The Trustees play a vital role in the strategic direction of Friends of Seva Mandir UK:
Tony Bourne | Chairman
Tony currently chairs Universal Engineering, a leading drilling equipment provider, and the Chelsea and Westminster Health Charity. He is a non-executive director at Barchester, one of the UK’s largest residential care home businesses, and Spire Healthcare, the leading UK listed private hospital and healthcare provider. In 2013, Tony retired as Chief Executive of the British Medical Association after 9 years in that role.
David Moorhouse | Secretary
David is currently Group Finance Director of Deltex Medical Group plc. Before this appointment in 2019 he was Head of Finance and Administration of the International Coffee Organization, an intergovernmental organisation, from 2004 to 2017. Prior to this, he served in a number of roles: he was a corporate financier at European Banking Company and a Managing Director at an executive search firm, Russell Reynolds Associates Inc., in London and Frankfurt. After graduating in Modern and Mediaeval Languages from Queens’ College, Cambridge, in 1974, David started working in 1974 at a merchant bank, Kleinwort Benson Ltd, and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse & Co.
Vinay Ghai | Treasurer
Vinay is a Managing Director at Robert W Baird, a US-headquartered global investment bank. Based in London, he is responsible for European financial sponsor coverage and managing the firm’s relationships with a number of leading private equity firms.
Vinay joined Baird in 2011 as a Managing Director in the Global Industrials team, where he worked for five years, and has over twenty years’ experience in executing and advising on private equity and public company transactions across a wide range of sectors throughout Europe. Prior to joining Baird, Vinay spent nearly fifteen years at Hawkpoint, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank in their M&A teams.
Vinay has a first-class degree from Imperial College, London, and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen.
Don Baladasan | Trustee
Don, a Chartered Management Accountant, has years of experience as a Director of AIM (Alternative Investment Market) listed companies. Over the years, he has assisted both public and private businesses in restructuring, raising and managing several million pounds of equity and debt. He has experience of integrating internationally acquired companies from a finance, governance and commercial perspective.
Don initially studied medicine at Guy’s Hospital, before completing a BSc in Economics at CASS Business School and then training as a Chartered Management Accountant. He founded Mataxis, a consultancy that specialises in advising and partnering fast-growing entities. Prior to this, he was Head of Accounting Development at Stemcor, an international steel trader. He has held various finance and operational
Jonathan Berman | Trustee
Jonathan has been a corporate partner at Mishcon de Reya, specialising in Mergers & Acquisitions, since 1997. He has assisted, and continues to assist, a number of charities operating in the UK, Africa and Australia. Jonathan was appointed as an officer of the Friends of Seva Mandir UK in July 2011. He became aware of the charity through St Christopher School, attended by one of his children. St Christopher School supports the charity and sends children to India each year to help with various projects.
Deepu is a senior investment executive at IFM Investors, a leading fund management company which invests in infrastructure assets globally on behalf of pension funds and similar institutional investors. Deepu is responsible for the origination and execution of new investment opportunities as well as ongoing monitoring of existing investments in IFM’s global infrastructure fund portfolio. She represents IFM investors as an alternate Director on the Board of Arqiva, a UK-based communications infrastructure and media services company.
Deepu has worked in the financial services sector for over 11 years across Europe and North America. Prior to IFM Investors, she worked at Citi Investment Bank providing financing and transaction advisory services in New York and San Francisco. Deepu has a master’s degree from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from University of Bombay.
Raj Ragoowansi | Trustee
Raj is a Consultant Plastic, Aesthetic and Hand Surgeon at Barts Health Trust. As lead clinician he combines an administrative role with his surgical practice. Raj leads a multi-disciplinary Hand and Wrist Surgery team to treat complex upper-limb trauma, supported by the HEMS Polytrauma team, and carries out elective hand surgery to treat post-trauma deformity as well as other conditions. In addition, Raj manages congenital and post-mastectomy breast defects in liaison with the Breast Unit at Barts Hospital. Teaching is an integral part of his practice. He has set up a private practice chambers with regular General Plastic Surgery/Aesthetic Surgery clinics, together with a weekly ‘see and treat’ Hand Clinic.
Raj carried out a microsurgical fellowship in Coimbatore, India, where he treated patients with complex post-cancer surgical defects and also severe upper limb injuries from agricultural/industrial machinery.
John Pheasant | Trustee
John was a solicitor advocate. As partner at Hogan Lovells, he was responsible for the firm’s international expansion in Europe, Asia and the USA. He retired in 2012. John is a trustee of Brook Cricket Club.
John and his wife, Felicia, first visited Seva Mandir in 2012, following which they spent three winters living in Udaipur supporting Seva Mandir. They now return every year to continue their invaluable practical support, as well as working to help the NGO from the UK. John is a photographer, making an important record of Seva Mandir’s programmes, and his work was the subject of a public exhibition in Udaipur in 2016.