Crimson Team - Crimson Education

Leadership Team

Francis Joseph

Managing Director

Mr. Francis Joseph is considered as one of the Top 25 Leaders Re-inventing Education in India in 2020. With a Limca Books of Records as one of to his accolades he has been instrumental in managing more than 100+ Schools in India and across Middle East.

Farzana Dohadwala

Executive Chairperson

A National and international educator with over 30 years of experience has established over 20+ schools and has mentored over 100 Schools across India, Middle East and South Asia.

Husien Dohadwalla

Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Husien Dohadwalla has been associated with schools for more than 16 years in capacity of Academic Head / Pedagogical Leader for middle, secondary and high schools.

Ankita Patil Lunkad

Director

A Dynamic Young Edupreneur with a Master’s Degree in International Business from Kings College, United Kingdom.

Vishal Goel

Non Executive Director - Cerestra Ventures

Vishal Goel is the co-founder of Cerestra Ventures and leads the investment firm managing a portfolio of USD 600 million.

Jasmeet Chhabra

Non Executive Director – Cerestra Ventures

Jasmeet Chhabra conceptualized the Edu-Infra strategy of Cerestra and has successfully raised & deployed USD 150 million in two investment verticals of Cerestra.

Dr. Swaroop Sampat Rawal

An Actress and a Researcher. She is a member of the Central Advisory board of Education and Ministry of Education for Government of India.

Dr. Ashok Pandey

He has been an Academic Mentor with 30+ years of experience. He is a Governing board member of India’s largest National Education Board (CBSE).

Dr. Norbu Wangchuk

He has been a Former Bhutanese Minister of Education. A senior Lecturer at the Royal Institute of Management in Bhutan, He has dedicated himself to research in Education

Management Team

Sudhir Chitnis

National Head (Operations)

Established and scaled a renowned school chain in North India. Change and crisis management expert.

Anna Albuquerque

National Head (Marketing & HR)

Professional experience of more than 20 years in India and Middle East.

Reni Francis

Teacher Development Head

Phd in the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Specialist in Teacher Education & Member, Board of Studies (Education) for a reputed university. She is the Principal of Pillai College of Education & Research, Chembur, Mumbai.

Tasneem Dohadwalla

Early years & Primary Academic Head

Academic Head with 15+ years of experience. Specialist in Foundational to Preparatory Stage ( as per NEP 2020 )

Operations Team

Mahmood Kadiri

Chief Co-ordinator

Anuja Dandiwala

Academic Co-ordinator

CA Gaurav Jhawar

Manager – Finance & Strategy

Roshni Kankaria

Assistant Manager - Finance & Strategy

Lalitha K

Project Co-ordinator

Rajesh Kumar

Academic Co-ordinator

Vishnu Devan

Academic Assistant

Tilak Kadal

Operations Executive

Sanjay Kumar

Executive Accounts & Administration

Shabana Panjabi

Project Co-ordinator

A good education is a foundation for a better future.

– Elizabeth Warren

Francis Joseph

Managing Director

He has dedicated his last 25+ years being an Evangelist in education with a purpose to help the various education boards to develop the best operational policies best suited for students and various stakeholders. He works closely for the public education system as advisor of the State and International Curriculum Advisory Committee for the Government of Maharashtra. He was able to successfully implement online teaching for students and online Teacher education in more than 600 schools in Maharashtra and Gujarat during the Pandemic.

Mr. Francis Joseph strongly believes that in the future education is all about differentiation, blended learning, technology as an enabler and student voices.

Farzana Dohadwala

Executive Chairperson

A National and international educator with over 30 years of experience has established over 20+ schools and has mentored over 100 Schools across India, Middle East and South Asia. A change maker, pioneering new approaches in education, Madam Farzana Dohadwala is recognized as one of India’s top 50 educationists.

She is the Founding member of South Asia IB Schools Association which she started in the year 1992. She is the Vice President of Early Childhood Association and Association of Primary Education and Research. A Member of FICCI Alliance of Re-imaging School Education (ARISE) and one of the founding members of the Association of ICSE Schools in Maharashtra (AISM). Madam Farzana Dohadwala is a strong believer of Plutarch, the Greek philosopher‘s thought which is “The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be ignited “

Husien Dohadwalla

Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Husien Dohadwalla has been associated with schools for more than 16 years in capacity of Academic Head / Pedagogical Leader for middle, secondary and high schools. He has established and managed over 10 schools not only in India but also overseas (Belgium).

He has been spearheading the design and launch of various new initiatives from Business Forums, Master Class Series of Talks, TEDx Youth Events, Career Counselling Program, 21^st Century Skills Program to name a few.

