About Us
Katradi brings together people who are passionate about social change. What excites us is creating innovative, out-of-the-box strategies to jolt people out of their comfort zones and search within for the biases that create fear and separation. We constantly strive to nurture the empathy within ourselves and infuse it in every aspect of our work, creating powerful spaces of transformation.
Founder, Wind Dancers TrustSangeeta Isvaran
Passion
“Hatred cannot be vanquished by hatred. The fractured world we live in today needs more empathy, more love to destroy the fear that underlies most conflicts and discrimination. The most important life lessons I've learned were in my dance classes as a child, learning to create rasa (a form of empathy), seeing every other being as an extension of oneself. This flame of understanding fuels every aspect of my work with people to trigger transformation.”
Profession
Sangeeta, founder of the Wind Dancers Trust, is a dancer-performer who developed the Katradi method, working in marginalized, underprivileged communities using the arts in education, empowerment and conflict resolution across 30 countries. For her scholarship in the arts, she has been honored with the highest national award for young dancers – the Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar. She is a Fellow of the International Institute of Conciliation, USA, and a Honorary Associate of the Nature Conservation Foundation, India. Speaking 8 international languages, she has taught in over 20 universities and international organizations. Sangeeta’s Tedx talk: View
Project Manager, FacilitatorThilaga Palani
Passion
“As a woman from my village, my caste, and my community I am told I need to get married and have babies but I always knew my path was different. I want to perform, to learn, to teach, to travel -- to see the world and share what I know. I have fought to be where I am and will fight for others too.”
Profession
In 2010, Thilaga graduated from the Kattaikkuttu Gurukulam as one of the first-ever female Kattaikkuttu performer, breaking the stereotype that this theatre-form is in the domain of men only. After working there for a few years as an assistant teacher and performer, she co-founded the Sri Krishna Kattaikkuttu Company. A versatile Kuttu artist who has performed in the UK, France and Malaysia, she has also interned with Theâtre du Soleil, headed by the renowned Ariane Mnouchkine. Thilaga is a dynamic and talented facilitator whose creativity, empathy and capacity for fun is endless.
Honorary AssociateT.M.Karthik
Passion
If my dream can light you up
If my touch can heal your heart
If my art can move your soul
If my being can make you smile
That's all I would ever want when I reach my final sleep
Profession
Actor, trainer, human in slow progress ...
English theatre actor - including internationally acclaimed shows at Edinburgh festival and META award winning play.
Films - Nanban, Indru Netru Nalai, Raja Rani, Endrendum Punnagai, Sawaari , Life Of Pi, Dhillikku Dhuddu , Chekka Chivanda Vanam, Bigil, Sala Khadoos, Guru etc.
Theatre based management trainer. Social worker focussed on disaster relief, girl child education and poverty support intiatives.
Honorary AssociateLiz Haynes
Passion
“Curiosity, connecting people, a strong sense of justice, and a tremendous love of sports have been a part of me since I was a child. For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to be part of a movement that connects people separated by gender, color and economic status. Sitting at my desk in a corporate office ten years ago, I never imagined that I could use sports and art to tap into teaching youth in such a profound way.”
Profession
Liz is the founder and director of Transformational Sports (www.transformationalsports.org) as well as a writer, athlete and life coach (lizhaynes.com). A graduate of the University of Michigan (BBA ‘03, MAcc ‘04) Liz worked in accounting and finance in New York before moving to non-profit management in New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina working with disaster relief agencies and charter schools. Liz was an Education Pioneers fellow (Los Angeles, 2013) before moving to India to work in sports for development.
Honorary AssociateMahesh Ramamurthy Joint Managing Director, Vibromech
Passion
I am passionate about education for our children. I believe Instilling human values of tolerance, empathy and industry in our young ones is crucial for societal development. The nurturing of the leaders of tomorrow's society is vitally necessary! We are depending on our young people for the future, but for the present, we must show them that they can depend on us!
Profession
Mahesh Ramamurthy is Joint Managing Director at Vibromech with decades years of experience in industry. A consummate tinkerer, he has created patented, innovative products that push the performance envelope. His latest entrepreneurial venture solves critical problems faced by the automotive, defence, aerospace and machine tool sectors by applying Industry 4.0 technologies. He is active in education oriented charitable NGOs, having personally supervised the construction of class rooms, the distribution of education grants and social development programs. He has also applied his engineering skills to develop socially impactful products that solve problems in low resource settings.
Collaborators
