About Us
Welcome to Mon Ami Foundation
Mon Ami Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit Trust, registered in India, with a strong focus on social responsibility. We work closely with recipient communities across rural and urban India with support from corporates, domain experts, and service providers to ensure equal participation from all stakeholders for a sustainable future! We are driven by our passion to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth amongst communities by maximizing the social impact of corporate investment. Our projects, primarily focused on sustainable livelihood & vocational skills, environmental sustainability and healthcare, are designed and delivered with utmost transparency, speed and commitment.
Our Vision & Mission
Mon Ami Foundation’s vision is to help companies build a socially responsible ecosystem by creating sustainable opportunities that will improve the quality of life. Our mission is to bridge the gap between donors, service providers and recipients through the design and delivery of customizable project offerings with equal partnership from all stakeholders.
Our Values
The Foundation Members
With over two decades of experience in their respective areas of expertise, the team at Mon Ami is committed to framing robust and executable corporate social responsibility strategies that will bring about ground-level changes and have a positive, measurable impact on society.
Anurag Rana
With over 23 years of experience in business skills training and product development in the rural sector and among the marginalized sections of society, Anurag firmly believes that lasting economic growth can only follow an integrated approach to product development, skills training, market access and eco-effective processes. To this end, she has been working with low-income workers, imparting training and design inputs in order to help them develop products that are ready for contemporary markets. This endeavour has taken her to crafts persons in Himachal and Rajasthan, Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Kerela and Karnataka, where she worked with wool and livestock. With hands on ground, Anurag strongly feels that the possibility of projects that will positively impact society is endless, and the needs of these people are real. However, the funds that these crafts persons receive are severely limited and this prompted her to establish Mon Ami Foundation. Her recent project involves training women in the rural urban pockets around Delhi – NCR region to develop vegetable dyed crochet toys for children. At Mon Ami Foundation, Anurag will be instrumental in identifying projects focussed on sustainable livelihood & vocational skills, environmental sustainability and healthcare. Anurag holds a Masters degree in Textile Design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.
Amit Malhotra
Amit has over 25 years of experience in the I.T Industry and has held various Sales and Marketing positions over the course of his career. His primary expertise lies in the setting up of businesses/ processes and execution of projects. His specialty skills are in the areas of sales, product management, channels, strategy, setting up businesses from the ground up, P&L management and business transformation. His extensive experience in the corporate arena led Amit to a point where he felt it was time to give back to society. It became an important part of what he needed to do. Amit’s interest in the non-profit, philanthropic world came to fruition with the setting up of Mon Ami Foundation. Amit plays a key role in the structuring, streamlining, implementation and monitoring of projects taken up by Mon Ami Foundation. He holds a B. Tech degree from Regional Engineering College (NIT), Kurukshetra along with a Management course from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIMC) and Asian International Executive Program (AIEP) from INSEAD.
Dr. Ilse Köhler-
Rollefson
Pastoral Livelihoods
Dr. Ilse is a German born veterinarian, partly based in Rajasthan, where she works closely with the Raika camel pastoralists since the early 1990s. She set up the Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan (LPPS) in 1996. Together with fighting for the rights of the Raika community, Ilse has been working hard at creating new avenues of livelihood for them. Today the LPPS’ Camel Charisma outlets sell camel wool dhurries, paper made from camel dung and camel milk soap. In addition, there is focus on creating a steady supply of camel milk as camel milk is believed to be beneficial to diabetics, those who are lactose intolerant and also for autistic children. The LPPS works with Mon Ami Foundation, using their expertise to make the projects more marketable and commercially viable.
Rajesh
Ayyappasur
Sustainable Environment
Rajesh is currently involved and invested in projects that treat wet waste to meet “present and future” energy needs besides helping to reduce waste. He is passionate about including automation and IT in environmental projects. Rajesh works closely with Mon Ami Foundation to identify projects that may qualify for CSR spending and provide the necessary expertise while pitching to donor organisations. GPS will provide Bio Urja systems for projects.
Shirley
Bhatnagar
Craft Designer
Shirley Bhatnagar an alumnus of the National Institute of Design wears many hats from that of a designer, an artist, a teacher, and a curator. Shirley’s focus has been in ceramics and craft communities working in terracotta and turned wood in India. She is a Charles Wallace Awardee and recently showed her work at the British Ceramics Biennial. She brings more than twenty years of design and crafts expertise to the team.
Sameer
Dubey
Financial Expert
Sameer has built his professional career across industries and countries and has acquired a wealth of experience in Financial Services. He has spent a significant part of his life in the states of Bihar & Jharkhand, and that has given him first-hand glimpse of lives within these communities. The opportunity to promote financial inclusion for the marginalized income workers, have made him appreciate the need to support these groups. His belief in the cause has made him a friend of Mon Ami foundation from its very inception and he is excited to support the foundation in the capacity of an advisor and a volunteer in promoting fiscal literacy and financial inclusion. Sameer is a Mechanical Engineer, a PG in Finance, and an MBA from INSEAD.