Gayathri Vatsalya

Dr. Gayathri Vatsalya

She belongs to a highly educated family. Her father Late Krishna Reddy was an Advocate and entrepreneur with Masters in English Literature and bachelors in Law. Her mother is a philanthropist. Her brothers are professionals and one is an Engineer and the other is an Orthodontist.

She is married to Dr. Y.Venkata Ramana, who is a Head of Procurement in a gigantic Public Sector Unit and is a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering, Masters in Business Management, Doctorate in Supply Chain Management and a Certified Purchasing Manager from Institute of Supply Management (earlier known as National Association of Purchasing Management), USA.

She is blessed with a daughter, Prerana who is a bachelors in Media Studies and Masters in Gender Studies from University of Sussex, UK and published many articles on Body Literacy and currently working as Director, Conflictorium, Ahmedabad. She is a renowned trainer and conducts regular workshops on Gender Sensitization for Faculty & Students at many institutes organizations including IIMs, IITs, NID, IRMA etc

Founder President, SVK Shikshan Sanstha (NGO)
Managing Director (Millet Magic)
Director-NGO Support (Federation of Special Care Dentistry)
Managing Trustee, Indian Institute of Youth Welfare (NGO)

  • Gold medalist in Psychology and Sociology in Graduation
  • M.B.A. (Human Resources)
  • M.A. (Clinical Psychology)
  • M.A. (Social work)
  •  M.Phil. with thesis on “ADJUSTMENT DIFFICULITES DURING ADOLESCENCE”
  • Post Graduate Diploma in Counseling and Guidance
  • International Certificate in Special Education, affiliated to London School of Teaching and Training
  • Certificate course in Sign Language
  • She is the Founder President of SVK Shikshan Sanstha, a non profit organization working for the cause of Education, Counselling and Rights of Intellectually Challenged Adults. She works with an objective to create an “Enabling Environment” and “Inclusive Society” which respects the Dignity of Intellectually Challenged Adults. SVK Shikshan Sanstha emphasizes  “No Charity- No Donation”.

     

    She organized many Sensitization programmes for students, working professionals, House wives, Social clubs etc to sensitize them with issues of ‘Intellectually challenged’ people and to create an inclusive society.

     

    • She trains her Intellectually Challenged Adult beneficiaries to acquire and improve Life skills, Social skills and Vocational skills.

     

    • She established “Art Therapy”, a Hand Block Print studio, where the beneficiaries create beautiful items.

     

    • She established a social venture, “Yummy Grains”, where all the labeling, packaging and marketing of various Millet products is done by SVK beneficiaries.

     

    • SVK beneficiaries participate and sell their products in various exhibitions and earn a decent amount for themselves.

     

    • All the SVK beneficiaries are trained to perform Fashion Shows & Ramp walks, which gave them a lot of recognition.

     

    • “Geet Jhankar” by SVK Shikshan Sanstha is the first Music Band in the country with Intellectually Challenged Artists

     

    • She organized many workshops and seminars on “Positive Parenting” for Parents of Special Children.

     

    • She was instrumental in making Inclusion a part of the admission process, in many reputed schools of Nagpur, ie: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, DPS, Jain International, Bharti Krishna Vidya Vihar etc and developed a special pattern for Remedial education for children with Mental Retardation, Autism, ADHD etc
    • She was Executive member of Central Govt. Committee for Action against Harassment of Women at Workplace for two terms.”
    • She gave more than 200 lectures on different topics such as Parenting Skills, Personality development, Stress Management, Sports Psychology etc for students, parents and working professionals.
    • She is the member Internal Complaints Committee (Harassment of Women at Workplace) with Air Force Maintenance Command, Vayusena Nagar & Air Force Station, Sonegaon, Nagpur.

     

    International Training & Seminars:

    • She was a member of Rotary’s Group Study Exchange programme, which visited United States of America for 45 days and delivered many seminars on Women empowerment.
    • She attended one week training programme at Asian Institute of Management, Philippines, which is a sub division of Harvard Business School
    • She attended one week training programme on “Project Management””organised by Asian Institute of Management, Philippines
    • She attended one week “Management Development Programme” conducted by Jiangsu University, China (Fourth best ranked university in China)
    • She attended an Immersion Programme at Taylor’s University, Malaysia.
    • She attended Management Development programme at Bangkok School of Management, an accredited centre of University of East London, Thailand.
    • She also visited Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Dubai, Egypt, Oman, Srilanka UK, France, Indonesia etc as part of her professional commitments.
    • She was Board Member of Ecumenical Sangam Nagpur, a Charitable Society working for the Empowerment of Women and Children and Regional Mentor for DIZ, Germany. She participated in a National Rally in Berlin and Frankfurt and delivered lectures on Developmental issues in India at an event organized by DIZ in Frankfurt from 17th to 28th May 2017.

     

    • She is a Trustee of 35 year old NGO, Indian Institute of Youth Welfare, Nagpur

She received the following awards for her contribution towards the cause Inclusion & Acceptance

  • Recipient of ”Young Achiever Award in 2008 by an NGO, Rural Development Organisation, Andhra Pradesh.
  • Recipient of “Young Achiever Award in 2011 by Chamber of Commerce, Singapore
  • She received “Bharat Shiksha Ratan Award in 2012 by Achiever’s Forum, New Delhi
  • She received “MOTHER TERESA EXCELLENCE AWARD” in 2013 by Integrated Council for Socio Economic Progress, New Delhi for her contribution towards the Specially- Abled People
  • She received “BHARAT VANIJYA RATAN AWARD”in 2014 by Foundation for Accelerated Community Empowerment (FACE), New Delhi.
  • She received “Dhyeyapurti Puraskar” by Nutan Gulgule Foundation, Mumbai in 2018
  • She received “The Real Super Woman Award” by Forever Star India in 2019
  • She received Achievers Award in the category of Community Service and Social Up-liftment by Nagpur Mahila Club in 2023
  • She received Women of the Year Award by Parekh Jewellers for 2022-23
  • She received “Real Jewel of Nagpur” by Rokde Jewellers for 2023-24

 

Blogging: She created a blog www.thefoodtherapy@wordpress.com and keeps posting the articles to promote healthy eating with Millets

Asia Book of Records: She set two records for Asia Book of Records in 2018 and 2023 with 1008 & 540 participants respectively including “Specially Abled participants” registered for “INCLUSIVE MILLET COOKING CONTESTS”.

Books Published: Millets – The Past Food Therapy and Beyond Barriers – Understanding Disability Etiquette,these two books are penned by her.