. Some innovations being piloted include artificial intelligence-based gamified mobile assessments, virtual reality solutions for audits, chatbot-based learning and flipped classrooms.
Prior to this, Ameya led the Business & IT Architecture Consulting practice at TCS. In that role, he worked with business leaders, CIOs, and CDOs across the globe to define strategies and shape initiatives to deliver business value enabled by digital and information technologies. As a consulting practice leader, he established the unit and grew the practice to a global team of over 150 consultants working at the intersection of business and technology.
Ameya has also been a CIO for a retail enterprise as part of a consulting engagement he led and delivered.
Passionate in the domains of technology, education and design, he has a keen interest in the evolution of enterprises and society. He has deep experience in retail, banking, financial services, and education industries. He has global exposure by traveling and working with customers in over 15 countries.
Ameya holds a degree in engineering in Electronics from V.J.T.I, Mumbai and has done a General Management programme from Iacocca Institute, Lehigh University, PA, US.
Photography and sports - especially cricket, are his passions apart from food and technology.

Ajita Karve
Principal Lead – Design
& Quality- Tata STRIVE
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Ajita is a part of the Design and Quality team at Tata STRIVE. Conceptualizing and designing programmes using technology, new learning models for domain and life skills training, entrepreneurship, defining processes, impact assessment metrics, developing and facilitating competency building solutions and Quality Assessment framework/s - a few of the areas that she works with.
She led the Learning and Development function for two Tata organizations before moving on to Tata STRIVE. She had been instrumental in designing and deploying learning strategies and solutions with a business focus, developing, and managing talent, building competency frameworks & assessment centres, leadership development interventions & behavioral training programmes, managing learning effectiveness and impact. Additionally, she also has a rich experience in managing global projects for developing state of the art technology-based learning content, instructional design, delivering training & OD interventions.
She has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Mumbai and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (HRM) from Southern New Hampshire University.
She is a certified assessor of the Tata Business Excellence Model and a certified Quality Assessor and Counsellor from (QCI) NABET.

Bijitha Joyce
PPrincipal Lead - TD , AE, &
Ecosystem Strengthening -
Tata STRIVE
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For nearly two decades, Bijitha has helped organisations work towards implementing large scale projects with a quality mindset. She has been with the Tata Group for more than a decade and also has an entrepreneurial stint of 5 years.
At Tata STRIVE, Bijitha has been contributing towards strengthening the skilling ecosystem thereby increasing the reach and impact of various skilling initiatives of the company. In this role, she works with various state governments, enabling bodies, education institutes and other skill development organisations. Additionally, she is also responsible to build the talent pool at Tata STRIVE and ensure the organisation is ready with the required skillsets to meet the organisation’s vision. She also leads the critical alumni experience function at Tata STRIVE.
Bijitha is a post graduate in management from Symbiosis, and has also done a leadership program from IIM – Ahmedabad. She is a certified coach and a certified examiner for RBNQA (Ramakrishna Bajaj National Quality Awards) and has assessed various business and not-for-profit organisations on their journey towards business excellence.

Mohit Deshpande
Principal Lead – PD, HR, Admin & Infrastructure
Tata STRIVE
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Mohit has over 20+ years of experience in Telecom, IT and Development sector organizations; in domains such as Project Management, HR, Admin & Infrastructure. He is associated with Tata Group since 2005 and has worked with Tata Teleservices (Mah) Limited as Lead - Business HR for Corporate functions. In the past he has also been associated with organizations such as Idea Cellular Ltd, Reliance Jio and Premier Technology Group (Now EBIX Ltd.).
Mohit holds an MBA in HRM from Nagpur University and EDPHRM from XLRI, Jamshedpur. He is based out of Mumbai; and enjoys reading, table tennis and travelling in his leisure time.

