Betsy Neuville serves dual roles as Executive Director of the Keystone Institute, a US-based educational Institute, and Director of Keystone Institute India. She has well over 30 years of experience within Keystone Human Services as a human service worker, administrator, agency director, evaluator, educator, and personal advocate, as well as extensive experience in designing and developing supports for very vulnerable people, meaningful quality measurements, and extraordinary employee development programs. She has been working in India for over 4 years, heading up significant national change efforts at inclusive practice, respectful and personalized service strategies, and building community capacity to create a society where there is a place for everyone.

She has designed and created responsive residential services alongside literally hundreds of people with developmental and psychosocial disabilities across the United States over her decades of committed change work. Betsy has worked extensively with the ideas of Normalization and Social Role Valorization, and provides training and consultation internationally, with extensive experience in Central and Eastern Europe, and, in recent years, India. She is fully accredited by the North American Social Role Valorization Council as a senior trainer of SRV, and co-founded the International SRV Association in 2015. She has led SRV and person-directed practice initiatives in Canada, across the United States, India, Ireland, UK, France, Holland, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Romania, and the Republic of Moldova. She studied under the mentorship of Dr. Wolf Wolfensberger, the developer and foremost proponent of Social Role Valorization, and has, in turn, mentored and supported a generation of people committed to personal human service to others. She remains closely personally connected to people who are vulnerable, and holds particular interest in the historical treatment of people with disabilities.

She has led the creation of a community of practice of Social Role Valorization across India, as well as a strong base of those skilled in person directed planning and approaches, mentoring next generation leaders and practitioners.

Betsy divides her time equally between India and the US, making her home in both Delhi, India, and Pennsylvania, United States.

Dr. Imran Ali serves as Director of Administration at Keystone Institute India, and is committed to assisting people with disability to live rich, full community lives. He brings in strong experience in developing and leading organizational efforts to assist marginalized people to have good health, valued employment, and full lives.

Dr. Ali is responsible for managing and administering all major business and corporate affairs of Keystone Institute India. His responsibility includes communicating, coordinating, and collaborating with allied professionals, partners, vendors, team members, disability advocates, government, and allied organizations. He closely works with the Executive Director of KII to provide strong leadership in planning, compliances, fund-raising, development of operational policies, human resources, budgeting, new business development, and supervision of administrative employees.

Ms. Geeta Mondol serves as Project Leader for Keystone Institute India, providing consultation and education in our many programs and events. Geeta has decades of experience in working with, and being with, people with disabilities, and is also a parent of two young men, one of whom experiences autism.

Geeta leads programmatic aspects of a pilot project which assists women with developmental disability who have been abandoned in institutions to re-establish themselves as valued and contributing members of their communities, as well as heads up a highly successful program to re-unify institutionalized people with disabilities with their families.

She has been involved in conducting training on inclusion and integration of people with disabilities with many organizations in various parts of the country and abroad. Her early years involved working in a mainstream school helping include those with disabilities in the mainstream classrooms. Currently, she works closely with families and individuals with disability in empowering and equipping them with knowledge, skills, and attitudes that help them to integrate in society as contributing citizens.

She also works with faith leaders and faith-based organizations to assist them to include people with disabilities in their communities. She is a partner with Engage Disability, a network of faith-based organizations, and facilitates capacity building of member organizations to effectively respond to the needs of people with disabilities.

Geeta successfully completed an extensive Social Role Valorization (SRV) training course at the inaugural Indian course in 2016 and has worked to implement SRV within many organizations and in the life of her own family. She has taught SRV across India in English and Hindi, and has participated in pilot planning projects using person-directed planning. She has attended formative events in person-directed approaches and has participated as a member of multiple planning circles, both in training simulations and in bona fide planning sessions.

Grace Daniel has joined Keystone Institute India as the program lead for inclusion and communication.

Professionally Grace is a Special Educator with over two decades of experience. She is passionate about inclusive schooling. She served as the special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) at Cambridge International School Jalandhar, establishing a thriving department for special needs services catering to students with various disabilities inclusively.

