When some people collaborate, new pathways are formed

We believe in collaboration and the combined expertise that many minds bring to Mi-Shift. That's why we have a holistic ecosystem that includes our core team and a group of advisors who are seasoned professionals from different industries with over 150 years of collective experience. They bring varied inter-cultural insights and deep interest in people transformation to the table.

Meet the Mi-Shift team

Meet our advisors

Sanjeev Rao

Founder, Director

A few years ago, Sanjeev sought to make himself more relevant in the new world. He had two mind-altering experiences: conversations with Dayanand Saraswati and an immersion in the works of Otto Scharmer. They helped him discover his new purpose, based on his multi-cultural experience and work with global leaders. He could create a global learning program. It would enable business leaders to understand the complex world created by new business and social paradigms. And help them thrive in it. At Mi-Shift, Sanjeev acts as chief thought leader. His passion is triggering an awakening in people through transformational experiences.

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A Telecom engineer, Sanjeev finished his MBA from INSEAD and spent twenty-five years in the corporate space, the first fifteen in Europe, first with Alstom and later with Boston Consulting Group, Paris. He returned to India in 2006 to set up G2i, a firm that helped European MNCs succeed in India for their operations and investments. His spirit for transformation led him to work with over 200 leaders Europe and India, enabling him to develop a relevant and innovative learning program that helps leaders be more aware and agile in an increasingly multi-polar world. 

Sanjeev is passionate about working with students and future leaders. He is an Expert at emLyon Business School where he inspires future leaders to learn about new perspectives and ways to innovate. He is also a visiting professor at other top universities in Europe and India including HEC and IIM. He is the advisor of a social enterprise called Sattva. Sanjeev is passionate about supporting India’s less privileged  through Nakshatra, a unique education-based social initiative. He loves music and sport. He is married, with two children, and believes in the work-life-contribute balance.

Meet our team

Debapriya Nag

Co-founder, Content & Delivery

After spending a decade in the corporate space in the human resource function, Priya discovered that the world was changing rapidly and she needed a more relevant and meaningful way of working and living in it. With her 10+ years of experience in talent planning and acquisition, talent engagement, and HR transformation, she has strong human capital management skills. This, coupled with her love of change and people, make her an able, empathetic delivery lead at Mi-Shift. Priya designs strategy and operationalises programs that enable seasoned and new leaders undergo a mindset shift helping them generate new possibilities for themselves, their companies and their societies back home.

Priya has a Master’s degree in Human Resources Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Sociology and Economics. Prior to Mi-Shift, she worked at Accenture for 10 years, in their HR function. Cooking is a passion through which she exercises her creativity and her love of hosting people. Priya is also a devoted yoga practitioner and teacher. She is married, and lives in Bengaluru.

Kovilah started her career in 2006 with the French Trade Commission in Bengaluru as Assistant to the Economic Counsellor and Commercial Attachée in the IT and Aerospace sector. After six years, she decided to quit and took a year-long sabbatical for travelling and learning a new language. Since 2013, she has been assisting Sanjeev with the organisation of Learning Expedition Programs. 

Kovilah came from Mauritius on a scholarship to do her degree course in Bengaluru in 2001 and decided to come back and settle here in 2005. She holds a Post Graduate Diploma in International Business from Symbiosis Institute of Management and is a Computer Graduate from Bangalore University. She also teaches French for beginners and intermediate levels at the Alliance Francaise de Bangalore. She is an avid reader, who loves travelling and learning new languages. She is married and resides in Bengaluru with her two dogs.

Kovilah Chengebroyen

Program Manager

We have used the same thinking in transforming our lives, and now want to share it with others who may be looking for new solutions. Having lived and worked in India and Europe, and faced global challenges, we can take a broader, cross-cultural view of transformation.

