Our Board of Trustees

Dileep Nair has more than 30 years of experience in governance and public service in the Singapore Civil Service and the United Nations.

He was with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs serving as the High Commissioner to the Republic of Ghana from 2013 to 2016. Prior to that, Dileep was the Ambassador to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic from 2011 to 2013 and the Consul-General to the Emirate of Dubai from 2006 to 2010. He was the Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services at the United Nations from 2000 to 2005.

Dileep is now an Independent Director of Keppel DC REIT, Thakral Corporation Limited, and Singapore Reinsurance Corporation Limited, as well as a Board Member of Health Sciences Authority of Singapore.  He is also a part-time lecturer at the Civil Service College of Singapore.

Dileep has been awarded the Public Service Medal (Silver) and the 25-year Grand Award for Community Service by the Singapore Government.

Ahmad Magad is currently Principal Consultant of Dynavision Advisory, which provides advisory services in Business and Manufacturing Excellence to SMEs and individual entrepreneurs. He also conducts lectures in similar disciplines at the University of Nagasaki in Japan and the Management Development Institute of Singapore. He has also been engaged by the Sasakawa Foundation, Japan to conduct Leadership programmes for Myanmar Senior Civil Officers (in 2015 and 2017) in Naypitaw, Myanmar and by the Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), Japan to host Business and Leadership courses for senior management participants from various Asian countries in Japan and in Taiwan. He was also commissioned by the APO in 2020 to co-develop a programme entitled Digital Innovation Process Guide along side Dr Eva Diedrichs of Eva Diedrichs International Management Consultancy, Germany, for dissemination to various Asian countries. In 2021, he was also appointed to conduct a 3-day programme in Digital Innovation via the Zoom platform for Senior Executives of Indian SMEs and midsize Multi-National Indian companies.   

Prior to this, he was Executive Director of the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) for a year with a strong focus on transformation and business development. In this short stint he transformed the sales and marketing division, introducing courses in digital marketing as well as launched programmes to convert staff mindset from order takers to order hunters.  He was also Chairman of the MDIS Senate and the Academic Advisory Board for more than 15 years.

Ahmad Magad was also Secretary General of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF), a trade association founded in 1932 representing the interests of manufacturing and manufacturing related industries with more than 4,000 members. In the two-year period he was there, he initiated digital transformation as a result of which the Federation profits grew by 25% average compared to the prior years. 

He was Group Managing Director of the II-VI Infrared Manufacturing Operations in Asia, a position he held for 30 years since 1988, with facilities in Singapore, Suzhou, the Philippines and Vietnam, all of which are subsidiaries of Nasdaq-Listed II-VI Incorporated (currently known as Coherent Incorporated). The company is highly diversified and manufactures infrared materials, IR and Near IR optical components and systems and a wide variety of components and devices for laser and opto-electronic applications in the industrial, military and medical fields. He retired from the company in August 2018. Over the 30-year period, he helped propel the growth of the company from a mere USD10 million to USD1.45 billion at the point of his retirement. He played a catalytic role in persuading the corporate to invest and set-up manufacturing facilities in China, Vietnam and the Philippines, each time spending significant amount of times in those countries to oversee proper set-up and smooth running of the operations. Except for one instance when the operation took two years to turn profitable, the rest of the operations became profitable within the first year of operation.

Prior to joining II-VI, he was General Manager of the Singapore subsidiary of Chicago-based FJW Industries, a manufacturer of Precision Optical components and Instruments for a wide variety of commercial and military applications, a position he held for 8 years. He grew the Singapore operation from a mere USD400K in sales to more than USD20 million by the time he left the organization.

As a Public Service Commission Scholar (PSC, a Singapore Government scholarship awarding agency) for a course of study in Precision Engineering in Germany from 1971 to 1975, he returned to Singapore to serve a five-year bond with the Singapore Economic Development Board at one of EDB’s four Training Institutes to train Craftsmen in Precision Optics.   

In January 1997 he was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Pasir Ris-Punggol Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and served three terms for a total of 15 years until he retired in 2011.  

