The Founding Team

Winning the lottery ticket at birth to educated parents, I had a huge head start over my peers, I got quality education, health, and mentoring leading to degrees in Engineering from BIT Mesra & Management degree from IIM Lucknow.

A global successful corporate career followed with a privileged life.

In 2008, enter Parmahansa Yogananda

The two most important days of your life are the day you're born, and the day you find out why through a teacher.

After reading "Autobiography of a Yogi" I realized the purpose of life, was to assimilate self, family, community, and work into one.

I wondered how that would happen.

But in 2011, things changed.

Standing at the school bus stop, with my daughter on a cold winter morning, I saw 2 children walk barefoot, with no warm clothes to their school, in a sharp contrast to mine. My privilege started me in the face.

I visited the school of the 2 children and donated shoes, caps, and socks to all 250+ children. It was fulfilling.

LOTUS PETAL FOUNDATION is born.

I noticed children studying at grades far lower than their age, destined for a life of manual labor.

Seeing no alternative, started a 1 room school to fast-track them into a job based on education.

6 students came. Then more and by 2016, it was over 100 children and the first 6 students cleared their secondary exams, in an extraordinary achievement.

No obstacle is greater than the purpose.

In 2016, I quit my corporate career to devote my life to this cause.

By 2021 we shifted gears to

1. Providing world-class education o 10,000 students by building India's largest philanthropic school. This could provide an option to solve the fragmented school urban education infrastructure with multiple small-size schools.

2. Live interactive digital classed to schools in remote/rural areas to solve teacher shortages, enabling a higher level of learning outcomes in their education life cycle.

In 2024, we are on our way

2000 students on campus, which is 50% operational.
5000+ students, 100+ schools in live interactive digital platform.
300+ alumni, earning 2x of India's per capita income.
200+ team sharing a common mission.

I feel some assimilation of self, family, community, and work becoming ONE.

Saloni is a writer, journalist and graduate of the University of Sheffield, UK. She started her career working with BBC Radio in the UK and worked for television channels and print media in India. Saloni was always looking to work with people in need, whether it was spending time in Mother Teresa’s home for the destitute or motivating immigrant families to assimilate into the mainstream in England. She found herself spending more of her time volunteering for various non-profits in the United States like Big Brothers Big Sisters, United Way, to name a few. It was her time spent with Ten Thousand Villages in Cincinnati, Ohio that exposed her to ways in which she could organize herself to give in a substantial way. She ran the Cincinnati Fundraising Chapter for Dining For Women. It was then that she dreamt of moving back to India to have her own charity so that people could support one another in leading better and more meaningful lives.

Rakesh is a name that is synonymous to “pillar of support” at the organization. Mr. Jetli holds a glorious 28 years of work experience in the Corporate world. His journey with Lotus Petal Foundation began as a volunteer in 2011.

After being associated with Lotus Petal Foundation for 8 years, in 2019 Mr. Jetli joined full time. Since then, he has zealously shouldered every responsibility with the utmost responsibility & dedication, including construction of the Lotus Petal Senior Secondary School in Dhunela, Gurugram.

A true environmentalist at heart, Mr. Jetli believes that one’s aim should be to improve, develop & co-exist with the environment rather than damaging it. With a firm belief in “no obstruction is bigger than the purpose”, Mr. Jetli has kept the building of the school on track from day one.

Overcoming various challenges, he has always ensured that the organization’s primary goal of keeping the “Child at the Centre” stays everyone’s focus.

Rakesh truly believes that more than a qualified child, it is important to nurture students into educated individuals who understand that living in a sustainable environment is the norm, being disciplined and committed towards their goals is a must to become confident & succesful individuals of the society.