School Governance
The KIS Council of Directors is responsible for the overall governance of the school, setting of strategic KIS direction, review of plans and budgets established by the 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
Dr. John Thomas (Class of 1998)
Chairperson
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.
Dr. S. Alfred Devaprasad
Vice Chairperson
Dr. S. Alfred Devaprasad is an education administrator with close to 30 years of experience in establishing and leading institutions across the K-12 and higher education sectors. He presently serves as the CEO & Correspondent of Christwood School, Chennai, and is a Director on the Boards of Madras Christian College and Schools, Stanes School, Coimbatore, and Christopher’s College of Education & Schools, Chennai. He also serves on the Governing Boards of Stella Maris College and Good Shepherd School, Chennai, and chairs Christopher’s Academy, a CBSE school in Chennai. Dr. Devaprasad is a founding Trustee of ACSI India and a member of the Development Committee of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia. His academic service includes contributions to the University of Madras as Chairman of the Board of Studies in Electronic Sciences and Member of the Academic Council. Internationally, he was invited by the U.S. Department of State as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program on “Education Today.”
CA 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. Jemimah Marak (Class of 2002)
Secretary
Ms. Jemimah 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. Jemimah 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. Marisa D'Mello
Dr. Marisa D’Mello 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, Dr. D'Mello 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 conceptualize, 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.
CA 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.
Mr. Satyakki Bhattacharjee
Mr. Satyakki Bhattacharjee has a career spanning close to 30 years, He has held several leadership roles in multiple Indian and MNC organizations across Manufacturing, Pharma, ITeS and Media & Entertainment Industry. Prior to founding GrowthSqapes, he was the CHRO of an Indian media giant. Mr. Bhattacharjee has several thousand hours of facilitation experience in the field of leadership development and coaching at the CXO level under his belt. Additionally, he also has the experience of working in the area of OD in the European market. As the head of the Leadership and OD practice at GrowthSqapes, he assists clients in building a strong leadership capability building foundation by extending the understanding and implementation of leadership assessment & development frameworks.
Dr. John Kurien
Dr. John Kurien is a reflective development practitioner engaged at the interface of livelihoods, institutional innovation, and environmental concerns. With an academic background in statistics, business management, and the social sciences, he began in the early 1970s by organising fish-marketing cooperatives with Kerala’s fisherfolk and in 1986 co-founded the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers which functions from Chennai and Amsterdam. He spent 25 years on the faculty of the Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum, Kerala State, undertaking research on fisheries and marine environmental issues and teaching research methodology, environment, and development concerns. He was Visiting Professor at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, teaching courses on coastal ecology and livelihoods for a decade. He also served five years with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in Cambodia (post-conflict) and Indonesia (post-tsunami), helping rebuild and reimagine institutions for coastal and riparian communities.
Mr. Shanthakumar D
Mr. Shanthakumar has over three decades of experience in the healthcare industry. He has led several companies in the areas of sales, marketing, service support, production, design & development. He has managed technology transfers, product/patent/tech licensing, clinical validations, grants and fund raising. Mr. Shanthakumar has a strong expertise in developing new business opportunities, significant experience in the Southeast Asia region and extensive connect with medical device manufacturers across the globe. He is currently focused on developing and managing two companies in the Healthcare domain – Vital Bio-Systems Pvt Ltd, a Medical Equipment distribution and training company and Kornerstone Devices Pvt Ltd, a startup in the Radiology segment. He also mentor's startups in the MedTech space.
Ms. Ruth Eunice Anand
Ms. Ruth, a passionate teacher has been active in the field of education since 1994, a post graduate in Literature and Education. She worked in Lady Andal and Akshayah specializing in teaching English Language and progressed to Head of School for a Cambridge Curriculum. She is currently part of International Examinations and also works as an English Consultant. Ruth is the author for
Tulips a series published by Oxford University Press. In addition involved in Church Ministries that help in counselling and uplifting the marginalized and down trodden.
Mr. Jose John
Jose John is a partner of the renowned law firm, King and Partridge, Chennai. He is a leading commercial lawyer with extensive practice in the High Court of Madras, NCLT, NCLAT, DRT and DRAT. He advises and represents a number of Christian educational institutions and charitable organizations in matters concerning the Companies Act, Societies Act, Trusts Act, FCRA and FEMA. Jose John also has a well-known arbitration practice all over India.