Meet our advisors

Guibert del Marmol

Guibert works with entrepreneurs who change the world by reconciling economy, ecology and sense. His work takes him from San Francisco and the Amazon to Europe and Mumbai. For over 15 years he has directed various service companies in Europe and in the United States. Professional burn-out inspired him to change course. Since then, he has helped leaders develop ‘conscious capitalism’ grounded in the principles of shared value and noble purpose. He is a mentor, author and speaker on the ‘regenerative economy’ and inspiring leadership. He co-manages the Lunt Foundation that supports social innovations. He also holds the chair in “Regenerative economy” at the Louvain School of Management. He has published two books on individual and collective resilience. Guibert lives in Brussels and is active in Europe, Asia and the US. His passions include nature and innovation. He is married and is a father to three sons.

Mai Truong 

Mai spent 19 years in training, recruitment and team management. In 2009, she made a conscious shift in her thinking and work. She decided to get more in touch with her inner being. She attended a retreat in the village of ThichNhatHanh, the Zen master renowned for his spiritual teachings. His ideas on mindfulness inspired Mai to live more fully in the present and to find deeper peace and productivity as a result. Over time, she switched from the commercial world of big, international companies to a smaller firm where she coached managers and executives on improving their skills. Her focus today is on intercultural learning and experience. She helps people become aware of ethnic differences and she harmonizes relationships between people from different cultural backgrounds. Mai’s passion is her three sons. She also enjoys cooking, yoga, traveling and family reunions.

Jean Pierre Haemmerlein

Jean Pierre is the Director of Foundation for Decathlon. Born in Marseilles, he has a multi-cultural background. While his mother is from Vietnam and his father is German, Jean Pierre spent most of his childhood in Madagascar and Germany before moving to France at the age of 12. Jean Pierre is a lawyer by education and has also studied Human Resources Management. He joined Decathlon in 1992 as a social lawyer, moving to various other functions like internal audit and store operations. He eventually became the HR Director for Decathlon Corporate. He then created and launched the Decathlon Foundation. As the Director of the Foundation, he not only fuels the company’s social agenda but has also made it the company’s hub for social innovation incubation. Jean Pierre is a part of Mi-Shift because he believes that Mi Shift is creating a brand new future and he wants to participate deeply in helping people find their purpose and meaning. He believes that we are should be actors of our own lives and in that journey, human encounters can be transformational. Most of all, Jean Pierre always implores people to go back to the question of ‘Why’ they are doing what they are doing and inspiring them to think about the footprint/impact we are leaving back in the world.

He is married and lives in France with his wife and four children. Jean Pierre is passionate about sports and loves team sports like basketball. He also loves running marathons, having run the New York, Berlin, Paris and London marathons.

PG Ponnapa

Ponnapa is the Founder Director of Limites Non, a business advisory firm that focuses on technology start-ups. He enjoys simplifying complicated challenges and helping companies clarify goals, raise funds and take strategic business decisions. Ponnapa is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta and he also teaches marketing at his alma mater. He spent the first half of his corporate career in marketing and headed the function in Asian Paints, Black and Decker and Motorola. He then moved into the technology space and was CEO for three companies in the Internet and Mobile space including AOL India. He has by choice worked only in India. Ponnapa is married and has two children. He is passionate about reading, sports and travel.

Thierry Picq

Thierry, Professor of Human Resources Management at emLyon, is passionate about organizational behaviour. He likes to better understand and contribute to group dynamics. To him, business is just groups of people coming together to build things of value and go on collective adventures. Thierry likes to help groups of people learn and stay intellectually challenged. He holds a Ph. D from the Université of Grenoble. In addition, he also heads the Learning Lab at emLyon where he contributes to the scientific committee of the Business Digest review and manages an entrepreneurial-centric case study collection. Before his career as an academic, Thierry was a consultant at Bossard Gemini Consulting where he spearheaded many projects in organizational change. Thierry has published numerous articles and books on new forms of organization and innovative HR practices.

Véronique Subileau

Véronique started her career as a Human Resources and Leadership Development consultant at Deloitte and Heidrick. After 12 years of consulting, she made the conscious choice of joining the corporate world in order to create more impact from inside. Since then her mission has been people and change. She has run several high-impact projects by engaging people, changing cultures and management models, and fostering inclusive leadership. She was the HR Director of the Transdev group for several years and is now HR Development Director for the Bollore group. Véronique’s passion is being a people developer who helps with all-round wellness. She practices yoga and meditation every day. She is married and has two children.