The XRCVC Team
The XRCVC’s initiative has been driven by a small, dedicated team of professionals who are extremely passionate about the work they do.
Executive Director: Dr. Sam Taraporevala
The XRCVC is Dr. Sam Taraporevala's brain child. Dr. Sam wears the dual hat of being actively involved as a Sociology academician and also a renowned name in the field of disability. He has been a part of several academic committees and National Disability bodies including Member, Board of Studies, Department of Sociology and Anthropology and Member, Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC), St. Xavier's College - Autonomous; Member, Braille Council of India; Member, General Council, National Institute for the Visually Handicapped (NIVH), Dehradun and Vice President & Chair, Committee on Policy Intervention& Higher Education, DAISY Forum of India, to name a few. He retired in 2020 as the Associate Professor and Head of the Dept. of Sociology at St. Xavier's College - Autonomous, Mumbai.
Managing Consultant (Programs): Ketan Kothari
With over 25 years of experience in the field of disability, Ketan’s role at the XRCVC involves end-to-end implementation of our programs, stakeholder engagement, monitoring and evaluation, fundraising and compliance and people management at the XRCVC. Having worked on program implementation in the areas of disability rights and health for marginalized people and monitoring, Ketan has professional experience of both sides of the program cycle. Ketan has Masters degrees in Political Science (Gold Medallist) and Social Entrepreneurship. He is an avid reader and a cricket enthusiast.
Executive Assistant and Manager Administration and Finance: Aniket Gupta
Aniket has been working with the XRCVC since 2004. He is a Commerce graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Aniket is a vital part of the XRCVC team, handling among other things, overall administration and accounts. He has an avid interest in photography and sports. Aniket lives the proverb, "A friend in need is a friend indeed".
Lead Consultant – Awareness (Workshops): Krishna Warrier
After spending close to 25 years in the field of journalism, Krishna followed his heart to take up an assignment with a non-profit organisation in the area of disability. Krishna looks after our advocacy and awareness programmes. In his spare time, Krishna enjoys trekking, table tennis and teaching, though not necessarily in that order.
Lead Consultant - Awareness (Advocacy): Disha Kapadia - Chinchwadkar
Disha has Masters degrees in Psychology and Management and corporate experience in Human Resources. She works on our awareness and advocacy programs. She enjoys reading, writing and cooking.
Lead Consultant Inclusive Education: Poonam Deokar
Poonam having a B.Ed. Sp.Ed. degree in Specific Learning Disabilities along with M.Sc. in Mathematics. Working with XRCVC since 2019 as a remedial educator for college students with SLD and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) resource person for Visually Impaired students across all grades. Apart from education, she enjoys things like reading, listening to music, drawing cartoons.
Senior Consultant - Education: Shizanne D'mello
Shizanne has a B.Ed. (Sp.Ed.) degree in Specific Learning Disabilities and joined the XRCVC while pursuing her F.Y.B.Com. at St. Xavier's College. Crucial to our accessible content creation process, she is efficient and knowledgeable and always ready to help. Shizanne lets her artistic skills influence even the seemingly mundane everyday activities. That, coupled with her perpetual smile, brightens up the Centre.
Lead Consultant Assistive Technology: Keshavan Nadar
Another graduate of the Commerce Section at St. Xavier's College, Keshavan completed his graduation while working at the XRCVC. A techie at heart, he has been a part of XRCVC since 2012. He runs assistive technology programs, research projects, and manages our resource centre outside of the college, XRCVC-Viviana Extension, at Viviana Mall, Thane.
Consultant - Technology: Vikas Dabholkar
Vikas worked in a pharma company for more than 25 years as a Production Supervisor. Post his certification as a Computer Trainer for the Visually Impaired, he has been involved in the training of many blind and low vision persons through various organisations in the city. Vikas has been an essential part of the XRCVC-Viviana Extension at Viviana Mall, Thane since its inauguration in 2015.
Support Staff: Manoj Rajvadiya
Manoj is the Office Assistant and the backbone of our office logistics. He comes to us with over 15 years of administrative and office assistance experience in various settings including IT, consultancy and films. He is also a fitness and cricket enthusiast.
