Mr. Nimai Lila Das, Chief Sustainability Officer, ISKCON Govardhan Ecovillage graduated from the prestigious Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore with a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering in 2007. After working with Tata Motors and L&T, he joined the Govardhan Ecovillage(GEV) to enhance its sustainability initiatives. He has played an instrumental role in expanding the Ecovillage's role in the fields of Water Conservation, Waste Management, Alternative Energy, Green Buildings, Rural development, Geotourism and Global Outreach.

ISKCON Govardhan Eco Village today is a multi-award winning model eco-community showcasing some of the best practices in all the above fields. He has authored many technical papers on sustainability and is a regular speaker at various distinguished conferences. In 2015 he was invited to “The Emerging Leaders Climate Change Convergence” in Rome, Italy along with 100 other delegates from world over. Last year he was voted among the Most Influential Sustainability Leaders in India. In the last few years Mr. Das has been focusing on transforming the ecovillage into an international destination for learning. Blending the concepts of traditional learning systems with modern teaching techniques Govardhan Ecovillage’s novel educational activities are designed to cater to people of diverse ages and backgrounds. Mr. Das oversees the activities of the Govardhan School of Yoga in the capacity of a Dean and his areas of expertise include Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras and Meditation techniques. He is also the core faulty in the Bhaktivedanta Vidyapitham, a Vedic seminary at GEV that aims to find ancient approachs to modern day issues. He is an avid reader and is actively involved in conducting various workshops on sustainable living and life-skills development for students and professionals.

Rakesh Panda is a graduate from IIT Kharagpur – one of the top engineering institution in India. He joined as a senior scientist at the same institute in the field of molecular biology. He has been a faculty for college graduates across India for the last 5 years, giving motivational speeches in different educational organisations.

Currently, he is a program director at Govardhan Ecovillage, an UN award-winning retreat center and wisdom village. He travels abroad to present environmental sustainability initiatives at universities, like Yale, Princeton, UPITT etc. He is the Executive Head of SOS

Diego França has graduated in Biological Sciences from Integrated Regional University in Brazil. He is specialized in restoration of degraded areas through Agroflorestry Systems (food forest), waste management, wastewater treatment, bioconstruction, low impact technologies and rescue of ancestral knowledge.

In Brazil, he acts in projects to reduce environmental of events and as a researcher and educator in the area of agroecology and sustainability. He manages one of the largest urban spaces of permaculture and agroforestry in Brazil. He has theoretical and practical knowledge in the areas of biodynamic/natural/organic/syntropic agriculture, aquaponic systems, bikemachines, ecological landscaping, live feeding, beekeeping and meliponic culture, bamboo, botany, carpentry, organic waste composting, food preserving and processing, creole seed conservation and replication, electrical, electronics, hydraulics, computing, carpentry, mechanics and unconventional food plants.

Iris Kühnlein has a BA of honors in Liberal Arts and Sciences from Maastricht University (Netherlands) and was awarded with distinction a MA in Environment and Sustainable Development from University College London (UK). She is a Sustainability Specialist and Faculty Member of the Govardhan School of Sustainability.

Iris Kühnlein specialized in sustainable urban planning in developing countries and has worked with sustainability across different fields: the urban and rural, academia and practice. In Brazil, she worked with sustainable extractivism projects of non-timber forest products, urban agriculture and has been involved with green economy movements, being a representative of farmer's cooperatives and board member of two city councils. Besides her work at the societal level, she is also interested in herbalism and has started her own natural cosmetics brand. Passionate about the transition towards low impact lifestyles, she manages internal sustainability practices at Govardhan Ecovillage and is also developing different ecofriendly products.

Anmol is exposed to fitness & sports since childhood. He took up various courses along with Teachers Training at Yoga Vidya Gurukul, especially to explore the importance of Yogic practice in different sports. Anmol believes that yoga is all about challenging your limits and reaching new stages of physical and mental strength. He has a unique dynamic way of teaching yogic practices with a big smile & positive attitude. It is more to be experienced than explained! Students stay inspired even during intensive training due to his joyful nature & sense of humor.He has stayed and completed his classical & advance yoga training under the great teachers from traditional set-up of Sivananda Ashram, Kerala.

Anmol’s further training in Ashtanga Yoga, Mysore made him discover an exclusive approach to bring together the traditional practices of the east with modern yoga techniques. Anmol’s special interests are reflected through his teachings in anatomy, alignment & adjustments in technique classes. Anmol also took a certified training in yoga therapy which makes it easy for him to recognize an individual’s needs with respect to modifications, variations and pose-adaptions in the classroom.

His Yoga practice certainly extends off the mat as a compassion for all forms of life. It is very easy to understand Anmol’s spontaneous love and care for animals as you may quite often spot him around animal shelter at Ecovillage! At Govardhan Ecovillage, Anmol conducts Asana & Pranayama Yoga classes, technique classes & continues his spiritual practices with Vaishnava Tradition.

Aarti is an eternal student, a preacher of traditional yoga who holds a Master’s Degree in ‘Yog-Shastra’. She is also a QCI certified Level II Yoga Teacher under Government of India-AYUSH Ministry. Aarti’s first acquaintance with Yoga came at quite a young age with Yoga Vidya Gurukul, Nashik (Swami Satyananda lineage-Bihar School of Yoga) where she enrolled for Pranayama course, after which she had a longing to deepen her knowledge, especially in ancient, scriptural & traditional practices of Yoga.

So further, she took up the basic course in the same mentioned school (YVG, Nashik) & finished all the levels up to Yoga Pandit, now with more than 8 years of wide variety of teaching experience, conducting seminars & workshops for all age groups. Aarti believes that whether one is in the role of teaching or practicing, Yoga is about continuous learning and growing and with this faith she has traveled to various ashrams like Sivananda Ashram for advanced trainings, Mysore for Ashtanga Vinyasa, and specialized certification in pre-postnatal yoga from Yog Vidya Gurukul.

In her teaching experience, she came across various inspirational stories of healing through yoga and thus she took a dedicated training in Yoga Therapy to bring focus into new and wider perspective of health and wellness. Back at Govardhan Ecovillage, she continues her Yoga teachings, practices, personal sadhana & study of Bhagavad Gita in the Vaishnava Tradition. Aarti’s motto is to find true happiness by taking yoga practice off the mat as well!