Volunteer Board Members Profile

Front Line (L to R) – Meena Suppiah, Gita Sankaran, Sulo Krishnamurthy
Back Line (L to R) –  Arun Luthra, Balan Manian, Srini Srinivasan, Dinesh Krishna, Sundra Rajan
Mrs. Sulo Krishnamurthy (President):
  • Sulo Krishnamurthy, is the founder of Handi-Care Intl. and serves as the President. A graduate with Masters in Chemistry and Microbiology, Sulo worked in pharmaceutical research for 19 years in Canada (1972- 1991). Her family back ground and her upbringing by her parents, especially her father, shaped her vision and mission in life. She grew up with 2 siblings afflicted with degenerative Muscular Dystrophy. Both of them were rendered to wheelchairs even at a young age. In spite of their physical limitations, they were both determined to study well and  make careers for themselves. Their father was the mentor, the force behind every success they achieved.  Sulo’s brother Sankara Raman went on to complete his CA, winning over a court order to be admitted to the CA studies, which was denied to him.
  • After establishing a successful practice, he relinquished it to serve the poor rural disabled children and youth and joined Amar Seva Sangam in rural Tamil Nadu in 1992. Soon after Sulo joined the mission with her brother, resigned from her job and started Handi-Care Intl. (HCI). HCI was registered in 1992, as a Canadian registered charity and started supporting Amar Seva Sangam’s (ASSA) initiatives to educate, rehabilitate, train and empower the disabled persons from poor families. Started with 25 children in 1992, 26 years later ASSA is serving over 20,000 children, youth and adults with disabilities currently and has spread its wings to over 800 villages in the rural area.
  • HCI is a major stake holder of ASSA’s projects and contributed close to 2 million dollars towards their various projects, focusing on Early Intervention, Special education, Vocational training. Sulo’s vision, mission and passion is to empower these children and their families with education, training and values so they can lead respectable lives and earn a living. In 26 years, HCI has hundreds of success stories of children who were trained and now employed, married with children and leading a respectable life and are living examples of HCI’s motto: “With strong conviction, any disability can be transformed to ability”
Mrs. Gita Sankaran (Vice-President):
  • Gita Sankaran has had the unique and enjoyable experience of working in two different fields -teaching children and adults in countries like India , Kenya and Burundi and currently accounting for a trading company in Canada.
  • A deep desire to contribute towards enriching the lives of children, particulary those with special needs, found a perfect fit in Handicare Intl where she has been serving first as a volunteer and later as a board member .
  • As director in other community and cultural organisations like Madras Arts and Cultural Association and Dancing Damsels Inc. she enjoys assisting in staging shows and events and helping children keep in touch with their language and culture.
Mrs. Meena Suppiah (Secretary):
  • Has lived in many countires namely UK, India, SIngapore, Brunei , Canada and US with roots in South India. She currently works for IBM Canada. Meena has been a volunteer & supporter of HCI since 1998 and joined the board in 2000. She has closely worked with all HCI’s projects at the sites. Her entire family has volunteered at Amar Seva Sangam.
Mr. Sundra Rajan (Treasurer):
  • Has been with HCI since 1997. His profession as an accountant has been an invaluable asset.
Mr. Arun Luthra C.A (Asst. Treasurer):
Joined HCI in 2002.
Dr. Dinesh Krishna (Director, Project Lead of Early Intervention): 
Mr. Srini Srinivasan (Director):
  • Srini joined the board of trustees many years back when the HCI was in its early stages.
  • In HCI’s early years, Srini was working at IBM Canada, thereafter at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce as Director of Projects and Director of Audit Services, and then as a Project Management Consultant for several large corporations. Since 2008, when he retired from those corporations, Srini has been a volunteer in different organizations and also takes care his grand children. Also, he continues to learn for life and living, the key principles of Vedanta philosophy.
  • He is committed to whatever he is involved in and works actively towards the success of the endeavour.
  • He along with his wife Meena Srinivasan actively participate in different programs and activities of HCI.
Mr. Balan Manian (Director):
  • Balan moved to Canada in 2000 after having lived in Europe for many years. He became involved with Handicare in 2003 and has always been a strong supporter of needy causes. He visited Amar Seva Sangam in 2005 and had a chance to see first hand all the good work that is being done in India. He is determined to help the less fortunate and feels privileged to be on the board of Handicare Intl.
Mrs. Subha Shyam (Director):