Grace also serves as the Founding Director of I Care Rehabilitation Center, an inclusive NGO that works with children and adults with disabilities and provides educational opportunities for underprivileged girls and people who did not complete school or college.

She is an internationally certified Brain Gym instructor and consultant.

Grace is a creative and artistic person who serves as graphic facilitator with Keystone Institute India. She has an excellent ability to take words and thoughts and organize them to create a beautiful visual expression of the process of discussion, a visual treasure.

After completing the comprehensive Social Role Valorization (SRV) course in 2017, Grace has been actively involved in implementing the concepts of Social Role Valorization in the various areas of her work. Grace has been working closely with the KII team and Betsy in the PATH planning process for individuals and organizations and also in taking up training workshops for educators and people involved with community services.

Grace had initially also been involved in translation of the SRV teaching material from English to Hindi. Certified by Keystone Institute India, Grace is also a master trainer for the Foundations of Direct Support Practitioners (FDS).

Having a vision of making our educational system a better place for children with disabilities and as an inclusion activist, Grace has also been involved in teaching and training educators across schools and colleges on the concepts of SRV and practical inclusion.

Grace also works alongside her husband Daniel in remote villages, weaving the principles of SRV in their work supporting people with and without disabilities, people cured of leprosy, those who are unemployed. She is also a painter and a musician and believes we have one life and we should make it count.

Ms. Leela Raj is the Project Leader for multiple change initiatives within Keystone Institute India. Leela has a passion for education and change agentry, and is committed to collaborative work building capacity and awareness. She first connected with the ideas of Social Role Valorization during her Masters work in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Kentucky, and has been working closely with us since her return to her home city of Mumbai. Her portfolio at KII includes developing high quality curricula for the development and formation of direct service workers as a developing role in India. Leela will also design curricula rooted in inclusive practice and Social Role Valorization for professional coursework in disciplines like Psychology, Special Education, and Social Work. In addition, Leela heads up our supported employment initiative in 2020. Leela brings a great deal of experience and commitment with her, as a mentor, counselor, advocate, and activist working alongside young adults with developmental disability and their families.

Mr. Rishab Kumar Anand serves as the Project Director of Family Reunification for Keystone Institute India and is based out of Dehradun. Rishab holds a master’s degree in Social Work and specializes as a Clinical Social Work Practitioner. He has over seven years of experience in crisis intervention for homeless people experiencing mental illness, substance abuse counseling and rehabilitation. Over the years, he has gained deep insights into the various criteria of assessing, screening, and creating comprehensive care plans for people with mental health concerns.

He brings extensive knowledge of coping mechanisms, relapse prevention, and creating an effective treatment plan for people with substance use disorder. It is this expertise and knowledge that makes him an integral part of the project that aims at re-unifying institutionalized people with disabilities with their families. As a Project Director, he makes Keystone’s vision of inclusion real in supporting people with disabilities to live dignified lives during the reunification process. He strongly believes that with proper guidance and support from families, people with disabilities can become an essential part of the community.

He has been the chief speaker on various platforms over the years for his extensive work at the grassroots level with homeless people and mental health concerns. He has led programs dedicated toward identifying and rehabilitating people with mental health concerns in tribal areas and highlighted the role of community rehabilitation and integration. He has also been actively involved in creating awareness through trainings and outreach programs on several social issues like HIV/AIDS, female infanticide and women’s empowerment.

Rishab successfully completed the Social Role Valorisation (SRV) training in 2022 and is one of graduates within SRV 4.0. He was actively involved in the Community Mapping Pilot study that was done for the Training of Direct Support Practitioners (DSPs).  

Shalini Bisht is working as a Reunification Specialist with the Family Reunification Project of Keystone institute India, based out of Dehradun.

While growing up as a child, she was always inclined toward working around mental health and with children and women. To become more sensitive and understand the intricacies of societal issues, she went on to pursue a master’s in social work from TISS Mumbai in Disability Studies and Action.

