Board of Directors

Mr. Samit S Shetty
Managing Director

Samit is an entrepreneur first and a manager next. He is one of the founders and the current Managing Director of Chaitanya India Fin Credit Pvt Ltd, a Bangalore based Microfinance NBFC focussed mainly in the rural areas across the country.

A Mechanical Engineering graduate from UVCE and an alumnus of IIM-A, he has a great interest in developing products and services that impact the less fortunate population for the better. Post his masters, he served for nine years in Olam International Limited, a Singapore based commodity trading house. He has worked in various business roles trading cocoa and coffee in Cote’d’lvoire and Tanzania and later headed Outspan, an Olam Brazilian Subsidiary.

With a voracious reading habit in politics, economics, psychology and philosophy, Samit has developed a wide range of skill sets, primarily in laying down operational, management and business control processes and structures. He takes particular interest in Finance, Risk Management, Supply Chain Development and Rural Businesses. Currently he is also a Non-Executive Director with Indus Momentus Business Solutions and Plan Visage Pvt Ltd,two IT solutions providers and consultants in the supply chain area of business management. He is also a trustee with Nivasa Trust, a not-for-profit architectural firm focussed on providing culturally sensitive solutions for the low income segment. With a varied range of interests and skills, Samit brings together different teams to set up efficient operational structure at Chaitanya to facilitate the rural communities of India.

Mr Anand Rao
Joint Managing Director

Anand is a co-founder and the current Joint Managing Director of Chaitanya India Fin Credit Pvt Ltd. He comes with a background in both social welfare and corporate world.

He passionately believes that social entrepreneurship can make a big impact in a world facing the multiple challenges of human development. Chaitanya being an institution working deep in rural India, his focus lies in bringing in best management practices that have a positive social impact. Like his interest in gardening, Anand enjoys mentoring and nurturing other social entrepreneurs while dividing his time between his duties and volunteer activities mainly in the children’s education and animal welfare.

After completing his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and MBA from Shailesh J Mehta School of Management IIT-Bombay, he proceeded to get a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Maxwell School of Public Policy Syracuse University with a focus on Environmental Policy. He started his professional career in BOSCH and later in sales and supply chain management at PEPSICO. He later moved to the social impact sector, beginning at World Watch Institute and World Resources Institutes at Washington DC, two think tanks focused on environmental policy making. With an interest towards the grass roots understanding of Indian villages, he worked at Small Scale Sustainable Infrastructure Development Fund, providing infrastructure solutions for low income communities.His extensive experience gives Anand a key advantage at Chaitanya in creating a reliable financial solutions for the rural populations of the country.

Mr. K S Ravi
Independent Director

Mr. K. S. Ravi is the founder and senior partner of Ravi & Shrihari Chartered Accountants. He became an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in 1990 and attained Fellowship in 1995.

He has been instrumental in establishing the firm with a strong team and delivering professional services in all fields, including areas like Accountancy, Audit, Taxation (Direct and Indirect), Costing, Corporate Law Matters, International Taxation and Business Consultancy. His strengths include excellent drafting, communication and management skills. He is also an eminent speaker who regularly delivers lectures in various Institutions, both Private and Government. Besides this, he periodically contributes articles to various professional journals. He has been instrumental in advising and nurturing producer companies with the object of supporting farmers at the gross root level. In addition to his professional life he travels into deep and remote villages to understand the social dynamics of rural life.

Mr. Nanda Kumar R
Independent Director

Mr. Nanda Kumar is a Science Graduate and a Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers. He is a Banker by profession with 38 years of unstinted and unblemished banking experience having worked in ING Vysya Bank Ltd in different capacities like Branch Head, Regional Head, Zonal Head, Assistant General Manager, Senior Assistant General Manager, Vice President in different areas of operation and in different locations.

Though a banking generalist, he had specialistic stints in Advances, Credit Risk, Administration, General Banking, Marketing, Audit, Finance, Foreign Exchange and in Human Resource. He has built an excellent qualitative credit portfolio and made extensive financing to Rural Financing, Agriculture, Retail, Trading, Mid Corporate Financing. He is recipient of various awards/rewards and also Chairman's Club member for several years and recipient of VYC Award under Banking Category.

Mr. Nanda Kumar over his long professional career has excelled in highly competitive environments. He is a critical thinker and an adept negotiator who can apply expert knowledge of the industry for rapid business revenue growth opportunities. Team leader with good communication skills & interpersonal relations.

Mr. Ramesh Sundaresan
Nominee Director

Mr. Ramesh Sundaresanis a Investor's nominee Director at Chaitanya. He is a BE graduate from REC Trichy, and further he pursued MBA from IIM Lucknow in 1993.

He joined Olam in 1995, headed Coffee division for a period of 08 years (1995-2003). In 2003, He set up the Commodity Financial Services arm under the Olam group (later named Invenio). The business focused on derivatives trading and risk solutions further it rapidly expanded and had operations in Singapore, Bangalore, Dubai, Brazil and Geneva.Post retirement from the executive roles, he has been involved himself as Investor / Advisor / Board member inrelevant companies.

Ms. Lisa G Thomas
Nominee Director

Ms. Lisa Gayle Thomas is the Nominee Director (nominated by Shorecap II Limited) at Chaitanya. She has completed her MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, USA and Bachelor of Science from University of Oregon, USA.

She is a highly skilled professional with over 10 years of work experience in venture capital and private equity investing, financial analysis, microfinance, strategic planning, project management, governance and operations. She has a robust emerging market experience having worked with companies in 20 countries in Africa, Asia and the Caucuses. She is very passionate about impact investing with significant expertise in the financial inclusion space including microfinance, small and medium enterprise (SME) lending, deposit mobilization and alternative delivery channels. Earlier, she has worked in Companies like Equator Capital Partners, Capital Plus Exchange, The Clement Group, CRT Capital Group LLC, Merrill Lynch & Co. and she was also a Co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of VestedWorld, Inc, Chicago, USA. She is a recognized leader in the social impact space through lecturing and scholarship.