Our Board is made up of Trustees responsible for making sure the Trust is well run and fulfilling its mission. The Trustees delegate day-to-day management to our Trust Director, supported by our Grants Manager and Finance Officer from our London office.
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our Chair of Trustees, Devika Waney Mokhtarzadeh.
Devika was a driving force behind the Savitri Trust since its inception, working alongside her father, Arjun Waney OBE, to shape and guide our mission. She passionately spearheaded impactful community health projects across rural India ranging from maternal health, child malnutrition, curable blindness, palliative care, and improving livelihoods.
In recent years, Devika’s deep love for the natural world overflowed into our programmes and began to shape our work in new and meaningful ways. She championed projects that bridged the health of both people and the planet, focusing on agroecology, biocultural diversity, youth activists and the fight against chemical pollution.
She was truly excited by the possibility of a more just and equitable world; the golden promise that we are, in our tiny part, working towards. She believed in funding in community; working together with others to tackle complex global issues, and she was not afraid to challenge the traditional approach to philanthropy. Always pushing herself and those around her to think more deeply and act boldly.
A constant presence at the heart of the Savitri Trust since our formation, Devika was involved in all aspects of our work. She led with a generous heart and a curious mind. She brought fun and joy to our small team here in the UK and India, encouraging us to approach our work with the same enthusiasm and love.
Beyond that - she was a true friend, mentor and inspiration to many, and her honesty, compassion and warmth will be greatly missed.
She once said, "Hope, love of beauty, and the perfection of the natural world are the drivers for me. We all have different reasons, but hope is the positive outcome. What more can we claim than that?"
Our thoughts are with her family and friends and all who loved her. Together we will find ways to carry her hope, activism and passion for the people and the places she cared about, through the work of the Savitri Trust moving forward.
October 2024
Founder of Beebas Creations, a publicly traded company on the NYSE, and Argent Fund Management Limited, Arjun has had an extensive and prolific career as a successful businessman, entrepreneur and restaurateur with Zuma, Roka, La Petite Maison and Coya achieving worldwide success. He is the co-owner of The Arts Club and a dedicated philanthropist. In 2018 Arjun was recognised in the Queens Birthday Honours and awarded an OBE for his services to hospitality and philanthropy.
Arjun applies his business acumen to his charitable endeavors; twinning his two passions of restaurants and philanthropy. He founded the Savitri Trust in 2001 and remains very much at the heart of the Savitri Trust and its’ projects.
As with Arjun’s other projects, what started as a small ripple has now grown into a tsunami of love and care. I consider myself privileged to be in a small way part of this great humanitarian cause. Restoring sight to so many has restored in me the vision of what is actually important in life.
Gulu Waney, Trustee