Dr. Alexander Thomas is the President of the Association of Healthcare Providers – India (AHPI), former President of the Association of National Board Accredited Institutions (ANBAI) and Founder-President (2010–2021) and Patron of the Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO). He has served the health sector for over four decades and effected far-reaching policy changes within the healthcare landscape at the national and the state levels, such as introducing healthcare communication into the medical curriculum, increasing the number of post-graduate medical seats and making violence against doctors a non-bailable offence. He has pioneered many training initiatives, founded several associations and sits on numerous government committees and boards of reputed healthcare organisations for the betterment of healthcare quality and medical education. His recent publications on issues affecting the health sector include books on communication, climate change, law and ethics, technology, healthcare quality, violence against healthcare workers and white papers submitted to the Government of India. He has received several awards including the Waterfalls Global Award 2022 from the Government of the UAE for exceptional contributions to the community during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Dr. M. G. Garg All-Time Achievement Award for Outstanding and Distinguished Services from the Indian Medical Association in December 2022.
Mr. Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys, was its CEO and Managing Director from 2007 to 2011 and Vice Chairman from 2011 to 2014. Since his retirement from Infosys in 2014, he has invested in a slew of start-ups through his business incubator, Axilor Ventures, and some venture funds. He funded and created Itihaasa, a digital app that chronicles the evolution of India’s IT industry. He was the President of India’s apex industry chamber, the Confederation of Indian Industry (2013–2014), and co-chair of the World Economic Forum in Davos (2014). Internationally recognised as a global business and technology thought leader, he was voted the top CEO (IT services category) in Institutional Investor’s inaugural ranking of Asia’s Top Executives, a winner of the second Asian Corporate Director Recognition Awards by Corporate Governance Asia in 2011 and on the Thinkers 50, an elite list of global business thinkers in 2009. He chairs the Board of Governors of IIIT, Bangalore, and serves on the Board of Governors of IIT-M, IIM-B and the Chennai Mathematical Institute. He holds Master’s degrees in Physics and Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. In January 2011, the Government of India awarded Kris the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third highest civilian honour.
Ms. Divya Alexander has over 15 years of expertise in health and public policy research, having drawn up policy recommendations and drafted healthcare legislation through her work with the Association of Healthcare Providers – India, the United Nations Population Fund and Amnesty International USA. She provided technical expertise for the development of the Karnataka State Public Health Policy, the committee for SDG Goal 3 (Health) to the Government of Karnataka and projects for the World Bank, UNDP and UN Women. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she was a member of expert committees to develop health-based recommendations for the safe reopening of various sectors. She has co-edited five books and several papers for the health sector on policy issues relating to communication, climate change, violence against healthcare workers and health technology. She has co-authored an Adolescent Health Education resource manual which has reached more than 450,000 students in India as of December 2022. She read for her Master’s degree at the University of Oxford as a Commonwealth Scholar and is a gold medallist from Bangalore University (Mount Carmel College), India.
Ms. Sugandhi Baliga, CEO of Vayah Vikas, is a professional with 33 years’ experience in project management, capacity building and training, human resources, organisational development, networking and advocacy. She has had a deep interest in the field of health, particularly geriatric care through research. With an MBA from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Mumbai, she spent the initial years of her career with different corporates before deciding to move to the development sector, where she worked with Indian and international NGOs before joining the Tata Trusts in 2003. She anchored the older adult care programme and was instrumental in conceptualising, designing, piloting and scaling a national helpline for older adults along with the Ministry of Social Justice. In July 2021, she was awarded for her exemplary leadership in the Social Impact arena by the Vedica Women’s Alliance. As the CEO of Vayah Vikas, she leads the organisation in creating an eco-system for older adults in India through a membership model. She is currently pursuing studies in art-based therapy practice for older adults in a geriatric facility. She is an art lover with a passion for painting, and puts this interest to use in the form of therapy.
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