Raghu Reddy
Principal Lead – Technology
Tata STRIVE
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Raghu leads the Technology and Innovation function at Tata STRIVE and is responsible for planning and implementing technology solutions to support the capabilities and processes at Tata STRIVE. This entails introducing various innovations for the programme to facilitate development of youth for success in the future; enabling developments of tomorrow's skills while maintaining quality.
He has 25 years of international experience – across all continents – multiple domains and technologies and is an expert in architecture consulting, project management & leadership, process modeling, process improvements.
Raghu has executed various projects via managing strategic IT planning, integrating technology-based activities into the corporate strategy through effective relationships with key people (CXO team) throughout the company, overseeing IT performance as well as the development and maintenance of the IT strategic plan; approval of vendors and monitoring their financial condition; approval and monitoring of major projects, IT budgets, organizational priorities, standards, procedures, and overall IT performance; including, the quintessential review of the adequacy and allocation of IT resources in terms of funding, personnel, equipment, and service levels.
Raghu holds a Masters in Industrial Engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He is also Togaf-certified Enterprise Architect.
In his free time, he loves to learn and apply new technologies and also has a penchant for solving puzzles and spotting patterns.

Rajarshi Mukherjee
Principal Lead – Partnerships
Tata STRIVE
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Rajarshi is Principal Lead for Partnerships at Tata STRIVE. He has been with the organization since its inception and has worn multiple hats over the years. Given his penchant for business development and customer relationship management, Rajarshi has focused on the partnerships space. Under his leadership, Tata STRIVE has grown organization to an organization with over 50 funding partners, across Tata and Non-Tata Corporates, PSUs, Government, and more.
Rajarshi has been a Tata veteran. He was with Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) before joining Tata STRIVE. While at TCS, he worked closely with the vice-chairman of the company and also the advisor to the Prime Minister on skills, Mr. S Ramadorai, (former CEO and MD) and the present CEO of Tata STRIVE, Ms. Anita Rajan.

Shiladitya Samaddar
Principal Lead – Operations
Tata STRIVE
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Shiladitya is the Principal Lead operations at Tata STRIVE . He has been with the organization since inception and has managed multiple roles from Operational Excellence and managing specific regional operations . His present role involves managing operation across India for owned and managed centres , implementation partners and partner institutions. Execution of Entrepreneurship development programmes and being Subject Matter Expert for Hospitality Domain.
Shiladitya was a professional Chef, he comes with a decade of experience in the Hospitality Industry with leading brands in India and abroad. He has also worked in Hospitality consulting and few years in the development sector before moving to Tata STRIVE. Shiladitya has degree in Hospitality from IHM – Delhi, He holds a Masters in Hospitality and a MBA from Asian Institute of Management , Manila, Philippines. Shiladitya enjoys Cooking , travelling and adventure sports.

Venkat Raidu
Principal Lead – Finance.
Tata STRIVE
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Venkat has over 22 years of experience in Strategic Planning,Auditing & Control, Business Advisory Services and Team Management.
Deft at the art of studying and reviewing the business processes to strengthen the weak areas and improve performance and control, Venkat’s expertise encompasses preparing annual plans, monitoring and tracking budgets, suggesting corrective measures against deviations, defining internal control systems, mid-term reviews, coordinating statutory and conducting internal audits.
Venkat holds a Master’s in Business Administration (Finance and HR) and is a Semi-qualified Cost & Management Accountant, He also holds a B. Com (Hons) degree which he completed at Utkal University in Bhubaneswar.

Anita Rajan
Chief Executive Officer,
Tata STRIVE
view profile

Anita Rajan is the Chief Executive Officer of Tata STRIVE and Vice President, Tata Community Initiatives Trust since 2015. Tata STRIVE is a Skills Building initiative of the Tata Trusts and has established itself as a leader in the Skill Development sector in India. Over 4 lakh people have been impacted through the skilling development work of the Tata Trusts.
Anita was deeply involved with the Indian National Skilling Ecosystem during its formative years having worked with the Advisor to Prime Minister on Skill Development as his Chief of Staff and later with the Chairman, National Skill Development Corporation
Anita has over thirty years of diverse experience in the education and management sectors. She has been with the Tata Group for 17 years. Anita is an active member of Industry bodies, she is the Co-chair of CII CSR committee (Western Region) and an active representative of Industry as a speaker at seminars in India and overseas.
Prior to Tata STRIVE, Anita was with Tata Consultancy Services for 13 years, where she worked closely with the CEO on numerous initiatives of the company; including supporting the publication of a bestselling book on the company. Prior to TCS she was head of Research and Training at Schoolnet India, an e-education company that aimed to leverage technology in education. Earlier she worked with the advertising firm Lintas in advertising research. Her corporate career was preceded by a decade of teaching in High Schools across India.
Her academic credentials include an MBA in Marketing from Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, she is an alumnus of the prestigious St Stephens College, Delhi University where she earned a BA Maths Honours degree. She also holds a Bachelors in Education from Mumbai University.

