Leadership & Governance
Since its founding in 2007, Vedika Global has been guided by an active Board of Directors. The Board began with four members, grew to eight, and now once again, rests with a focused group of four. This steady evolution reflects the organization’s changing needs while maintaining clear governance, accountability, and alignment with its mission and lineage.
We remain grateful to past board members whose integrity and service helped shape these formative years.
Board of Directors
Acharya Shunya
Founder & Spiritual Preceptor
President, Vedika Global
Sanjai Mathur
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Founding Board Member
Treasurer & Financial Steward
As the leader of her Vedic lineage, the Sarayu Parampara, Acharya Shunya founded Vedika Global in 2007 to transmit Advaita Vedanta, the four yogas, and spiritualized Ayurveda through a contemporary Gurukulam model. As President, she guides the Vedic Study Circle, offering direct Shastra teaching and clear institutional direction while ensuring the teachings remain freely accessible and uncompromised.
A co-founder of Vedika Global, Sanjai Mathur is a Chartered Accountant with decades of experience in SEC reporting and corporate governance. Sanjai brings financial discipline and structural clarity to Vedika Global as its founding Treasurer. He also established and sustained the Ayurveda Food and Cooking Department, teaching classical nutrition and offering free public sanghas for over a decade.
Soham Thomas Steininger
Board Secretary & Technology Steward
Janya Tuere Anderson
Fundraising & Sustainability Steward
A senior systems architect and hardware engineer with deep expertise in complex technology infrastructure, Soham brings precision, governance clarity, and long-range systems thinking to Vedika Global. As Secretary to the Board and technology steward, he supports institutional continuity, oversees documentation and structural integrity, and guides the digital platforms that carry the teachings globally.
A licensed clinical social worker and senior public-sector executive in health systems leadership, Janya brings nearly three decades of experience in organizational development and community engagement. As Board member and steward of fundraising, she supports sustainable growth while ensuring accessible classical education remains sustainable.
Legal Counsel & Advisors
Janet L. Dobrovolny
Founding Board Member
Legal Counsel & Advisor
Hema Patankar
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Founding Board Member
Former President & Advisor
Gayathri Raman
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Former President of Board
& Advisor
Janet Dobrovolny, aka Suhasini, is a founding member of Vedika Global and was instrumental in establishing the organization as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2007, offering her legal expertise entirely pro bono. Though she stepped away from the Board in 2015, she continues to serve as a trusted legal counsel and advisor. A longtime friend and supporter of Vedika Global’s gurukulam-style education in Ayurveda and Vedic sciences, Janet has stood quietly behind the work from the beginning. Her contribution forms part of the unseen foundation that sustains the teachings.
Hema Patankar is a founding member of Vedika Global and served as President of the Board from its founding in 2007, through 2016. Drawing from her traditional knowledge and long-standing service within Vedic and Yogic traditions, she helped shape the organization’s early educational vision and commitment to classical Ayurveda and Vedic sciences. Though she stepped away from active Board leadership in 2016, she remains acknowledged as a founding member, advisor, and respected friend of Vedika Global. Her early stewardship forms part of the foundation upon which the work continues to grow.
Gayathri Raman served as President of the Board of Vedika Global from 2017 to 2023, leading the organization through a pivotal phase of digital growth and accessibility. She created Vedika Global’s streaming program, digitizing many courses and releasing them free, at low cost, or as paid offerings to help sustain the free Vedic Study Circle and its programs. She also initiated the Awakened Self chapter, now reintegrated into Vedika Global. In her professional life, she is a senior IT executive with expertise in enterprise architecture, business intelligence, and large-scale program leadership.
Ayurveda Advisors
Vaidya Mahesh Sabade
Vaidya Mahesh Sabade devoted many years in the United States helping establish and strengthen Vedika Global’s Ayurveda Department from its formative stages. He offered classical grounding and clinical depth in internal medicine and Ayurvedic dietetics, contributing to the department’s early structure and educational foundation.
An MD in Panchakarma from Tilak Ayurved College, Pune, he has served as Honorary Consultant to the University of Pune Health Centre and as Honorary Panelist Doctor to the Governor of Maharashtra at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai. He is co-author of Aahar: The Scientific Diet and founder of Agnivesh Ayurved Clinic in Pune.
His work bridges traditional Ayurvedic scholarship with lived clinical practice, and Vedika Global remains deeply grateful for his years of guidance and foundational contribution.
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Vaidya Abhijit Jinde
Vaidya Abhijit Jinde has been associated with Vedika Global’s Ayurveda initiatives from its early years, offering sustained clinical guidance and teaching support both in India and during his time in the United States. His presence strengthened the department’s grounding in classical training and lived therapeutic practice.
An Ayurvedacharya (BAMS) from the University of Pune and MD (Kayachikitsa) from Utkal University, he practices at his Panchakarma clinic, Sukhayu Ayurveda, in Pune. Trained in a medical family and deeply rooted in traditional Indian health sciences, he brings an integrative vision to healing that honors prevention, right diet, lifestyle, and individualized care.
His work reflects a steady commitment to authentic Ayurveda as a complete and compassionate system of medicine, and Vedika Global remains grateful for his contribution to its clinical and educational development.
Operational Stewardship
Vedika Global’s ongoing life is sustained through close collaboration between the Founder, Board of Directors, and senior Sadhvis. While the Board upholds fiduciary governance, the Sadhvis carry significant responsibility in teaching, mentoring, and leading specific institutional initiatives. As part of their formation within the parampara, they steward program leadership and guide community-wide communications, including newsletters and structured study rhythms within the Vedic Study Circle.
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A small administrative and creative team supports this work through communications, social media, correspondence, website development, video production, and podcast editing, ensuring that the teachings are presented with care.
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In addition to its professional administrative support, Vedika Global is blessed by grateful students who offer seva in creative and knowledge-based capacities. Volunteer contributions include blog writing, e-publishing, transcription, Zoom hosting, and thoughtful social media content creation. These offerings arise from devotion to the teachings and a shared desire to help preserve and extend Vedic wisdom to a wider audience.