ANUGRAHA JOHN

Executive Director

SHORT BIO PROFILE

Mr. Anugraha John is a youth leader and peace activist recently awarded the Honorary title of Millennium Development Ambassador with due recognition of services towards achieving Millennium Development Goals and Youth Development by the Sri Lanka United Nations Friendship Organization. John is an avid traveler and has been sowing the seeds of ‘global citizenship’ during his travel all across the globe. He currently runs the organization Global Citizens for Sustainable Development, a not-for-profit organization based in Bangalore, India that focuses on youth leadership and youth empowerment, peace and culture, environment and other social development issues. He was the Coordinator of the Asian Citizens Assembly 2010, founder of inter-generational forums such as China-India Forum, Japan-India Forum, Korea-India Forum, Sri-Lanka India Forum and has served the term from 2008-2010 as the Youth Advisory Board of the UN-Habitat. He loves to play football and enjoys listening to country and alternative music.

CURRICULUM VITEA

PERSONAL DETAILS

Nationality: Indian

Gender: Male

Address: P.O. Box 3210, R.T. Nagar Post, Bangalore, India

Mobile: +91-9448192010

Email: ajohn316@globalcitizens.org.in

EDUCATION

2011: Pursuing M.A. Sociology – Distance Education Programme, India

1999-2003: Bachelors in Computer Science, Bangalore University, India

1997-1999: Higher Secondary Certificate, Mumbai University, India

Relevant Trainings

September 2003: Participatory Rural Appraisal

November 2003: Certified Permaculture Designer

(Most Basic and Professional development related trainings were accomplished through experiential learning, several workshops and international conference while staying at the Fireflies Inter-cultural Center for 4 years in a village outside Bangalore where Pipal Tree (NGO) has its office.)

Language Skills:         English: Fluent both written and spoken

Indian Languages:       Hindi, Marathi Fluent both written and spoken

                                    Telegu, Kanada, Gujarati working knowledge

Computer Skills: Microsoft Office, Internet tools, Photoshop, CorelDraw X3, PageMaker, Video-editing, internet tools, C, C++, website designing and can handle any menu driven software.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Founder & Executive Director, Global Citizens for Sustainable Development Bangalore, India

Vedike: an eco-residential School and Global Living and Learning Center (August 2010 – Present)  This is a joint project of GCSD and Alas Para Todos, Spain. A project to help the poor and under-privileged children address basic human rights such as food, education, shelter and also the need to protect the environment through an eco-residential school.

Asian Citizens Assembly 2010 (February 2007 – Present)

Roles and Responsibilities: Coordinate three specific programmes for this Assembly – Asian Youth Assembly, Asian Art and Culture Festival and the Citizens (Inter-generational) Assembly to work towards an Asian Alliance for plural, responsible and united Asia. 

Asian Youth Climate Network: (December 2008 – August 2010)

Roles and Responsibilities: As one of the founders of this network, it will be crucial for me to strengthen this network and work towards mobilizing Asians to come up with planning and implementation of climate solutions. Lead many Asian delegations to the COP15, Copenhagen in December 2009.

Youth and World Governance: (June 2008 – Present)

Roles and Responsibilities: As the Coordinator, facilitate discussions with youth all over the globe on their role in world governance and edit a compilation of best practices of the role of youth in local to global governance by the end of 2009.

Cross-Cultural Dialogue Forum (February 2007 – Present)                                                                             The methodological axes to work towards the citizens assembly was established through different cross-cultural dialogue programmes. We started with China-India in February 2007 which has now extended as the China-India-Japan Forum and will continue to grow with different bilateral, tri-lateral and multi-lateral Forums beyond the Citizens Assembly in 2010. Thus founded forums such as Japan-India Forum, Korea-India Forum, Sri Lanka-India Forum, etc

Pipal Tree - NGO experience (May 2003 – April 2007)

As the Programme Coordinator for 4 years I was actively involved with planning and executing each of the following programmes:

2004 – 2007: 4 months study abroad Spring Semester programme for American students

2005-2006: 2 week – Indian Culture and Development programme for Japanese students

2004 – 2007: Fireflies Festival of Sacred Music – annual all night music festival.

2003 – 2004: Global Eco-village Network

2003 – 2006: Inter-religious Conflict Resolution and Development programme - working in sensitive slums.

Organizing National and International level workshop

January 2004: World Social Forum 2004: Media and Governance, Religions and Peace and Religions and Ecology.

August 2004: Cultures, Religions and Communal Peace

November 2004: Youth’s Roles and Responsibilities in a globalized world.

June 2006: Inter-religious dialogue and socially engaged Hinduism

November 2006: Workshop on Mediation and Advocacy in the Empowerment process.

Lectures

November 2008 – Human Responsibilities and Solidarity Economy at Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

International Conferences (Representation as the Indian delegate)

• October 2005 – India – TUNZA/UNEP International Youth Conference
• August 2006 – Malaysia - International Training Workshop for Youth Representatives on Environment and Disaster Management by World Youth Foundation, Malaysia in cooperation with UNEP.