Ajita Karve
Principal Lead – Design
& Quality - Tata STRIVE
view profile

Ajita is a part of the Design and Quality team at Tata STRIVE. Conceptualizing and designing programmes using technology, new learning models for domain and life skills training, entrepreneurship, defining processes, impact assessment metrics, developing and facilitating competency building solutions and Quality Assessment framework/s - a few of the areas that she works with.
She led the Learning and Development function for two Tata organizations before moving on to Tata STRIVE. She had been instrumental in designing and deploying learning strategies and solutions with a business focus, developing, and managing talent, building competency frameworks & assessment centres, leadership development interventions & behavioral training programmes, managing learning effectiveness and impact. Additionally, she also has a rich experience in managing global projects for developing state of the art technology-based learning content, instructional design, delivering training & OD interventions.
She has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Mumbai and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (HRM) from Southern New Hampshire University.
She is a certified assessor of the Tata Business Excellence Model and a certified Quality Assessor and Counsellor from (QCI) NABET.

Mohit Deshpande
Principal Lead – PD, HR,
Admin & Infrastructure
Tata STRIVE
view profile

Mohit has over 20+ years of experience in Telecom, IT and Development sector organizations; in domains such as Project Management, HR, Admin & Infrastructure. He is associated with Tata Group since 2005 and has worked with Tata Teleservices (Mah) Limited as Lead - Business HR for Corporate functions. In the past he has also been associated with organizations such as Idea Cellular Ltd, Reliance Jio and Premier Technology Group (Now EBIX Ltd.).
Mohit holds an MBA in HRM from Nagpur University and EDPHRM from XLRI, Jamshedpur. He is based out of Mumbai; and enjoys reading, table tennis and travelling in his leisure time.

Rajarshi Mukherjee
Principal Lead – Partnerships
Tata STRIVE
view profile

Rajarshi is Principal Lead for Partnerships at Tata STRIVE. He has been with the organization since its inception and has worn multiple hats over the years. Given his penchant for business development and customer relationship management, Rajarshi has focused on the partnerships space. Under his leadership, Tata STRIVE has grown organization to an organization with over 50 funding partners, across Tata and Non-Tata Corporates, PSUs, Government, and more.
Rajarshi has been a Tata veteran. He was with Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) before joining Tata STRIVE. While at TCS, he worked closely with the vice-chairman of the company and also the advisor to the Prime Minister on skills, Mr. S Ramadorai, (former CEO and MD) and the present CEO of Tata STRIVE, Ms. Anita Rajan.

Venkat Raidu
Principal Lead – Finance.
Tata STRIVE
view profile

Venkat has over 22 years of experience in Strategic Planning, Auditing & Control, Business Advisory Services and Team Management.
Deft at the art of studying and reviewing the business processes to strengthen the weak areas and improve performance and control, Venkat’s expertise encompasses preparing annual plans, monitoring and tracking budgets, suggesting corrective measures against deviations, defining internal control systems, mid-term reviews, coordinating statutory and conducting internal audits.
Venkat holds a Master’s in Business Administration (Finance and HR) and is a Semi-qualified Cost & Management Accountant, He also holds a B. Com (Hons) degree which he completed at Utkal University in Bhubaneswar.

