Established in 1999, The Dharani Trust is the parent and administering organization of The Indian Institute of Geographical Studies (TIIGS). Dharani is a registered non-governmental, non-profit, apolitical charitable trust in Bangalore, India. (Reg. No.: 148:1999-2000)

Dharani is approved by the Government of India to receive foreign contributions.

Dharani works in the fields of research, education, and community service using Geography in often unorthodox and innovative ways.

Mission

1. Interdisciplinary research on contemporary issues.

2. Education that integrates subjects in the curriculum and field-based research by capacity-building for teachers and students.

3. Outreach activities by helping civil society, governmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in project design and data capacity-building.

Trustees

	Dr. Chandra Shekhar Balachandran, Geographer, Bangalore (Founder & Chairman).Dr. Balachandran is a geographer with over 25 years of cumulative teaching experience in the U.S.A. and India, ranging from K-12 to post-graduate geography education. He has worked extensively with K-12 geography teachers in the U.S.A. and India. He is currently based in Bangalore. He is actively promoting innovative geography education in the K-12 levels by active engagement with teachers and students in different syllabi in Kannada and English. He spearheads the GeoVidyaa Geography Centre of Excellence, a partnership with Army Public School, Bangalore. He can be contacted at balachandran at tiigs dot org.
	Ms. T. Vasanthakumari, BSc, AMIE, Diploma in Montessori Education. Montessorian, Bangalore. (Managing Trustee). Ms. Vasanthkumari is a retired engineer. She is the Founder/Director of “Young Creators’ Den” — a creative learning environment for children, beyond the walls of the school, run on Montessori principles — for over a decade. She is also a consultant on Montessori Education. She is the Founder- Managing Trustee of  ‘Raghav Shreyas Foundation for Arts’, engaged in promotion of all forms of art.  She can be reached at vasanthak at gmail dot com
	Mr. Kiran Subbaraman, BE. IT Specialist, IBM, Bangalore. (Trustee).Mr. Kiran Subbaraman is a software engineer by profession; IBM his employer. Kiran is interested in travel, mix of history and geography in a cultural context. He occasionally authors posts on his travel blog, other-interests blog, and on Twitter.
	Mr. Jai Iyer, B.E., MBA. Independent Consultant. (Trustee). Mr. Jai Iyer heads marketing and product strategy at Magic Lamp Software, a Bangalore based technology start-up. An alumnus of IIM Bangalore, Jai is also an exhibited artist and comics-creator. His blog, IyerMatter, showcases his diverse interests.

Advisory Board

	Mr. Vivek Dhar, Software Professional. Mr. Vivek Dhar spent most of his first twenty one years in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and then lived in seven different cities in the US and India in as many years. He now golfs, cooks, programs (for a living), makes photographs (for fun), and lives a happily married life in Sacramento, California. CA.
	Professor Mumtaz Khan, Department of Geography, Jamia Millia Islamia University (New Delhi). Professor Mumtaz Khan is a cultural geographer. Among his individual and collaborative publications is the book “Mystical Space, Cosmology And Landscape: Towards A Cultural Geography Of India” (2002). His research interests include the study of social morphology of villages, marital linkages, sacred space and pilgrimage, folk regions, and the interpretation of cultural landscapes.
	Ms. Renu Appachu, LLB, DBA. Founder, Director, Jagruthi, Bangalore. Ms. Renu Appachu has a law and business background. After a chance meeting with Mother Teresa, she entered social service. Since 1993, she has worked for stemming the spread of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among marginalized people (hijras, men who have sex with men, sex workers, etc.). She established a NGO called Jagruthi, dedicated to this work. Ashoka Fellowship, Governor of Karnataka award, and the Kalasha Award have honored her. Currently, she also runs a home care center for girl children who are sexually exploited and endangered by HIV and STI.
	Ms. Manjula Raman, MA, MEd, MPhil, Principal, Army Public School, Bangalore.Ms. Manjula Raman has served as Principal of the Army Public School in several locations and currently heads the school at Bangalore. She is passionate about all-round, innovative education of children within and beyond the curriculum. This passion includes geography education; she credits her own geography teacher for stimulating curiosity in the world around.
	Ms. Deepa Prakash, MSc, PhD scholar, Bangalore.Ms. Deepa Prakash is currently a PhD scholar in Food Behavior, University of Mysore. She has conducted several research projects for Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on food and nutrition. She was formerly CEO, Nutreplanet Consultancy and Sub-Editor of “Food and Nutrition World” magazine.