He has also served as Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Finance and Trade & Industry and the GPC for Manpower for 3 years each and as Deputy Chairman for the GPC for Education for 2 years. He was also appointed Chairman of the Estimates Committee of the Singapore Parliament in August 2008, a position he held until his retirement in May 2011. He also served in various Government Statutory Boards, including as Deputy Chairman of the Institute of Technical Education and Board member of the Singapore Productivity and Standards Board (SPRING Singapore and now known as Enterprise Singapore), the Public Utilities Board, the Energy Market Authority, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and Workforce Singapore (WSG). He was also a council member of the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council and the National Productivity Council for a total of 6 years. He was also Chairman of the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council for 8 years from 2004 to 2011. 

Ahmad Magad was also President of the Singapore Productivity Association, founded in 1973, for a period of 20 years, from 1999 to 2019. He also chaired the Singapore Productivity Centre, which was set-up in 2013 under the auspices of SPRING Singapore to propel productivity growth in the Retail, Food Services and Hotel sectors.  He was also Vice-President of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation Council for 15 years and was a member of the Board of Advisors of the Singapore Business Advisors and Consultants Council (SBAAC) for 12 years. He also served as Chairman of the Senate and the Academic Advisory Board of the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) for 16 years, which conducts degree programs at under-graduate, post-graduate and doctoral levels in collaboration with various accredited US, UK and Australian Universities. He was also a Council Member of the Asia Pacific Quality Organization (APQO).  In May 2015, he was appointed as a Justice of the Peace (JP) by the President of the Republic of Singapore May 2015 and reappointed in May 2018 and again in May 2023, currently serving his third term.

Ahmad Magad’s PSC Scholarship in 1971 for a course of study in Germany qualified him for the Inginieur Grad (Graduate Engineer) in Precision Engineering (Feinwerktechnik) with specialization in Optics. He also holds a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from Brunel (UK), an MBA and an Advanced Post Graduate Diploma in Management Consultancy from Henley Business School (UK), which is affiliated to Reading University (UK).

As a distinguished alumni of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), he was awarded in 2003 the coveted AIM Triple A award for his contribution to Management Education and voluntary work to improve the lives of Singaporeans as an MP. In 2004, the Singapore Malay of Chamber of Commerce and Industry recognized him as the Achiever of the Year for attaining a Doctorate amidst his busy schedule as Managing Director of an American MNC as well as serving as a Member of Parliament.  He was awarded the Walter L. Hurd Executive Medal by the Asia Pacific Quality Organization (APQO) in 2016 in recognition of his contribution to Singapore’s Productivity and Quality movements.  

Ahmad Magad is also a Fellow Member each of CPA (Australia), the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and the Singapore Institute of Directors and is a Distinguished Fellow of the Management Development Institute of Singapore.  

Dr. Asha was previously managing her own dental clinic for over two decades and has since sold her clinic. She continues to practise at Novena Medical Centre and has been an active member of the Singapore Dental Association for close to four decades.

She was a member of the Association’s Audit Committee and chaired several other committees most notably, the Ethics and Practice Management Committee.

She held the position of President of the Singapore Dental Health Foundation, a voluntary organisation focused on public health education.

Mr Foo was an institutional stock dealer. He is one of Singapore’s most illustrious volunteers, with a resume of beneficiary organisations that includes Sree Narayana Mission (Singapore), SWAMI Home, Christalite Methodist Home, Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital, the Jamiyah organisation, Serving People with Disabilities, PerWanit, Community Centres/Clubs. He is also a volunteer at more than 50 schools, the Community Chest as well as its registered beneficiaries and individuals.

Mr Foo started the Goodie Bag programme – a tie-up with Sheng Shiong to do food distribution event for financially needy families. He was also the visionary force behind Project 100=50, a tie-up with Sheng Shiong, Community Centres/Clubs and grassroots organisations piloted by Heartwarmers volunteer group in 2017. His Year-end Back to School with a Smile programme encourages children from challenging backgrounds to get enthused about school. Mr Foo also started We Love Learning Centre, a centre where children from challenging backgrounds can drop by to read, study, and attend tuition and enrichment classes.

Mr Foo was co-opted to the BOT in 2021.

Mr Jayadev says that he was very fortunate to be exposed to Sree Narayana Guru’s teachings from a very young age. The values imbibed has guided his life. He has served in various capacities in SNM. Prior to his election as President of SNM in 2019, he served as Trustee of SNM for more than 10 years. Now that his term as President has ended, he is serving as a Trustee once more.

