National Executive Committee Members

Dr Vrinda Datta – President AECED National
Consultant, Early Childhood Development Formerly associated with Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai and Ambedkar University Delhi.

Archana Jamdar – Vice President AECED National

Archana is the founder and director of Inspired Learning – a company started in 2011. Archana was fortunate to get trained in contemporary philosophies, namely the Inquiry based approach and the Reggio Approach through mentors of Eton House in Singapore. She strongly advocates the need to bring in play and exploration in early years settings. “Children are born wired to learn, they require tender nurturing care, adequate nutrition , optimum stimulation from adults in order to thrive and grow to their maximum potential.” http://inspiredlearning.in/

Purnima Contractor – Head of Operations AECED National

Purnima Contractor ECD consultant, Founder Director of Greenfields Creative Learning Solutions has worked with children of all strata of society. She is the President of AECED Mumbai. She is also a Trustee of VYF, an NGO working with disadvantaged children.

She is a Workshop Facilitator and strongly believes in experiential learning, holistic development & inclusive education using the medium of stories, music and movement in FLN since the last 4 decades.

She has been instrumental in conceiving and producing child-friendly music and stories for children and their teachers to make joyful learning spaces. (https://youtube.com/@greenfieldslearninghub?feature=shared)

Archana Jain – Hon. Secretary AECED National
Archana is currently working as Associate Professor, Head, Department of Human Development at Sir Vithaldas Thakersey College of Home Science (Autonomous).

Dr. Shobha Bharat – Jt. Secretary AECED National
Completed her Master’s degree in Human Development from University of Mumbai, PhD from SNDT University and a Certificate course in Emergent Literacy in Early Childhood Education from Goldameir Institute, Haifa, Israel. She presently contributes as the HOD and Senior Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development at S. P. N. Doshi Women’s College affiliated to SNDT Women’s University. She comes with a vast experience of 28 years as a Teacher Educator in Early Childhood Education and Consultant in the field of Human Development.

Dr. Rekha Menon – Hon. Treasurer AECED National
Rekha is passionately pursuing the agenda of making a difference in the early childhood care and education sector. She believes that rightful opportunities must be offered to all children of the world. A practitioner at heart, who felt the need to engage in larger models of execution and be a team member for designing policies that can bring effective outcomes at ground level. Besides being lucky to pursue the career of her passion, she believes in the power of play for the young and the old which makes it a full circle!

She began her journey 28 years ago from preschool classrooms as a teacher to being preschool section coordinator to being Director of International preschool at Damascus, Syria. She pivoted from private sectors to serve as Education Coordinator for Mumbai Mobile Creches, a non-profit organization for migrant children. Formerly employed with Centre for Learning Resources as ECCE Specialist and is currently working as ECCE Specialist in Foundation for Communities of Learning (FCL) India.

Dr Vidhya Satish – Jt. Treasurer AECED National

Vidhya is the Director of SIES Institute of Comprehensive Education, Sion, Mumbai and Nerul, Navi Mumbai, an institute training teachers in Early Childhood Education, Counsellors and Special Educators. She is also an Hon. Secretary of AECED Mumbai.
She has to her credit a doctoral degree along with a double Masters in Human Development and in Education.  She conducts motivational and ECE curriculum related workshops for students, along with teacher and parent empowerment workshops. She has contributed to the field by her publications that are both research and non-research based.

Meera Mahendra
Meera considers parenting the highest priority as it is one of the biggest variables implicating the overall well being and development of the child. Nutrition, emotional and physical health fall under the direct purview of parents.

Pragna Maniar
Pragna is currently working at Mumbai Mobile Creches as a preschool education consultant. She has done her masters in Human development and family studies. She holds a diploma in ECCE.

Ms Moon Devdas
She works as a pre-primary Headmistress in Thakur International School. She has completed her ECCE and B.ed from Mumbai University. She believes that play in early years encourages children with emotional wellbeing and Curriculum should be created keeping in mind the age, learning speed and language skills.

Ms. Swati Bhatt
Ms. Swati Bhatt is a seasoned educationist, entrepreneur, and executive coach with over two decades of experience. As the co-founder of The Learning Curve, she has significantly influenced early childcare education. An expert in L&D, Swati specializes in teacher training, instructional design, and education strategies. She holds an MBA in Marketing and Personnel from SIBM Pune and a PG Diploma in Instructional Design. Currently, she serves as an independent board director at Jetking Infotrain Ltd. Swati’s commitment to advancing teacher training and early childhood education is reflected in her impactful work and leadership.

Dr Romila Soni
Dr. Romila Soni is an Associate Professor with Department of Elementary Education, NCERT. She is passionate about ECE – training and research, developing materials for all stakeholders in the field. She has a number of published articles, research papers and has also authored thirteen books in the area of ECE for teachers and teacher educators.

Dr Rekha Sharma Sen
Dr Rekha Sharma Sen is Professor of Child Development at Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, engaged in creating courses for teachers and teacher educators, using distance and online methodologies, in the sectors of Early Childhood Care and Education as well as Disability. She has conducted research and provided technical consultancy to organizations in the areas of Early Childhood Care and Education, Disability, Creativity, Early Literacy, and Gender in Distance Learning.