Sheetal advises several socially conscious technology companies so that they can access smart venture capital, corporate partnering, global expansion and pr.

Specifically Sheetal is focussed on microfinance in developing and developed countries. She is a spokesperson on the topic, having presented at Cambridge, LSE, Doha Forum, Big Society, House of Lords, and other prestigious forums. Currently Sheetal is launching a social enterprise with Kings College Shantisale which will allow microfinance recipients to sell their products and services online thereby scaling their businesses and becoming bankable. Sheetal is Founder of Shanti Microfinance a social enterprise and UK Charity that provides access to technology and capital for entrepreneurs in slums and villages in India.

Sheetal is the UK Deal Maker (by appointment) for the UK Trade and Investment’s Global Entrepreneur Programme. As a liaison between Government and entrepreneurs, she is responsible for helping innovative start up technology and life sciences companies make the UK their base so that they can be successful globally through strategic partnerships.

From 2000- 2005 Sheetal was Director of VC Relations at Microsoft where she worked with the Venture Capital community in EMEA and the Silicon Valley to help their portfolio companies leverage the .NET initiative, access smart funding and go to market. Previously she worked with the Edmonton Police force working with children and women to alleviate domestic violence and assist victims drug abuse.

Sheetal has received several awards: Asian Women of Achievement: Social and Humanitarian (Prince Charles and Cherie Blair) for her efforts on taking technology to developing communities in India and Africa (2005); Management Today Magazine 35 Under 35; Success Magazine No 5 of top most powerful Asian women in the UK (2006), Award for Entrepreneur of the Year by Asian Woman Magazine and No 3 Ones To Watch’ section of the Asian Power 100 list – the most influential and highest achieving Asian women in Britain (2007). Asian Woman Magazine covered a story of Sheetal’s business in the Sept 2007 issue. Sheetal has been invited to Buckingham Palace for “Women in Business” reception hosted by Her Majesty, The Queen in November 2007, Alumni Award of Excellence from the University of Alberta in 2008 and more recently nominated for Future Leader of the Year by Lloyds TSB’s Jewel Awards.

Sheetal has a Masters in International Relations (Economics) at the London School of Economics and a BA (Honors) in International Politics at the University of Alberta, Canada. She is a yoga teacher and plays drums and dohl. She is married to entrepreneur Paul Walsh and lives in San Francisco, California.

After Graduating from U.M.I.S.T, Manchester with a BSc in Management Sciences, Shamir worked for leading Management Consultants, Accenture, as s Process Consultant. He has consulted to a number of FTSE 100 companies, including Shell, Centrica and Debeers.

In 2004, he left the City and established The East India Tea House with the goal of providing customers with premium quality loose leaf teas. The company has quickly grown and is currently one of the market leaders in terms of supply of leaf tea, supplying both bulk and private labelled products. The company works with a number of well-known brands, supplying to the likes of Caprice Holdings, Conran Restaurants, Soho House Group, Ren Skincare, Harvey Nichols and the Lanesborough Hotel. The company has been recognised for its innovative approach, winning awards for its signature blends as well as being the first company in the UK to develop a tea sommelier training course.

Capitalising on his experience within the food sector, in 2005, Shamir set up three coffee shops in Hertfordshire under a franchise brand known as Muffin Break. Since then he has been providing general consultancy services to a number of start up and established brands.

Identifying a gap in the market for branded impulse buy snack items, in 2006, Shamir diversified into the packaging and distribution of nuts, seeds, dried fruits and confectionary products. Icone International Ltd packs for numerous UK high street brand including operators such as Itsu, Apostrophe, Yo! Sushi and Curzon Cinemas.

Shamir has further diversified his interests and is a Director of Swiss Pack UK which is a market leader in Europe in the manufacturing of stand up resealable pouches. With a modern production facility in Gujarat, India and network offices in Asia and the US, the company is widely recognised as carrying the largest range of stock pouches in the World.

Drawing upon his experience in the packaging sector, in 2007 Shamir co-founded, Enviropack Ltd. The company specialises in the supply and distribution of environmentally friendly forms of packaging.

Recognised in the Hospitality Industry, Shamir has been featured in numerous publications and has also been awarded The Hamptons Newcomer of the Year Award 2007 at the Asian Business Awards. Shamir is looking to draw upon his varied entrepreneurial background as well as his experience specifically in dealing with companies and institutions in India to support the the goals and objectives of Shanti Microfinance.

Shaan Devnani is an Economic Adviser for Shanti Microfinance, responsible for identifying pro-poor innovations and applying best practices for poverty alleviation. This includes developing social performance indicators for tracking changes in the social and economic outcomes of Shanti’s clients. Shaan is also an Economic Consultant at London Economics, where he advises UK and foreign governments on public policy issues.

Shaan’s background lies in addressing business and international development problems through the use of economic analysis. Working as a consultant for the World Bank in Pakistan and post-conflict Ethiopia, he coordinated an international group of advisers and stakeholders, including top economists, government donors and NGOs, to develop financial innovations for the poorest in society. Prior to this, Shaan worked as a consultant for a variety of blue-chip companies and spent two years building up an investment consulting firm that applied economic ideas to investment decision-making processes – attracting the world’s leading investment groups as clients.

Shaan holds degrees in Economics from Cambridge University and the London School of Economics.

Leena Desai works with entrepreneurs in slums in India to help ensure that they have access to health care and technology. She has recently put together a medical healthcare strategy for one of the largest slums in Gujarat where entrepreneurs are faced with serious health problems which can affect their work productivity and hence their ability to repay microfinance loans. Leena is the recipient of the 2007 Strategic Training Award in Tomorrow’s Research in Cardiac Health Professionals as well as numerous other research awards. Leena has spent much of her time volunteering for numerous healthcare and rural developmental agencies including SOS Children’s Villages of India in Bhimtal.(2006) and Projects Abroad in Argentina (2008). Leena is proficient in the Kathak style of Indian Classical Dancing and has performed at over 50 events over the last 15 years. Leena holds a Masters of Science (Experimental Surgery) and a BSc from the University of Alberta, Canada and plans to pursue her medical degree where she will combine international developmental healthcare with clinical practice.

Kamrul has extensive development experience working for various multi-national companies. Having previously worked for companies like Segala, MetaCert, Bank of Philippines Island (BPI), Smart Telecoms Philippines, and Guru.com. He has also consulted and developed for the Philippines Interior and Local Government.

Kamrul is a IT development consultant for Singapore Telecoms, leading the development team behind Singapore’s mobile utility payment system. Kamrul also work as a part time lecturer on programming architecture & mobile scripting language at University of Philippines.

A specialist in both client and server side scripting across all platforms, Kamrul likes to eat LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL & PHP) for breakfast with a topping of C#, Python and various social API.

Kamrul has a Masters in Information Technology (Application Development) at the University of Philippines and a BSC (Honors) in Computer Science at the University of Baguio, Philippines.

Shivani is a student at St Helen’s school in Northwood, London. She is responsible for creating our database, participates in fundraising via schools and and has attended many events on behalf of the Shanti team. She is also responsible for the Shanti FaceBook page and online social media.