Since her academic years, she has been actively involved in creating awareness around women’s empowerment, child development, and disability inclusion. In addition, she was involved in organizing and developing workshops and trainings for rural communities and parents on areas of child development and disability inclusion.

She started her professional journey with Swades Foundation where she worked for two and a half years in the Raigad district of Maharashtra as a Program Lead working with women for leadership, entrepreneurship, and market linkage. She was actively involved in strategic planning, implementation, and monitoring of the women-based livelihood interventions of Swades Foundation.

She firmly believes in the value of kindness and efforts and tries to maintain it personally and professionally. She also believes in the importance of childhood experiences in shaping one’s personality and the family’s role in the development of an individual. This belief is what makes her interested in human development and family studies, a vocation she pursued in her undergrad education.

Ramanathan S is working as a Reunification Specialist with the Family Reunification Project of Keystone Institute India, based out of Dehradun. Before joining Keystone Institute India, he worked as a Rehabilitation Social Worker, Research Officer, and Program Coordinator in an organization based out of Kerala. He has four years of experience working in the field of Disability, particularly in the areas of Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR), Family Interventions for Children with Developmental Disabilities, Early Identification and Intervention, and Social Integration of Adults with Disabilities. Additionally, he has been actively involved in sensitizing and developing the professional qualities of those working in the field of Disability Rehabilitation, including Support Providers, Therapists, Special Educators, etc.

He had a life changing event when he stumbled upon a group of people who were having leprosy while he was pursuing his bachelor’s in technology. The impact of the interactions with them was so profound that he decided to change his course of career and subsequently went on to pursue a master’s degree in social work with a specialization in disability studies and action from TISS, Mumbai. He has a special interest in exploring the areas of recreation and sports for people with disabilities and his master’s thesis was based on his research study on Paralympians in India.

Ramanathan strives to maximize capabilities and the inherent human potential of self as well as that of others, through perseverance, continuous knowledge enhancement, skill development along with practical engagement, while being firmly founded on incorruptible values and a zest for life.

Sangeeta Bhatt is the newest member of dynamic Family Reunification team in Uttarakhand. She is a Ph.D. scholar in Human Development and Family Studies at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. She has also served as visiting research student at Open University, UK. She has been awarded various scholarships in her career, including the Newton Bhabha Ph.D. placement Grant and University Grants Commission Senior Research Fellowship.

Other than her academic pursuits, she has practical experience in rural awareness, volunteering as special educator for children with learning disabilities.

Ms. Prashansa Pandey works as the Program Lead for Events and Workshops for Keystone Institute India and is based out of Delhi. She previously served as a reunification specialist for the Unity Uttarakhand – Family Reunification Project. Before joining Keystone Institute India, Prashansa was working with the National Human Rights Commission in New Delhi as a Research Consultant, working on the subject of Rights of People with Disabilities and Elderly People. She was also working with Ummeed Child Development Center in Mumbai with their social work team. She has a master’s degree in Social Work with a specialization in Disability Studies and Action and has four years of experience of working in the disability sector, particularly with people with psychosocial disabilities and their families.

Prashansa strongly believes in inclusion and diversity and her experience of working both with people with disabilities as well as a human rights organization has expanded her knowledge and commitment.

Prashansa successfully completed Social Role Valorization (SRV) training in 2022 and is one of graduates within SRV 4.0.

Minu Ghosh works as an Educational Events Associate with Keystone Institute India. She has a post graduate degree in social work with a specialization in community development from Dibrugarh University. She has worked in Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission as a Block coordinator and Kamalini – a project of Protsahan, as a Center Coordinator. She has five years of work experience as a coordinator in development sector.

Minu is a dedicated and passionate professional. She has contributed significantly to various initiatives aimed at transforming lives, with a proven ability to coordinate and lead to create a lasting change.

