Chief Executive Officer
Ratna Viswanathan is our Chief Executive Officer and is based in New Delhi, India. She is a highly accomplished senior development and public sector professional.
A former civil servant (Indian Audit and Accounts Service, 1987 batch), she has worked in a range of departments across the Government of India including Audit, Defence and Indian Public Broadcasting.
She was the CEO of the Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) for four years, which is both the industry body and the sector regulator (on behalf of the RBI) of the ‘for profit’ microfinance sector. She has held leadership positions at both Oxfam and VSO and has played a key role in managing change in both organisations. Before joining Reach to Teach, she was the Head of Strategic Partnerships at UNDP and before that a senior consultant with UNEP, where she helped establish the Sustainable India Finance Facility.
She is a highly experienced change agent, proficient in building capacity and influencing systems change by leveraging partnerships across different sectors. She sits on the Boards of several companies. She occasionally writes for The Print on defence issues.
Principal Director-Programme Strategy and Operations
Thomas was instrumental in setting up operations for Reach to Teach in India in 2012 and has led programmes in various capacities since then.
Thomas has over 23 years of management and leadership experience in international development, including 15 years with the Oxfam confederation. Thomas was the India Country Representative of Oxfam Intermon (the Spanish affiliate of Oxfam International) for 11 years. With Oxfam Australia, he worked as Change Lead where he oversaw re-structuring of operations in Southern African and East Asian countries, as part of Oxfam International’s efforts to implement a single management structure. Thomas was also the Country Director of Oxfam International in the Solomon Islands.
Principal Director of Operations
Peter is a chartered accountant with over 30 years of experience working in financial and operational management for international businesses. Prior to joining Reach to Teach in 2013, Peter worked at two leading international strategy consulting companies. He was part of the senior financial team at Bain & Company and was the Finance Director at Monitor Company responsible for much of their international operations outside of North America.
