Governance
The KIS Council of Directors is responsible for the overall governance of KIS, setting of strategic KIS direction, review of plans and budgets established by KIS senior management, and monitoring of performance against those plans and budgets.
The Association of KIS
KIS is a non-profit, multicultural, Christian organization and a Sec. 25 company, registered under the Companies Act 1956 (equivalent to Sec. 8 company under Companies Act 2013). The company is incorporated under a Memorandum of Association. Membership of the association is by invitation and normally for a term of 3 years. The association retains responsibility for the establishment of a Council of Directors including the election of a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson, the appointment of the Principal, who would also be the Secretary of the association, oversee fiscal and budgeting policies and any decision relating to the purchase or sale of land. Other responsibilities are then delegated through the Council of Directors to the Council or the Principal as is determined by the Council.
Current Members of The Council of Directors
Mr. David Appasamy
Chair
David Appasamy heads Brand & Strategy at Social Beat, an award winning and fast growing digital marketing company in India. He was earlier Executive Director of a micro-finance company serving a half million rural women in India’s Tamil Nadu state. Prior to this, he was the Executive Vice President of Sify Technologies in charge of marketing, corporate communications and investor relations. His experience of over 35 years covers General Management, Business Strategy, Brand & Marketing Management & Digital Marketing.
Mr. John Ravindran
Treasurer
Mr. John Ravindran is a Chartered Accountant with over three decades of experience working mainly with Charitable and Christian organizations providing services across both Audit as well as IT consulting. He has held several board level positions including Treasurer of CSI Madras Diocese from 2011 to 2014, Treasurer of Bethel Agricultural Fellowship for several years, Treasurer for Wycliff India and Managing Trustee of ‘Satya Trust’ a charitable trust which supports the education of 40 economically disadvantaged children. He is a resource person of The Christian Institute of Management and is involved in training Church and NGO leaders in complying with various fiscal laws of our nation. He has also contributed articles on fiscal compliance in a new Legal Hand Book published by the Christian Institute of Management.
Ms. Anita Lazarus
Ms. Anita Lazarus is a qualified teacher, counsellor and resource person for seminars and counselling training in India as well as Malaysia; the latest being a three module course for Lay Counsellors conducted by the Malaysian Baptist Seminary in Penang in 2020. She has also been involved in governance with several schools in both countries, and has an interest in education for children with difficult backgrounds. An army kid and an Air Force wife, she is well-travelled, with the privilege of operating in varied multicultural situations. In 2021, she wrote a paper on the Tamil women of Malaysia; as part of a book soon to be published by the GLOBAL DIASPORA INSTITUTE, Wheaton College. Anita’s strong Christian faith underpins all that she is involved with. Anita and her husband (a distinguished IAF fighter pilot) have two adult married sons and two grandchildren, who live in different continents.
Mr. Arun Mammen
Arun Mammen is the Vice Chairman & Managing Director of MRF Limited, an Indian multinational corporation with a diverse range of products from tyres to toys. He comes with robust experience at the executive level, having developed and implemented the growth and corporate strategies of the organization. Mr. Mammen is also the Chairman of Funskool (India) Limited, a leading toy manufacturer and holds a Directorship in other MRF group Companies as well. He graduated with a Bachelors degree in commerce from the Madras Christian College and holds an MBA from Ashland University, USA. He is passionate about Cricket and Motorsports.
Ms. Jemima Marak (Class of 2002)
Ms. Jemima is an alumna of KIS (class ’02). She is a trained teacher with a Masters degree in Counselling Psychology and is currently pursuing a Ph.D in Storytelling as Pedagogy. She is a certified career counsellor and has been working with children since 2005 as a teacher and counsellor. She established a library for children called The 100 Story House in the Garo Hills, Meghalaya. Since its inception in 2016, it has been a valuable resource for the community and has been covered by several newspapers and magazines across the country. Ms. Jemima recently joined Martin Luther Christian University, Shillong, as Director of Community Outreach. Prior to her current assignment, she worked as Program Head with a Delhi-based NGO called Anant Foundation for Innovation and Social Inclusion (AFISI), implementing a rural livelihood development project with the Govt of Meghalaya among farmers of the state.
