our team

About Us

Our History

We are a Social Enterprise set up by two friends- Ms. Sugandhi Baliga and Ms. Mildred D’Souza, who are experienced and passionate in the field of Senior Care. In addition, a team of Experts has been formed as Advisors to the Firm.

Background of Partners

Ms. Sugandhi Baliga

A professional with 33 years’ experience of working in corporate and social sector. She has had a deep interest in the field of health which brought her closer to the subject of Geriatric care including being a caregiver for her father for over 10 years. She is an MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Mumbai, and after having worked for initial eight years of her career with different corporates, decided to move to the development sector. She worked in Tata Trusts from 2003 to 2021. She anchored the Elder Care programme in Tata Trusts and was instrumental in conceptualisaing, designing, piloting and scaling a National helpline (Elder Line- 14567) for older adults along with the Ministry of Social Justice. In July 2021, she was awarded by the Vedica Women’s Alliance for her exemplary leadership in Social Impact.

Her last stint was as the Founding CEO in setting up the operations of Vayah Vikas, an NGO based in Bangalore working exclusively for the cause of older adults. She is also a certified Art Based Therapist. She is an art lover and pursues painting as her passion and is putting to use this interest in the form of therapy.

With her vast experience of having worked with older adults both in urban and rural settings, she strongly believes that having regular engaging activities with older adults can help maintain a balance of Mind, Body and Spirit. She has seen that work wonderfully to build the confidence and self-worth and dignity in older adults both in the Urban and Rural sector.

Ms. Mildred D’Souza

An M.A. in Economics, and also a B. Ed, she has been a topper in academics with a Gold Medal in BA and first in her college in B.Ed. After a long stint of working in the corporate world, her passion for teaching and training spurred her to move to the educational field.

She is now an experienced teacher with more than 15 years of teaching, training and content writing. Her interest in the area of older adults emerged because of her deeper understanding of caregiving within her own family where she was instrumental in caregiving of her older adults very closely. This lived experience made her strongly believe that ageing should be a positive experience where the older adults need to be continually connected socially, mentally and economically to their environment which can make the ‘ageing years’ an acceptable and happy experience.

Our Advisors

Dr. Shubha Sadanand Thatte

Dr. Shubha Sadanand Thatte, has a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from University of Mumbai. She has training in Advanced Behaviour Therapy & Biofeedback and in Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy. She worked as Clinical Psychologist in Seth G.S. Medical College and K.E.M. Hospital from 1972 to 1994. She is the Founding Member of Institute for Psychological Health (IPH) in 1990 and is currently actively involved in their various programs. She has vast experience of working with various groups including geriatric population. She also has teaching experience in the field of Clinical Psychology. She has received many awards for presenting papers in international conferences. She is currently actively involved in a project called SAGE (Satisfied Ageing). With all her rich background in the field of mental health, she is a teacher and mentor at heart guiding many young students to get into this field. She is a good example of defeating Age in spite of being a Super Senior Citizen.

Dr. Rekha Bhatkhande

Dr. Rekha Bhatkhande (MD, PGDHHM, and Consultant Gastroenterologist) is the Dean of Shushrusha Citizens Cooperative Hospital and the Founder President of Dilasa Group of Senior Citizens in Mumbai. She also holds other positions such as – President of Family Welfare Agency, Lower Parel & Dharavi; Vice President of FESCOM, Mumbai Region; and National Vice-President of MSSI (Multiple Sclerosis Society of India). She is also the Trustee of Centre for Study of Social Change in Bandra (Mumbai).

She is the Advisor on a number of prominent institutions such as – Community Development Society, India Chapter; Gram Vikas Samiti; Ausra Health; Resolve Diagnostics Pvt Ltd; Deogiri Sahakari Foundation; and Truwellth Healthcare. She is also the Resource person for the All India Institute of Local Self Government and the Disaster Cell in Mumbai.

She is the recipient of Y B Chavan Prathisthan Award 2018 and Jyeshtha Bhushan Puraskar, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment 2023.

She carries immense knowledge about ageing issues and is also actively involved in the social processes of older adults in Mumbai.

Dr. Mini Panicker

Dr. Mini Panicker, Founder of Sahabhaav, is a unique, one of its kind facility for elders in the heart of Mumbai. She is a Senior Homeopathic medical practitioner with over two decades of experience, including 10 years in running Sunita Hospital. Interacting with thousands of patients at Sunita Hospital, a 20 bedded general hospital, she realised that a premium geriatric home is a much needed requirement. Sahabhaav was born to address the health needs of senior citizens, currently with 3 centres in Andheri. It is a luxurious premium geriatric facility for people above 60 years. Round the clock nurses ensure that daily medicines are taken on time and regular visits by doctors take care of any health issues that may arise. They conduct various recreational and mind stimulating activities for the residents so that there is positive involvement maintained at the centre. Such activities have shown significant impact on the overall wellbeing of the residents.

Dr. Lakshmi Jagannathan

Dr. Lakshmi Jagannathan (CEO, Innovation Centre, Exec VP Comet Foundation, IIITB), is a professional in the not-for-profit industry with more than a decade of experience. Her interest and expertise lie in leveraging technology to build interventions which create impact and can be scaled faster.

She has been instrumental in setting up the entrepreneurship ecosystem at Dayananda Sagar Institutions and scaling it up from strength to strength to build DERBI Foundation, as a sustainable health care focused incubator in India.

She is well networked and supports the development of the Innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in various forums, to name a few: Chair, Startup committee, Bangalore Chamber of Commerce; Member, Governing Body, ISBA, TIE Bangalore Charter Member.

Mr. Sailesh Mishra

Mr. Sailesh Mishra is a Social Entrepreneur. He is the Founder President of Silver Innings Group and of A1 Snehanjali, assisted living elder care home for Dementia. Since 2008, Silver Innings is working towards creating an elder and dementia-friendly world where ageing becomes a positive and rewarding experience. His proactive approach, networking, social media tools and advocacy for ageing and dementia are well appreciated globally. He has participated in various national and international conferences and workshops and has received various awards for his work in the social and ageing domain.

Ms. Amee Shah

Ms. Amee Shah, Head Operations, is an experienced Hospital Administrator. She was the Senior Manager at Sunita Hospital for nine years, managing all the day to day operations and systems as well as ensuring that the staff were aligned to the overall goals and values of the hospital. Prior to that, she worked as part of the Administration in the Asian Heart Hospital in Mumbai handling operational roles. She has a great eye for details and a heart of gold. She manages the operations of Sahabhaav currently and also conducts activities for residents and keeps them engaged with lots of love and compassion.