About Us
SMILE Charitable Trust was founded by a group of classmates from Mountain View School Chikmagalur when we met for a reunion after a gap of almost three decades.
During the course of the event, a few of us had the idea of taking some concrete steps to provide assistance for financially weaker sections of society. After much brainstorming, we came to the conclusion that the best way to do this would be to start an organization that facilitates providing quality education to young people from underprivileged backgrounds.
It was with this mission that we decided to form this organization SMILE Charitable Trust (Support Matters in Life Everyday).
It all started with the reunion of classmates after 3 decades.
The Founder
Sangeetha Srikishen
Managing Trustee
During my schooling days there were no proper toilets and whatever was there was very badly maintained. Since then, I strongly wanted to reform the sanitary conditions in schools. According to me, reforming meant fixing a problem once and for all. That is why we decided to not just construct toilets but also take up the responsibility of maintaining them.”
Sangeetha Srikishen hails from the coffee abode of India, Chikmagalur who has made a name for herself as a musician, performer, entrepreneur, and a community worker
It took some time to agree on the name, but we decided to go with something that would be simple but at the same time project positive energy.
After all, a smile can work wonders.
Sangeetha is the Managing Trustee and Co-founder of SMILE Charitable Trust, an NGO that is focussed on providing educational welfare for the underprivileged.
Trust Members
Sreenivas Naidu
A corporate professional with over 28 years of experience in all facets of Fortune 500 companies. Sreeni was handling one of the key CSR Vertical (Corporate Social Responsibility) in the company, he is with the SMILE as a permanent trustee.
Narayana Bhide
Having completed his schooling in MVS Chikmagalur and Manipal, Narayana Bhide is a B.com LLB. and practiced law in the High court in Mumbai.
As promoter and director of Trinetra Energy Conversions Ltd., he is currently developing hydro power projects. One notable feather in his cap is a 4.5 MWe hydro power asset built in the highly eco-sensitive western ghat biosphere.
Additionally, as principal consultant in Sagar Power Dondella Pvt. Ltd, and Sagar Power Neerukatte Pvt. Ltd., he has commissioned a mandate to generate 13.5 MWe & 15 MWe of Hydro Power across the Nethravathi River, Dakshina Kannada District, Karnataka State.
Sridhar Sringeri
A commerce graduate with diverse experience ranging from 16 years in the IT sector and an additional 30 years in business, he started his career as as a consumer products distributor in 1986.
Among his various accolades, Sridhar has been the Hon. President, Chikmagalur district cable TV operators association from 1999-2004, President of the junior chamber international Chikmagalur in 1996, and state governing council member for junior chamber international in 1997.
He’s also been a partner with Bharti Airtel since 2005, and with Tata communication in 2008. Sridhar is the founder and president for BSHIP (Arya Vysya business network) India from 2014. He is also the Co-founder of BSHIP INDIA – Arya Vysya Business network that is spread across India, Europe and America, and helps Arya Vysya Business men and women for mentoring, VC funding, collaboration, joint ventures, and more.
He’s been a national advisory council member of business partner of TATA tele business services between 2017-2019.
Vision
To be able to completely wipe out and cut the chain of poverty by eradicating dropouts of students due to lack of sanitation facilities in schools and economic conditions.
Uplifting the underprivileged for a better quality of education.
Mission
To make every school self-sufficient in hygiene, cleanliness, and sanitation. This includes various activities like R & D on individual school requirements, conducting awareness programs, actual constructing of toilets & maintaining the same.
To be able to support the student fraternity in their fees and other education-related requirements.
Our Official Architect
Ila Srinath
Ila Srinath is a trusted Consultant Architect and Interior Designer with more than 28 years experience and many residential, commercial, industrial,educational and other mixed use projects to her credit. These projects, which cover both the public and private sectors, are a testimony of her capacity and capability to design, execute and co- ordinate with mutl-disciplinary teams to meet client requirements and convert their dreams to reality.
An Architecture Graduate from the BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore, her sound educational background coupled with her vast field experience enables her to deliver projects in keeping with the highest standards of design and execution. Her deep sense of commitment has earned her the reputation of being an accessible, hands on architect who addresses every minute detail of a project undertaken with professional insight.
They Need Your Help!
Your contribution will go a long way in helping the cause. We’re working towards uplifting an entire society, both in terms of building the basic sanitary infrastructure and providing quality education at the grassroots level. We need the support of one and all.
Come, be a part of our journey. Come, donate!