• October 2006 –USA - Young Leaders’ Peace-building Retreat, New York, USA

• February 2007 – Beijing, China - “China-India Inter-Cultural Dialogue”
• June 2007 – NY, USA- Social Entrepreneurship and Global Change.
• October 2007 - Asia-Africa Summit Awakening of Global Compassionate Leadership, Taiwan.
• July 2008 – World Youth Forum toward G8.
• July 2008 – Japan – China-India-Japan Forum
• August 2008 – Stockholm, Sweden - Global Water Partnership Consulting Partners Meeting.
• November 2008 - Madrid, Spain – Asia-Europe Young Urban Leaders Dialogue
• November 2008 - Nanjing, China – World Urban Forum
• December 2008 – Poznan, Poland, COP14, UNFCCC.
• January 2009 – Bari, Italy - NMC Youth Meeting
• September 2009 – Manila, Philippines – 2^nd Asia Pacific Housing Forum
• November 2009 – Cambodia – Mekong Build 2009

Speaker at International Conferences/Workshops

• July 2006 – ONE DEGREE ASIA, Singapore (Theme: Inter-religious Conflict resolution)
• July 2007 - Governor’s School of International Studies program at Ramapo College, NJ, USA (Theme: ‘Environment: Global Water Issues’)
• October 2007 - Asian Forum for Solidarity Economy held at Manila, Philippines                                          Theme: Youth and Solidarity Economy
• November 2007 - 4^th International Conference on Environmental Education, India                                  Theme: ‘Youth and ESD Trendsetters’
• June 2008 – Coordinator’s Meeting of the Citizens Assembly, Paris, France.
• October 2008 – Regional Workshop of Solidarity Economy
• June 2009 - Local Government Climate Leadership Summit, Copenhagen, Denmark                                      Theme: Local Governments are key actors for (climate) Adaptation 
• July 2009 –Asian Forum for Cross-Cultural Dialogue, Beijing, China                                                                Theme: Indian festivals and nature worship: An Ecological Perspective
• April 2010 – World Urban Forum, Rio, Brazil Theme: Climate Change and Youth
• November 2010 – Southern Cone Citizens Assembly, Santiago, Chile Theme: Citizens Assemblies in Asia and the need
  

International Film Festival - Organizer

2007: World Youth Water Alliance Water Film festival – traveled in India, Philippines, China (Beijing University), Japan (United Nations University and Tokyo University), etc

2009: Global Citizens’ Climate Change and Water Film Festival  - traveled in US, China, Greece, Japan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, etc

OTHERS

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  November 2005 - Bangalore Organizer for the WORLD URBAN CAFÉ- HABITAT JAM a programme part of the World Urban Forum III |Vancouver, 19-23 June 2006)

• Green Youth Ambassador India title given at the International Training Workshop for Youth Representatives on Environment and Disaster Management by World Youth Foundation, Malaysia in cooperation with UNEP in August 2006.
• Member of the ACCU-UNESCO, Japan

• Member of the South Asia Coordination Committee for the Charter of Human Responsibilities.

• Member of the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for PEACE- PIPFPD.

• Member of the All India Secular Forum

• Member of Indian Youth Climate Network

PUBLICATIONS

October 2007 – Cross-Cultural Dialogue: China-India Forum

October 2008 – Indian Youth and Climate Change

January 2011 – Youth and World Governance

BIOGRAPHY

ANUGRAHA John was born and brought up in Mumbai but now lives in Bangalore in the south of India, where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and is now enrolled in a Master’s programme in Sociology. He loves to travel, engage in cross-cultural dialogue, listen to alternative music and has always been fond of football, which he enjoyed playing at both school and college level.

He moved on from the corporate world to social development where his heart is. His first NGO employment at Pipal Tree, based in a village setting 40 km outside of Bangalore gave him a wide experience in programmes including Self-Help Groups (SHGs), Farmer’s network and engagement in Organic Farming, Health Center, Local Governance programme, Gender, Inter-Religious Dialogue, Slum Development programmes and Environment programmes, and especially lobbying with the government to solve issues or concerns in the field of water, Communal Harmony, HIV/AIDS, Child labour and Child rights and Guaranteed Employment (NREGA).

In his tenure at Pipal Tree for four years, John also coordinated programmes such as: Global Eco-village Network, an American Study Abroad Spring semester in India, Alternative Tourism, Inter-Cultural programmes for university students from Japan and an all night annual music festival, etc.

After his first NGO job, John was inspired to launch the Global Citizens for Sustainable Development in Bangalore, which now serves as the formal larger umbrella of all the programmes initiated by him and has potential of opening chapters in US, China, Philippines, Indonesia and Africa by 2012.

John today has a long-term commitment to programmes that he has initiated such as the China-India Forum, World Youth Water Alliance, Japan-India Forum, China-India-Japan Forum, Korea-India Forum, Sri Lanka India Forum. He also coordinates a Citizens Network in Asia under the aegis of the Asian Citizens Assembly and had organized the first Asian Citizens Assembly in Bangalore, India in August 2010.

John enjoys his work in social activism but also loves teaching and facilitating thematic sessions. In the last three years he has been regularly lecturing or giving talks to children and youth at schools, colleges and universities both in India and abroad.