All seven founders remain involved in the Village Ways group, dividing their expertise focus between development work in India and other countries where we operate, as members of the parallel Village Ways Charitable Trust, as members of the Village Ways Advisory Council and the international work of Village Ways Partnership Ltd. The Partnership team continues to grow, adding new international expertise as appropriate.
Manisha is one of the co-founders of Village Ways India (2005), and she now leads the Partnership’s team. Manisha has great knowledge of rural communities, particularly in the Himalayas and combines this with creative skills to bring remote tourism enterprise to the international market.
Graham has combined a career as an agricultural economist with rural community based tourism. He has worked worldwide in rural development, latterly managing internationally funded long term projects in India and China. He co-founded Casas Cantabricas, a leading Spanish rural tourism enterprise, in 1985 and is one of the co-founders of Village Ways (2005). He chaired the Responsible Tourism Committee of AITO (Association of Independent Tour Operators), (2004-2008). Graham has specific responsibility for development activities within Village Ways Partnership.
Richard is well known throughout the UK outbound tourism industry and responsible tourism arena. He established Inntravel in 1984, a tour operation which grew to set the standard for active rural tourism throughout Europe. Richard was chairman of the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) 2005-6 and founded the Association's Responsible Tourism Committee in 2001. He is a co-founding director of Village Ways. He has primary responsibility for working with our travel industry partners.
Keith has been an international rural development consultant throughout his career, which has included over 20 years in the Himalayan regions of India and Nepal, providing him with a special regional knowledge and networks. He is a co-founder Village Ways (2005). His work has focused particularly on community-based participatory development and environmental concerns aimed at benefitting communities from outside investments. Within Village Ways Partnership his responsibilities are for our community partners and for training.
Himanshu is a Founding Director of Village Ways, who has played a major role in the development of the company and expansion to new community partners. He himself is from Almora, Uttarakhand, where Village Ways was conceived. Since then, Himanshu has dedicated himself to developing new village tourism enterprises throughout India and in Nepal. He is now based in Mumbai but travels widely to support the communities’ activities and to ensure quality standards for guests.
Dinesh is Community Relations Director of Village Ways. He has been a key member of the team from the start, with responsibility for community operations in India and Nepal. His skills have been crucial in shaping the fundamental principles of Village Ways, especially in the processes of mobilizing, organizing and nurturing our village tourism enterprises. With his prior experience in the NGO sector he is keen to ensure real democracy at community level, through patience, negotiation, transparency, discipline and a sense of humour.
With a background in the army and the security business, Sadaya takes great pride in the rich cultural and traditional aspects of Nepal. In 2012, he visited the Village Ways enterprises in Saryu and Pindar (Uttarakhand) and was keen to start something similar in Nepal. His long term association with the local communities, his keen interest to preserve village life and to support educational initiatives through tourism income became his inspiration to join Village Ways. Sadaya now heads the Village Ways tourism enterprise in Nepal.
Ratnamala is a Founding Director of Village Ways. She is based in Delhi, where she is engaged with the family business of quality handicraft design and export. Ratna has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Village Ways concept, devoting time to establishing the Village Ways Charitable Trust, of which she is Managing Trustee. The Trust aims at capacity building and skills development in communities around the Village Ways enterprises to encourage income generation.