Mr. Suhaib Ansari serves as Administrative Assistant for Keystone Institute India, and joined the Keystone Team in August of 2019. He provides all types of administrative support to the organization by managing day-to-day operations and providing high-level administrative support by conducting research, handling information requests, and performing clerical functions such as preparing correspondence, receiving visitors, arranging conference calls and financial reports. He has over 8 years of experience in management and administration. Suhaib completed his MBA in HR in 2010. As a professional, he has strong communication skills, builds strong relationships, and enjoys helping people. An avid learner, Suhaib is a certificate holder from the intensive course in Social Role Valorization held in Delhi in 2019.

Dr. Manisha Bhattacharya is a Clinical Psychologist from Kolkata, India, where she uses SRV-informed strategies to assist people with autism and their families to lead full, meaningful lives. A firm supporter of inclusive practices, she has completed advanced training in Social Role Valorization in India and in the United States, with experience in service evaluation. She teaches SRV in both English and Bengali, and has pioneered the advancement of SRV to Bengali and Bangla speakers in India and Bangladesh. Dr. Bhattacharya also has experience in person-centered planning facilitation, using methods which include Personal Futures Planning, PATH, and others.  

Bringing over a decade of experience to the field, she provides early intervention support to young children, as well as counseling for teenagers and adults with an eye towards preserving their psychological and general wellbeing through achieving meaningful life experiences.  

With specialized training in Social Role Valorization (SRV) and PASSING from Keystone Institute, USA, Dr. Bhattacharya embeds these ideas in her practice so that each individual with any disability can move toward a valued, fulfilling, and meaningful life, and has taken leadership within the All-India SRV Leadership Network, with a special focus on program evaluation.  

Dr. Bhattacharya completed her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Calcutta. She is also a certified Narrative Practitioner, exploring alternative ways of seeing disability and searching for ways that people with disability themselves can name, define, and address difficulties they are facing. She has been integrally engaged with Keystone Institute India as a partner and colleague for well over five years.   

Percy Cardozo is a psychologist and educator with over 25 years of experience in child development, adolescent health, and education. She has successfully delivered mental health and counseling services to children, adolescents, and their families in several states in India. Percy has also worked extensively with educational institutions throughout India, training several groups in educational settings ranging from elementary schools to India’s leading institutions, such as the Indian Technological Institutes (IITs). She is passionate about creating supportive, inclusive, and nurturing learning environments. She leads school projects in Goa, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, leveraging her expertise in designing interventions to improve the learning environment.

Ranjana Chakraborty brings experience and deep commitment to her teaching and facilitation in Social Role Valorization and inclusive practice. A founding member of the All-India SRV Leadership Network, Ranjana serves as Associate Faculty for Keystone Institute India, working together across India for change. She is an experienced implementor of ideas related to SRV and has particular expertise in evaluating service practices. A gifted presenter and leader, as well as a qualified special educator and family member of a person experiencing disability, Ranjana brings both perspective and experience to bear as we move toward a different way to think about disability. From Kolkata, West Bengal, Ranjana’s background in microbiology brings diversity of thinking and rigor to her approach. As well, Ranjana’s advanced training in Social Role Valorization in US and India are supplemented by her passion for change.

Viveka supports students and adults with developmental disabilities to live a full and meaningful life. She mentors parents and teachers as well to support their children and students to develop their competency as well as enhance their image.

She is passionate about changing mindsets to bring about a better life for the people she serves.
Viveka graduated from St Xavier’s College, Calcutta University and did her Post Graduate Diploma in Special Education from Jadavpur University, Kolkata conducted by Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy.

Viveka was one of the participants at four-day Introduction to Social Role Valorization (SRV) course in 2017 and has attended many workshops on SRV including the Tools to Person-Centered planning.
She has also facilitated MAPs and PATH with adults at The Ashish Foundation.

Viveka is a consultant at The Ashish Foundation for the Differently Abled, Khushiishi Charitable Trust, Sense International India, and Keystone Institute India.

