MBF was registered in 2019 as a US 501(c) 3 public charity to act as a global resource for Indian Higher Education Institutions to ensure that they become world-class.

We provide access to world-class tools, equipment, knowledge and financial resources to higher educational institutions (HEIs) so that students learn how to make, innovate, invent, – applying their knowledge to finding solutions to ‘real world’ problems thereby improving lives and transforming our collective futures.

We are committed to ensuring that our donors and partners remain involved, experience quality interactions with beneficiary institutions and are regularly informed on usage and impact of their philanthropic giving to the Foundation.

We work within a structured review process that focuses on outcomes and measurable impact. This also means that we regularly subject our own ideas as well as our programs to rigorous evaluation and work continuously to refine and improve upon the same.

The Copy of determination letters of the US tax authority can be viewed here.

Who We Are

Dr Hemant Kanakia

Founder Maker Bhavan Foundation

Hemant Kanakia is a retired serial entrepreneur based in Washington DC, USA. Since 2010, he has made angel investments 20 early-stage companies in India ranging across education, technology and healthcare sectors. Between 2004- 2009 He was a partner with a Venture Firm based in East Coast of USA. Hemant was founder and CEO of Torrent Networking Technology (acquired by Ericsson for $500 M ) and co-founder of Photuris (acquired by Meriton) and Gemplex, inc. (acquired by Tata Telesystems). Prior to starting Torrent, he worked at the research arm of AT&T Bell Laboratories. Hemant completed an undergraduate degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, his M S from Case Western Reserve University, and his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Hemant is an ex-member of the Board of Trustees at Case Western Reserve University and Virginia Polytechnic. He President of Washington DC chapter of TiE and a member of the global board of trustees of TiE. He currently serves as a board member of several non-profit organizations in the art and cultural sectors.
This philosophy has become the key to my success in life. Early on, I spent a lot of time acquiring knowledge from classrooms and books. Only when I started learning by doing, my life turned around. Through this foundation, I hope many young folks get to learn this lesson early in their lives. As someone said, you do not learn to walk by rules of walking but by starting to walk, falling many times, getting up and trying again.
Aristotle said, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”

Subhash Tantry

President

Subhash Tantry is a graduate of IIT Bombay, the batch of 1975. He lives in Palo Alto, CA, USA with his wife Manjiri while his two sons, having graduated from college, run their own businesses in San Francisco. Subhash’s career, in enterprise software companies, has spanned several CEO, CTO and other C-Level positions, Board Memberships, and is a mentor to entrepreneurs and students. He was on the organizing committee of the first Mood Indigo cultural festival, was the Founding Board Member of the IITB Heritage Foundation, has convened TiECon in the Bay Area as a TiE Charter Member and chaired a PanIIT Global Leadership Conference in 2015.
“On Tinkering: The only reason to become wealthy is to be a philanthropist. Tinkering generates a wealth of innovative knowledge that can make you a philanthropist!”

Damayanti Bhattacharya

Chief Executive Officer

Damayanti Bhattacharya has over 20 years experience in the Not-for-Profit space, 8 years in leadership positions. Her early career as an activist- academic resulted in over 7 publications ( 5 papers and 2 books) focused on areas related to gender, globalisation and sustainable development. Damayanti’s forte is in institution building and she is passionate about education, sustainable development, unconsumption and the arts. Prior to the Foundation, she was the CEO of the IIT Bombay Alumni Association. Damyanti completed her Bachelor in Arts from Presidency College, Calcutta and her Masters and Mphil from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.

Firstname Lastname

Advisor

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