Meet the Speakers

A chance to meet and listen to the best of the best in Early Childhood Education.....

Swati Popat Vats:  Making passion and compassion the only language of preschool education, Swati Popat Vats – educator, author, educational entrepreneur, parenting expert and nature advocate – understands learning as something not restricted to schools but part of everyday living. She is the president of Podar Education Network.
She is a world forum leader for India and her goal is to get more and more Indian Schools involved on International forums like World Forum Foundation.
She is the leader of Asia for NAAC (Nature Action Collaborative for Children).
She is a member of NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children).

Dr. Swaroop Rawal - Dr. Swaroop Rawal is a known name when it comes to educational drama and life skills enhancement. With a Ph.D in Education from UK, Dr. Rawal is on the core committee of the National Vocational Educational Qualification Network. She facilitates teacher-training sessions with the Gujarat Council for Educational Research and Training and with the Sarva Shikhsha Abhiyan mission she uses drama and other innovative teaching methods to enhance life skills in schools.

​Dr. Rawal is on the editorial board of Educational Journal of Living Theory, UK.  She teaches effective communication skills to MBA students in Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies and theater for creativity at Jamnabai Narsee School. At the Jamnabai Narsee School she also acts as a faculty member in the Teacher Enrichment And Academic Management (TEAM) Certificate Programme. Besides these Dr. Rawal consults with various institutes and has sat on many juries in various capacities. She has also conducted and spoke in several workshops which include topics on educational drama, inclusion, child labour, life skills and much more. She is presently writing for two publications - Mid-day (Gujarati newspaper) Personal column and Aah Zindagi (Gujarati/ Hindi monthly magazine) Personal column. 
Dr. Swaroop Rawal's awards include Award for Vocational Excellence (for endeavor in Educational Field)  from Rotary Club, Bombay Sea Face- and Award for Research in Life Skills Enhancement from Human Resource and Development, Delhi .

Dr. Reeta Sonawat - Dr. Sonawat is dean faculty of Home Science and Executive Director of ECA and Head of Human Development S.N.D.T Women's University. She is the author of several books and a vetran when it comes to early childhood education. She has been selected as a global leader by World Forum in Early Childhood Education (ECE).

Dr. Kamini Rege - With more than 20 years’ experience under her belt and a Ph. D in home science, Dr. Kamini Rege holds the post of Asst. Professor at the College of Home Science, Mumbai. Her specialty is human development and early childhood education. She is also a recognized by the University of Mumbai as a guide for Ph. D in home science. She holds the position of Joint Secretary of the Early Childhood Association, a national NGO dedicated to uplifting the early childhood education sector in India.

Throughout her career Dr. Kamini has been awarded with many accolades. Noteworthy among these are the "Rashtriya Vibhushan Award” for Outstanding Individual Achievement and Distinguished Services to the Nation in 2014, "Shiksha Rattan Puraskar” for outstanding performance and remarkable role in Education /Knowledge industry in 2012 organized by “India International Friendship Society”. She has guided research students and presented several research papers and posters at the National and International level in the area of Early Childhood Education, Parenting, Marriage and Family Relations, Celebrating Festivals and Multiculturalism, Innovative Teaching Techniques etc.

She has been a consultant to several institutes and organizations associated with teacher training and education and deeply involved in the development of policy, programming and planning for young children. She has associated herself as a member of multiple organizations, such as AECED (Association for Early Childhood Education and Development) HSAI (Home Science Association of India); Bal Shikshan Parishad; ARAHE (Asian Regional Association for Home Economics) etc.

Dr. Jeremy Williams - Dr Jeremy B Williams serves as Academic Director of the Busy Bees Group, a global entity headquartered in the UK that focuses on the provision of early childhood education.

He is a pioneer and specialist in the field of technology-enhanced learning, having publishing widely in this area, his main research focus being authentic learning environments and the ways in which learning experiences might be better contextualised to promote greater student engagement and deeper learning.

Jeremy's current project is to develop a model for providing flexible, innovative, and affordable teacher education programmes for practising and aspiring early childhood educators in India. To this end, he has been instrumental in establishing the Asian International College in India, drawing on the intellectual capital of the Asian International College in Singapore.

A PhD economist, Jeremy has more than 25 years’ work experience in higher education around the world including institutions in Australia, UK, France, Singapore and India. He has also held various senior leadership positions in the private sector including Chief Academic Officer at Knowledge Universe in Singapore.

K. E. Harish - Mr. Harish is an educational management expert and an International Human Resource Trainer who has been in the forefront of educational management for many years. He holds an M. Phil in Education, First Rank in BA Political Science, University of Calicut and also a PG in Political Science. He is a well-known name in the educational field and is associated with some of the best schools in Malabar either as a management committee member or on an advisory level. He at present holds the positions of CEO –Sadhbhavana World School, President of School Management Committee – Dayapuram Residential School, Kerala State Territory Head of Early Childhood Association India, and Senior International Trainer – Center for Information and Guidance (CIGI). He previously held the post of CEO of Social Advancement Foundation of India (SAFI) and was pivotal in completion of their first phase. He stands in the forefront of leading Sadhbhavana into new avenues of operations and leads the team towards achieving greater goals.

Francis Joseph has more than 20 years of Management experience in School Education; in areas that include School Set-up & Operations, Human Resource, Technology, Organizational Development and Strategy Planning.

He has extensively worked in establishing and managing schools for one of India’s Largest Singly owned/managed & non-franchised Educational group as its COO in India & Middle East (till year 2011), from where he started as a Teacher in year 1993. He was also instrumental in developing many technological initiatives and revolutionary practices in Schools, both in India and abroad. Francis is also a recipient of the "Limca Book of Record" (Edition 2013) for managing the fastest School admission process (10 days) in the country; which was also appreciated by the HRD Minister of State, Government of India and then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri. Narendra Modi.

Francis Joseph has established and operated several prestigious schools in India and Middle East. Francis was selected as an emerging edupreneur in India (year 2013) for an incubator programme conducted by the Pearson Affordable Learning Fund (U.K.) for his efforts in affordable and low-cost education in smaller towns and villages. Francis is also associated with the Archdiocesan Board of Education (Mumbai) and CBT India in their school development projects. Francis is the Vice-President of Early Childhood Association (India). Francis Joseph is the director of RMinds Education, a school development company and the co-founder of Schools Leaders Network™, being developed as a professional network of schools leaders in the country focused on school improvement and development; specially working with affordable private schools in the country.