Aparna Das is the Founder and Director of Arunima: A Project for People with Autism. A special educator with over three decades of experience, Aparna started her career at AADI (formerly called the Spastics Society of Northern India.) She then went on to work at Woodstock School, an international boarding school in Mussoorie, where she set up and headed the Learning Assistance Program for a number of years. While she was at Woodstock, Aparna reflected on the needs of her younger sibling, Arunima, who is on the Autism Spectrum, realizing that she too needed a life that was focused on her and a support community that would be there for her when Aparna was no longer around. Thus, Project Arunima, a program offering residential services and opportunities to build skills, was born in 2011. It is a one-of-a-kind program that aims at providing opportunities for a life of independence and dignity for people who are differently abled. What makes it one-of-a-kind? In a nutshell—the recognition that different is not less, but equal! Aparna is passionate about creating these opportunities for a good life to ensure that each person is a valued member of the community.

Pinki Das is a family member of a person with autism and is a special educator with over fifteen years of experience in the state of Odisha. She is currently serving as a guest faculty in the National Institute of Speech and Hearing Divyangjan (NISHD) regional center Bhubaneswar and is trying to inculcate learning from SRV into existing teacher training curricula.

As the joint secretary of the Center for Autism Counseling and Help (CATCH) parent support group working for the rehabilitation of people with autism, she works alongside teachers and parents to help them guide people with autism to be valued members of their families and communities.

Since 2010, she has served as a resource person for the Odisha Secondary Education Program Authority (OSEPA), providing expertise in module development and teacher training programs for inclusive education at the primary and secondary level.

Sujata Khanna is a social documentary photographer based in Bangalore and New Delhi, India. She takes a deep interest in children’s and women’s issues, human rights, and the environment. Sujata is mesmerized by the times we live in – the possibility of melding the creation of digital images and printing them in the darkroom using various historic processes.

Sujata has worked for several humanitarian organizations like Family for Every Child, Railway Children UK, and CARE India. Prior to immersing herself in photography, she worked for eight years in India and other international locations for organizations including the British Red Cross and Save the Children UK. Her work for these nonprofits focuses on children’s rights issues and child protection.

www.sujatakhannaphotography.com

Preethi Meena is a solution-driven professional recognized for her teamwork and empathy, with a passion for creating inclusive change. She is currently serving as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at Kumaraguru College of Liberal Arts and Science since September 2023.

Her previous roles include Assistant Manager for Education at Tech Mahindra Foundation and various positions at Diya Foundation, a vocational training center for people with intellectual disabilities. These roles encompassed program coordination, employability training, and direct skill development from 2020 to 2023.

Preethi holds a master’s degree in social work from Kristu Jayanti College and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Social Work at Srinivas University. She is proficient in project monitoring, evaluation, and research, especially in the domain of intellectual disabilities. Her certifications in person-centered tools and direct support reflect her commitment to professional growth.

Preethi Meena has undertaken specialized training in Direct Support Professional (DSP) methodologies, which underscores her dedication to enhancing care and support for people with disabilities. DSP training, particularly through the Foundation of Direct Support program by Keystone Institute India, focuses on building skills that enable professionals to deliver person-centered, empathetic, and effective care to people with intellectual disabilities. This training equips participants to ensure dignity, independence, and respect for individuals, aligning with principles of inclusive social work.

In addition, she holds expertise in Social Role Valorization (SRV), a concept central to her professional philosophy. SRV Graduate 5.0 reflects her advanced understanding and application of SRV principles, which aim to empower marginalized individuals by creating socially valued roles for them. SRV training builds skills in recognizing societal devaluation and implementing strategies to enhance the social image and competencies of individuals with disabilities, promoting their meaningful inclusion in society.

Her accomplishments in these areas demonstrate her capability to bridge theory and practice, focusing on transformative approaches in the field of social work and disability services. This expertise also positions her as a leader in advocating for person-centered practices and sustainable social integration.

