FOUNDERS
Dr. Archana Nayar
(MBBS – Medicine, Masters in Public Health)
Dr. Archana is the founder of ACE and The Special Child Trust (TSCT). As a parent of a child with autism, she experienced the gaps in India for children with special needs compared to services available globally. She brought together international experts in the field of autism to build a program which provides research-backed interventions in an ethical and professional environment. Her goal is to bring about a systemic change in the Indian Autism landscape. She works actively with multiple stakeholders to create greater awareness and sensitization of society towards mental health issues. She serves as the Director at ACE overseeing all aspects of the school program.
Sameer Nayar
Founder and CEO at BuildSupply
Sameer is a real estate investment and finance professional with over two decades of industry experience. He brings his global experience and strategic thinking to the various organizations that he is involved with. He is the Founder and CEO at BuildSupply, a software development company focused on solving intractable problems in the real estate sector. Prior to this, he was Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Finance for Asia-Pacific at Credit Suisse.
Sameer co-founded The Special Child Trust and ACE, driven by his passion to establish a world-class ecosystem in India for children with special needs. At ACE, he is involved in setting the strategic direction for the organization. He is also a co-sponsor and a member of the Board of Directors of Children First, India’s first fully integrated institute for child and adolescent mental health.
Programming Experts
As a Programme Specialist at ACE, James oversees programming aspects for children as well as professional development for staff.
Equipped with degrees in Psychology and Behavior Analysis from California State University, James gained extensive experience in US working with clinics as well as special schools. He spent few years at NECC, Boston implementing a range of programs including 1:1 intervention focusing on language development and social skills, academic classroom and vocational training. The experience gives him a unique perspective of working with children from a diverse age group and different skill sets. James joined ACE in 2015 and in his early years as a Programme coordinator, contributed towards developing systems and trainings for staff while working on a home-based program.
Priyanka is an ABA practitioner with a Bachelor in Special education and Masters in Education. She completed her ABA course sequence from the University of North Texas and is working towards getting her BCBA certification. Her international exposure to the field of ABA and training under various BCBAs, in the early years, developed her passion for the science. Over the last decade, she has worked with various disabilities across age groups, but her primary interest lies in the field of Autism and Developmental Disabilities along with application of ABA to teach varied skills and deal with behavioral issues in children. In her career span, she has developed and implemented programs for 1:1 set-up, inclusive and integrated set-ups in schools, resource rooms, social skill programs and vocational training. She conducts regular workshops in schools and institutes and has presented a paper on ‘Mand Training’ in ABA India.
As a programme specialist at ACE, she is responsible for overseeing professional development of staff as well as programming aspects for children.
Manish is the Managing Director at SOCH, Gurgaon. Manish has a Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy (Pediatrics) from Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, as well as certification in Sensory Integration from the University of Southern California, USA, and Certification in Neuro-developmental Therapy from the Neuro-Developmental Treatment Association, USA. Manish has also been certified in Developmental Assessment Scales for Indian Infants (DASII). Manish has 18 years of experience in the field of Occupational Therapy and Sensory Integration Therapy. He has been teaching postgraduate students and conducting research since 2005. He has conducted multiple workshops on topics related to sensory integration, both in India and abroad. He has organized several courses in collaboration with international and Indian universities. Manish has also presented or published papers in international conferences and journals.
In 2014, he was felicitated for his contribution to the field of occupational therapy by VIMHANS, New Delhi. He was awarded a gold medal as a postgraduate student in Occupational Therapy. He is a life member of the All India Occupational Therapists Association and the Children’s Health Board, Ireland.
Preeti is a Senior Home Case Manager and currently provides behaviour therapy at a home/community based setup. She’s been a part of ACE since July 2014 and also serves as a part-time Junior Program Specialist and a Calm P trainer. At ACE, she has worked with students with varied age groups from 6 to 16 years. Her key areas of expertise are communication and behavior program development.
She has a Masters in Clinical Psychology from Amity University and interned with various hospitals in Delhi/NCR for 3 years while pursuing her education. Prior to joining ACE, she worked as a counselling psychologist for 2 years at a mainstream school, dealing with individual and group therapy sessions and implemented Life Skills & Adolescent Education programmes. She did an advanced series of course work in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology, US and received her certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2018.
Suchitra has been with ACE since its inception and now serves as a Junior Program Specialist. Driven, enthusiastic and focused, she took a keen interest in Applied Behaviour Analysis, soon after joining the organization. Since then, she has completed her BCBA course work from Florida Institute of Technology. She holds a masters degree in Clinical Psychology from Amity University, Noida. She has worked in various government hospitals, private organizations and NGOs such as Lady Harding Medical College, Action for Autism, Delhi Psychiatry Center, Orkidz and Drishtikon among others.
Her endeavor is to understand Autism better, by the application of evidence based practices such as ABA. Currently she assists the program specialists in the design and implementation of behavior guidelines and management plans. In addition, she trains new staff members and helps them develop new IEPs. She also conducts new student assessments and periodic staff evaluations.
Admin Team
Equipped with engineering degrees from IIT Kanpur and UT Austin and MBA from ISB Hyderabad, Preeti spent 13+ years working with various corporates and startups across India and US, including Philips Electronics, Aker Solutions, Sequoia-funded education startup and Cyient Ltd. Throughout her career, she worked closely with CXOs in strategy, marketing and operations. She decided to switch her career focus to non profit sector in Autism, having seen some of her close family grappling with challenges that Autism presents to the parents and the broader family.
She serves as the Assistant Director at ACE overseeing strategy and expansion, outreach, finance and employee engagement among other areas.
Sameer has played a vital role in setting up ACE, being part of the inception team. Previous to ACE, he has spent 8+ years working in education space with ILFS Education and Universal Learn Today (Part of India Today group). He has a Bachelors in Business Administration from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Having spent time in education space and witnessed the lacunae, Sameer strongly believes that a program built on a strong foundation will yield long term benefits to the children with special needs and their families.
He manages Operations and Administration as the COO for the center.