He has completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM Calcutta, is a Certified Public Accountant (Delaware, USA) and has also completed his Bachelor of Education degree from University of Mumbai.

Since 2013, he has also been working with the IB Organisation as a School Visit Team Leader, Workshop Leader and Consultant to help new schools in the Asia Pacific region become IB World schools.

He is a Google Certified Educator and has trained thousands of state board, national curriculum boards and international board teachers on how to effectively use technology in the teaching-learning process. He has been conferred several awards for his word in the education space – the most recent being the Edupreneur of the Year Award conferred to him by The Associated Chamber of Commerce & Industry India. He regularly contributes to articles in leading newspapers regarding various facets of school education.

Ankita Patil Lunkad

Director

She devoted her early years as a pre-school teacher and also taught the underserved children at Punya Dham Ashram in Pune. A Dynamic Young Edupreneur with a Master’s Degree in International Business from Kings College, United Kingdom Ankita Patil Lunkad has always had a strong belief and values in creating impacts on the lives of young children in the country, which is why she started the Anisha Education Trust which established and managed 5+ K-12 Schools and Preschools across Pune. With over 10+ years of Experience in School Management Ankita has a very child-centric approach with focus on curriculum innovation.

Vishal Goel

Nominee Director - Cerestra Ventures

Vishal Goel is the co-founder of Cerestra Ventures and leads the investment firm managing a portfolio of USD 600 million. He conceptualized and executed the investment strategy of various verticals of the company spread across education, life sciences, and industrial sectors. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and Graduate School of Design. He has over 20 years of experience in real estate advisory and management of ground-up development of core assets. He has global investment experience across Singapore, Indian and US markets.

Formerly, he was the Managing Director & Head of India operations of a USD 28 billion NYSE listed REIT for 5 years where he set up their Indian operations unit, deployed over USD 200 million and managed the development of over 1 million sq. ft. of built-up space. He was instrumental in conceptualizing and developing the ‘Genome Valley’ high-technology knowledge cluster in Hyderabad.

Prior to that, he worked with Ernst &Young for a decade where he handled large PPP transactions and private equity advisory of over USD 600 million. He has been an advisor to the Government of Gujarat for ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ during the years 2005-2009. He was the head of real estate advisory from 2005-2008 and also advised marque investors like DE Shaw, Citibank, Lehman Brothers on their investments in India. He advised several large REITs including Alexandria and Forest City in their India-entry strategy. He has had an extensive exposure to global REIT practices in core business areas of operations, acquisition, financing, leading and underwriting. He is a faculty and subject matter expert on REITs in ASEAN for RICS.

Jasmeet Chhabra

Nominee Director - Cerestra Ventures

Jasmeet Chhabra conceptualized the Edu-Infra strategy of Cerestra and has successfully raised & deployed USD 150 million in two investment verticals of Cerestra. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India..

As part of the founding team of Cerestra Ventures, he heads the entire fund-raising program spread across 6 funds aggregating USD 600 million and manages a portfolio of over USD 1 billion across different life-stages. He successfully identified opportunities with commitments over USD 350 million spread in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, and Mumbai across residential, commercial, and IT/ITES SEZ parks with total area exceeding 25 million square feet. He also possesses significant experience in deal making, fund raising, third party portfolio management and special situations.

Jasmeet holds over 18 years’ experience in real estate private equity with two India focused funds having an aggregate of USD 2 billion under management. He was a key member responsible for growing IndiaREIT, a real estate private equity fund, from scratch to USD 900 million. He is a thought-leader on various industry forums in RE and regularly contributes in media through articles and blogs. He is a member of Industry Governing Council at RICS School of Built Environment

Leadership Team

Francis Joseph

Farzana Dohadwala

Husien Dohadwalla

Ankita Patil Lunkad

Vishal Goel

Jasmeet Chhabra

Advisory Board

Dr. Swaroop Sampat Rawal

Dr. Ashok Pandey

Dr. Norbu Wangchuk

Management Team

Sudhir Chitnis

Anna Albuquerque

Reni Francis

Tasneem Dohadwalla

Operations Team

Mahmood Kadiri

Anuja Dandiwala

CA Gaurav Jhawar

Roshni Kankaria

Lalitha K

Rajesh Kumar

Vishnu Devan

Tilak Kadal

Sanjay Kumar

Shabana Panjabi

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Francis Joseph

Farzana Dohadwala

Husien Dohadwalla

Ankita Patil Lunkad

Vishal Goel

Jasmeet Chhabra