Raaj Mondol serves as a Consultant on Translation Support for Keystone Institute India. He has been working in the Development Sector for the last 28 years as a training facilitator on Transformational Development and Gender Justice issues with various civil society organizations. He has a B.A. (Honors) degree in English Literature from St. Xavier’s College, Ranchi and an M.A. in English and M.Phil. in International Studies from JNU, New Delhi. He also has a Post Graduate Diploma in Translation from Central Institute of Hindi, New Delhi. He has many years of experience in performing interpretation for resource people in training, conferences and public events from English to Hindi and vice versa and in translating books and training resources in Hindi.

Sudha S. Nair is passionate about the work she does alongside people with disabilities. With nearly three decades in the field of special education, her focus has been on inclusive education since 2005. She works with parents, school educators, and counselors to champion her neurodiverse students.

As a specialized professional in Dubai, she first established a unit dedicated to supporting autistic students at a leading special need center, and then created a learning support unit for neurodiverse learners at an Inclusive IGCSE school before moving into private practice.

Shifting her practice to India, she eventually founded SuDhi Learning Center, a training hub reflecting a move toward co-creating shared spaces for belonging and interpersonal identification in the community.

Her introduction to and further exploration of the themes of Social Role Valorization have added a valuable dimension to her commitment and thinking, especially while designing programs like Learning Has Meaning (LHM) for her students.

She loves reading, or as of late, collecting books. When she isn’t working or trying to parent her spirited daughters, Sudha can be found puttering around her little garden with her two lovely pets or dabbling with paints and colors.

Shabnam Rahman is a Consultant Rehabilitation Psychologist and Special Educator, working at Crystal Minds, Kolkata, for a decade. She is an associate faculty at Keystone Institute India. She uses SRV-informed strategies in her workspace to enhance the competency and identity of the person to lead a dignified and meaningful life. She is also a master trainer for the Foundation of Direct Support Practitioners and translated the DSP module along with valued team members of KII. She conducted the DSP Phase I training in Bengali in West Bengal.

Shabnam is pursuing a Ph.D. in Applied Psychology from the University of Calcutta. She is also a certified Narrative Practitioner. Her work includes consulting with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, children, young persons, caregivers, and families in responding to a range of issues related to mental health and school-related challenges. She believes in co-creating emotionally safe spaces with people and exploring preferred identities, possibilities and hope through meaningful experiences.

She also believes that SRV is the “HOPEFUL MAP” that brings possibilities and changes within the lives of devalued people by engaging them in valued social roles to experience the good things in life that are available in their community.

Dr. Nidhi Singhal is a researcher, master trainer, and psychologist who has dedicated her career to working to create opportunities for good lives for people with autism and other developmental disabilities and their families. Dr. Singhal is passionate about creating supports for vulnerable people which are respectful and assist people to have valued roles as contributing members of society, with full, rich, and meaningful lives. She graduated from the inaugural intensive SRV course held in Delhi in 2016 and has been teaching and using the ideas, and has begun incorporating them into other bodies of knowledge. She is personally connected with people experiencing disability in her personal and professional life, and has served as a pioneer in learning about and using Social Role Valorization in India.  She attended a PASSING service evaluation course in the United States and has participated on a PASSING test evaluation in India. She has represented India in the International SRV Association.

In addition to being an expert clinician and counsellor, she is committed to working towards inclusive practice and using Social Role Valorization as a way to promote good lives. Dr. Singhal has extensive experience working with people with autism and their families, as well as professionals in the field, and works for Action for Autism, the National Centre for Autism located in New Delhi, currently serving as Director of Training and Research. She conducts screening and diagnostic assessments, counsels adults with autism, designs and executes individual and group programs for parents, and addresses the impact of autism in the person, marriage, and family, social, and work relationships.

Dr. Singhal serves on several committees, including the International Steering Committee developing a WHO ICF Core Set for ASD, and is recognized as an expert on autism by the Rehabilitation Council of India. She provides consultation and training as an expert consultant and associate faculty for KII.