National Members

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

Monisha Singh Diwan – Vice President AECED National
Monisha Singh Diwan is an International ECD Professional and the Founder-Director of “Mighty Hearts- an early years consultancy to better childhoods”. She is a staunch advocate and champion for ECCE & Social Emotional Learning as well as continuous learning through professional learning communities & networks. She currently consults with ARNEC as the lead consultant for UNESCO’s ECE-SEL project for teachers in the Asia-Pacific and with Mercy Corps, Uzbekistan for ECE-literacy. She is also a restorative yoga teacher and practitioner, a published poetess and authoress.

Website : http://mightyhearts.xyz/
Professional network :https://www.linkedin.com/in/monishasinghdiwan/

Purnima Contractor – Head of Operations AECED National
Purnima Contractor ECD consultant, Founder Director of Greenfields Creative Learning Solutions. She is President of AECED Mumbai & Head Operations of AECED National. Trustee of VYF an NGO, working with disadvantaged children. She believes that learning through music is every child’s birthright.

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).

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.

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.

Archana Jamdar
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 want the same things we want. To laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained, to be delighted” – Dr. Seuss

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 preprimary Headmistress in Thakur Public School. She has completed her ECCE and B.ed from Mumbai university. She believes in Curriculum building according to age criteria, Designing & drafting school magazines etc.

Nandita Chaudhary, Ph. D.
After 34 years at University of Delhi (Lady Irwin College), Nandita Chaudhary sought early retirement to pursue her own academic interests in the year 2017. She now runs a blog and takes on freelance work in publishing, research and lectures in the field of Cultural Psychology, Child Development and Family Studies both in India and abroad.

Website : http://www.nanditachaudhary.in/
Blog : https://masalachaimusings.com/

Swati Bhatt
Swati is currently the Director at THE LEARNING CURVE India’s leading preschool and daycare chain. She is a qualified Instructional designer and a Postgraduate in Marketing.

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.