The Gharda Foundation is administered by a board of 4 trustees who oversee its budgets, fund-raising and project priorities. Day to day administration and direct supervision of projects is handled by a Managing Trustee who is based at our Head Office in Mumbai, India. The foundation employs a staff of approximately 50 people and also has a number of site based volunteers.

The Gharda Hospital in Lote, Maharashtra is a 20 bed primary care facility and has a staff of 20 physicians, nurses and assistants. Our education activities are overseen by 2 former high school principals who work with part time and voluntary staff of 5 to implement our mobile library, mobile laboratory, teacher training and exam preparation initiatives. We also employ several local teachers to run our "balwadis" (pre schools) in villages.

Each of our village sites has a full time trained social worker assigned to it who has a primary responsibility for overseeing activities and implementing projects in the villages. We also employ various consultants to work with us on issues of irrigation, public health and income generation. Attracting qualified, motivated personnel to work in the remote rural areas is a problem faced by many NGO’s and we have recently initiated a social work course in association with S.N.D.T University, Mumbai to train social workers already living in rural areas.

In keeping with our philosophy of participative development we are a very "flat" organization and involve all personnel in decision making. We also encourage a team approach and our colleagues are often simultaneously involved in various projects. One such example is our recently launched Project- Education which aims to improve the quality of education in government run village schools. The project participants include staff from our own cadre of social workers, educators as well as our medical staff.

Our employees and volunteers are our greatest asset and we strive to keep them informed of developments in the arena of rural development.

Dr.K.H.Gharda: Founder and Managing Director of Gharda Chemicals Ltd, the foundation is essentially his creation. A pioneer in the field of agro chemicals, Dr. Gharda has a Ph. D in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan. As a concerned citizen and industrialist he has a long-standing record of interest in social causes particularly rural development. Under his initiative the Gharda Foundation was established as an independent NGO.

Dr. Sonya Mehta is the Managing Trustee of the foundation and has a Ph.D in Psychology. Before returning to India to work for the Foundation, Dr. Mehta-Patel was a Dean of the Undergraduate Collage at Bryn Mawr College, where she taught classes on India. She also served on various boards including the Philadelphia School Board, the Association of Indians in America and the Psychological Form. Particularly interested in issues of women and children, Dr. Mehta Patel deals with planning, administrative and financial aspect and supervises project implementation.

Dr.M.Gokhale: MBBS (ORTHO) A.F.I.H is a physician who lives and works in the Ratnagiri district of Konkan. Dr. Gokhale oversees the activities of the Gharda Hospital at Lote and the Mobile Medical Van. He is also associated with various charitable trusts including the National Association of the Blind and is actively involved in social work.

Mr. U. A. Maroo: is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the Institute of Companies Secretaries of India and is currently the Director of Finance of Gharda Chemicals Ltd. Mr. Maroo assists with the foundation's legal and financial issues.