He is involved in the community as a grassroots leader, and currently serves as the Treasurer of Chong Pang Citizen’s Consultative Committee and Community Development Welfare Fund Committee. He chairs the Malayalam Language Education Society which promotes the Malayalam Language and the Vice-Chairman of Northbrooks Secondary School Advisory Committee.

Mr Jayadev is a Director of Suriya Trading Enterprise (S) Pte Ltd, manufacturer of House Brand Food Products. An accountant by training, he is glad to be associated with a profession that is defined by integrity and truth.

Mr Manu is a Partner of the Centennial Group, a strategic advisory firm headquartered in Washington DC and Founding CEO of its Singapore subsidiary Centennial Asia Advisors.  He is also an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies in Singapore while also serving on various advisory and corporate boards such as the Advisory Board of the International Monetary Fund in Asia.

As a director of companies including Japfa Limited which is listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, he has also been on board committees such as the audit committee and nomination committee. He has also served in the past as a Trustee of international institutions such as The Asia Foundation in Asia and the CFA Institute Research Foundation.

Mr Rajesh Sreenivasan is a Partner and Head of the Technology, Media & Telecommunications Law Practice at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP and the Coordinating Partner for the firm’s multidisciplinary and cross-practice Data and Digital Economy (DDE) Legal Services. He is a Director and co-founder of two legal tech entities: Rajah & Tann Technologies, and Rajah & Tann Cybersecurity. With over 20 years in practice, he has been universally recognised as
the leading technology, media, and telecoms lawyer in Singapore.

Mr Rajesh plays a significant role in leading legal sector transformation and innovation initiatives at a National level culminating in his work on the EXCO of Lupi, the world’s first open platform for legal management and collaboration. Lupi powers the Legal Technology Platform (LTP), a key initiative in the Ministry of Law’s Technology and Innovation roadmap for the legal sector. He sits on several International Boards. He was elected to the Board of Trustee (BOT) in 2021.

Ms Sunu was an Education Officer (LEAD Teacher) with MOE. She was a professional and pedagogical leader who guided teachers (School, Cluster and Zone) in quality teaching and learning. She was also a Mentor Coach at MOE HQ and trained MOE teacher-mentors in Instructional Mentoring and Coaching, for effective teaching and learning. Since retiring in 2021, Mrs Sunu continues to be a flexi adjunct Education Officer.

She currently serves as the Vice-President of Singapore Malayalee Association (SMA) and is one of the Directors of SMA Care Limited. She was elected to the BOT in 2021.

Dr Thara Ravindran is currently a Research Fellow at the Information and Management Centre, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University. She has been part of a National Research Foundation (NRF) funded project on entrepreneurship and innovation and is the co-author of a recently published book titled “Identifying Business Opportunities Through Innovation”. She was also involved in a successful grant application of The City Pulse Project for the Ministry of National Development, which is the highest grant secured by Nanyang Business School. Her domains of research include usability of delivery robots and sustainability.

She was elected to the BOT in 2021.

Mr Viswa Sadasivan is the Founder and Managing Consultant of Strategic Moves – a respected
corporate strategy communications consulting practice. Over the past 40 years, he has held various public sector leadership positions that requires a deep appreciation for governance. Mr Viswa served on several public sector boards including Media Development Board, and SPRING Singapore where he was co-chairman of the audit Committee. He served on the Executive Committee of SINDA as Vice President for a decade and subsequently on its
Board of Trustees.

Mr Viswa is also a long serving member of the National Youth Achievement Award Council and
served 5 years on the board of the Singapore International Mediation Centre. As a board member of the Singapore International Mediation Centre, he was actively involved in promoting mediation in Asia, especially in India. Mr Viswa has been a principal mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre and has been on its panel since its inception in 1997.
He also served on the national Economic Review Committee and the Singapore 21 Committee.

Trained as an elite Guardsman, Mr Viswa has served in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) for 40 years as a National Serviceman. He rose to the rank of Colonel, and his last position was Deputy Director, Joint Operations, SAF. Mr Viswa served with distinction as a Nominated Member of Parliament from 2009 to 2011. At the age of 32, Mr Viswa was elected as the President of then-Singapore Kerala Association (now Singapore Malayalee Association) for one term. Mr Viswa holds a Master of Public Administration degree from then-Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.