Ameya Vanjari
Head, Operations, Partnerships
& Technology - Tata STRIVE
view profile

Ameya is Head of Operations, Partnerships and Technology at Tata STRIVE. In this role, reporting to the CEO of Tata STRIVE, he is responsible for leading the organization - defining the strategic priorities, plans, facilitating governance, and steering the team towards the goals set.
Before this, he was heading technology and Innovation at STRIVE, where he was responsible for shaping digital capabilities to deliver value for the organization and its ecosystem. He established and led STRIDEA - an initiative to establish a culture of innovation within the organization. Some innovations being piloted include artificial intelligence-based gamified mobile assessments, virtual reality solutions for audits, chatbot-based learning and flipped classrooms.
Prior to this, Ameya led the Business & IT Architecture Consulting practice at TCS. In that role, he worked with business leaders, CIOs, and CDOs across the globe to define strategies and shape initiatives to deliver business value enabled by digital and information technologies. As a consulting practice leader, he established the unit and grew the practice to a global team of over 150 consultants working at the intersection of business and technology.
Ameya has also been a CIO for a retail enterprise as part of a consulting engagement he led and delivered.
Passionate in the domains of technology, education and design, he has a keen interest in the evolution of enterprises and society. He has deep experience in retail, banking, financial services, and education industries. He has global exposure by traveling and working with customers in over 15 countries.
Ameya holds a degree in engineering in Electronics from V.J.T.I, Mumbai and has done a General Management programme from Iacocca Institute, Lehigh University, PA, US.
Photography and sports - especially cricket, are his passions apart from food and technology.

Bijitha Joyce
Principal Lead - TD , AE, &
Ecosystem Strengthening
Tata STRIVE
view profile

Bijitha is the Principal Lead for Ecosystem Strengthening, Talent Development and Alumni Experience. For nearly two decades, Bijitha has helped organisations work towards implementing large scale projects with a quality mindset. She has been with the Tata Group for more than a decade and also has an entrepreneurial stint of 5 years.
At Tata STRIVE, Bijitha has been contributing towards strengthening the skilling ecosystem thereby increasing the reach and impact of various skilling initiatives of the company. In this role, she works with various state governments, enabling bodies, education institutes and other skill development organisations. Additionally, she is also responsible to build the talent pool at Tata STRIVE and ensure the organisation is ready with the required skillsets to meet the organisation’s vision. She also leads the critical alumni experience function at Tata STRIVE.
Bijitha is a post graduate in management from Symbiosis, and has also done a leadership program from IIM – Ahmedabad. She is a certified coach and a certified examiner for RBNQA (Ramakrishna Bajaj National Quality Awards) and has assessed various business and not-for-profit organisations on their journey towards business excellence.

Raghu Reddy
Principal Lead – Technology
Tata STRIVE
view profile

Raghu leads the Technology and Innovation function at Tata STRIVE and is responsible for planning and implementing technology solutions to support the capabilities and processes at Tata STRIVE. This entails introducing various innovations for the programme to facilitate development of youth for success in the future; enabling developments of tomorrow's skills while maintaining quality.
He has 25 years of international experience – across all continents – multiple domains and technologies and is an expert in architecture consulting, project management & leadership, process modeling, process improvements.
Raghu has executed various projects via managing strategic IT planning, integrating technology-based activities into the corporate strategy through effective relationships with key people (CXO team) throughout the company, overseeing IT performance as well as the development and maintenance of the IT strategic plan; approval of vendors and monitoring their financial condition; approval and monitoring of major projects, IT budgets, organizational priorities, standards, procedures, and overall IT performance; including, the quintessential review of the adequacy and allocation of IT resources in terms of funding, personnel, equipment, and service levels.
Raghu holds a Masters in Industrial Engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He is also Togaf-certified Enterprise Architect.
In his free time, he loves to learn and apply new technologies and also has a penchant for solving puzzles and spotting patterns.

Shiladitya Samaddar
Principal Lead – Operations
Tata STRIVE
view profile

Shiladitya is the Principal Lead operations at Tata STRIVE . He has been with the organization since inception and has managed multiple roles from Operational Excellence and managing specific regional operations . His present role involves managing operation across India for owned and managed centres , implementation partners and partner institutions. Execution of Entrepreneurship development programmes and being Subject Matter Expert for Hospitality Domain.
Shiladitya was a professional Chef, he comes with a decade of experience in the Hospitality Industry with leading brands in India and abroad. He has also worked in Hospitality consulting and few years in the development sector before moving to Tata STRIVE. Shiladitya has degree in Hospitality from IHM – Delhi, He holds a Masters in Hospitality and a MBA from Asian Institute of Management , Manila, Philippines. Shiladitya enjoys Cooking , travelling and adventure sports.