Dr. Jerry Mathew
Dr. Jerry George Mathew was the Principal at Clarence High School in Richards town, Bangalore for the last 11 years. He has now stepped out into full time ministry of preaching and teaching, mentoring and counselling along with consulting for Christian education. He completed his PHD in Human Anatomy from Manipal University and taught medical students for about 12 years in Manipal before moving to Bangalore to take up this position. Jerry is passionate about inspiring the next generation to to live wise and purposeful lives.
Dr. John Thomas (Class of 1998)
Dr. John Thomas is Assistant Professor of History at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam. He is an alumnus of Kodaikanal International School (Class of 1998). He is a graduate of St Stephen’s College Delhi and has a doctoral degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He writes and teaches on topics ranging from the history of Christianity in south and north-east India to the history of ecumenical movement in India to the social history of everyday technology.
Prof M.S. Mathews
Professor Mathews worked at IIT Madras for 40 years and retired as the Head of the Department of Civil Engineering. He then joined as the Prof. and Dean of IIT Palakkad. He currently gives invited talks in IIT Madras and other Colleges. He is familiar with teaching methodology in the West and in our country.
Ms. Kavitha Vijay
Ms. Kavitha Vijay is a Senior Partner of IC Universal Legal, a pan-India law firm. She heads the Chennai office of the firm and has been in practice for over 18 years. Her areas of expertise are corporate law, mergers and acquisitions and private equity. She serves as an independent director on the board of several listed and unlisted entities and is a POSH committee member for a number of businesses.
Ms. Malati Mukherjee
Malati Mukherjee is a Writer, Editor and Translator. She runs Words and Space, a pro bono writing and editing service. She is a Trainer and Coach. Earlier, she worked in the IT industry for 25 years, and served on the board of Mastek (UK) Ltd. as Director of Operations. She leads Astitva, a program that works with the Empowerment of Tribal Women and Children through Nutrition and Education. She lives with her partner and two beautiful dogs in Coonoor, in The Nilgiris.
Ms. Marisa D'Mello, Ph.D.
Marisa D’Mello, Ph.D. is an Organizational Development (OD) Consultant. She has earned two Master’s degrees in Psychology, a post-graduate Diploma in Human Resources Management, and a Doctorate in Social Sciences from India, USA and Norway. During her career of 30+ years, Marisa has held various roles - Psychologist, Lecturer, Trainer, Researcher, Facilitator, Mentor, Counsellor, and Human Resource (HR) manager. Currently, she partners with corporates, academic institutes and NGOs to conceptualise, design and conduct HR and OD-related interventions. She lives in Mumbai, enjoys traveling and walking by the ocean.
Ms. Maya Thiagarajan (Class of 1994)
A global educator, Maya Thiagarajan has taught in India, Singapore, and the US. She began her teaching career in the US with Teach For America and later taught at The United World College in Singapore. Maya is the founder of TREE, an organization that recruits, develops and inspires teachers. She is also the author of “Beyond the Tiger Mom: East-West Parenting for the Global Age,” a book on education and parenting. She earned a BA in English Literature from Middlebury College and a Masters in Education Policy from Harvard University.
Dr. Prateep V Philip
Dr. Prateep V Philip is a retired IPS officer with over 35 years of experience spanning a variety or roles with the Indian Police force. He served as the Director General of Police and Director, Tamil Nadu Police Academy, Chennai prior to retirement. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Arts from the Bangalore University, a Masters Degree in Political Science from Bangalore University and a Ph.D in Management from Madurai Kamaraj University. He has travelled widely, published several books, conducted workshops for a wide range of audiences and has received 8 awards for his innovative work in the Indian Police force.
Mr. Selwin E. Prabakar
Mr Selwin E. Prabakar is a Chartered Accountant for the past 36 years. He is a graduate in Mathematics from the Loyola College, Chennai. He specializes in Management Consultancy, Audit, Taxation, FCRA, Corporate and Commercial Law. He has been involved with a number of different Churches and Educational Organizations in a variety of capacities over the past three decades and provides management consultancy to NGOs, exports, textiles and agro-infra projects. Selwin's interests involve Law, Economics, Insolvency Code, Christian Theology, Christian Apologetics and Tamil Literature.