Vaidya Anil Kumar
Executive Director | Kerala Ayurveda LimitedVaidya Anil Kumar is the Executive Director of Kerala Ayurveda Limited, responsible for the consolidation of his family’s business and its entrance into the mainstream Ayurvedic industry. He is the elder son of Kerala Ayurveda’s Founder, Vaidya K G K Panicker, and a third generation Ayurvedic physician. He successfully expanded the historic apothecary, established in 1945, into a publicly listed company under Bombay and Cochin Stock Exchanges, and developed the business in segments of Health Care, Academia, Research & Development, Sales & Marketing. Both an Ayurvedic doctor and entrepreneur, Vaidya Anil believes in people, heritage and kindness. The wide footprint of Kerala Ayurveda as the full spectrum, most awarded Ayurvedic company it is today is due to Vaidya Anil’s conception of a variety of growth channels including: a chain of clinics throughout Kerala and India, the AyurvedaGram Heritage Wellness Center outside Bangalore; a Research and Development facility; the reorganization of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India; Kerala Ayurveda Academy; herbal gardens nurturing over 1,200 rare species; 40 proprietary and patented Ayurvedic products and “Vaidyam,” one of the most respected Ayurvedic journals. Vaidya Anil is a Doctor of Ayurveda medicine (BAMS) and former faculty of Kerala University of Health Sciences. He is currently the Vice Chairman to CARe Keralam (Consortium of Kerala Ayurveda Industry), Vice President (South Region) of the Ayurveda Drug Manufacturers Association ADMA), a member of the Pharmacopeia Commission for Indian Medicine and Homeopathy – AYUSH Govt of India, and an Executive Member of the Ayurvedic Medicine Manufacturers Organization of India (AMMOI). He formerly served as President of the Ayurvedic Medical Association of India (AMAI – the largest association of Ayurvedic Doctors) and as a member of the Central Council of Indian Medicines Dept. of Ayush (CCIM). He is the recipient of the Outstanding Entrepreneurship Award from KSIDC (Govt of Kerala) on the occasion of their Golden Jubilee Celebrations, and has presented scientific papers in various seminars in India and abroad.
Ramesh Vangal
Chairman | Katra GroupRamesh Vangal is the Founder and Chairman of Katra Group, including subsidiaries Kerala Ayurveda India and USA. He was honored by the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay as a Distinguished Alum and the first Asian to be awarded Alumni of the Year at the London Business School. After a rich career in senior positions at multinationals including Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and Seagram, his personal healing experiences awakened a deep conviction in the power of nature, Ayurveda and Yoga. It is his mission to build an institution integrating Ayurveda and Yoga, validated by modern science for advancing global shifts in consciousness. His career began at Procter & Gamble in 1980 with marketing assignments in Europe, the Middle East, Central America, the Caribbean and West Africa. He moved to PepsiCo where served as President, Asia Pacific and led the company’s landmark entry into India in the early 1990s, widely considered a pioneering stage in India’s opening of Foreign Direct Investment. Ramesh Vangal’s name is engraved in the Pepsico Walk of Achievement at Pepsico Global HQ in New York. In 1997, he became the Chairman of Seagram – Asia Pacific, now Pernod Ricard, and part of its global executive board. The same year he joined the Board of Infosys Technologies Ltd as its first independent Director. In 2001, Ramesh founded the Scandent Group, now Cambridge Solutions, an India-listed specialist IT/BPO company. After two decades of experience in technology, big business and entrepreneurship, Ramesh’s life direction shifted as he faced chronic health conditions and a desire to find a deeper meaning in life. Seeking a connection with nature and his life purpose, be embarked on a personal transformation and healing with the help of Ayurveda and Yoga, which profoundly changed his professional career direction ever since. He founded Katra in 2001 as well as the Asha Foundation for children impacted by cerebral palsy and autism, which has helped over 1,500 children with autism and other special needs. Katra Group is focused on wellness from Ayurveda, nutraceuticals and herbal extracts and is the major shareholder in Kerala Ayurveda Limited. The group today employs over 1,000 team members worldwide, including a network of over 10,000 farmers in India. Powered by Katra and Ramesh’s philosophy of “purpose over profit,” Kerala Ayurveda’s seed-to-shelf wellness approach has touched the lives of thousands of people since 1945 and growing.
Vaidya Jayarajan Kodikannath
CEO | Kerala Ayurveda USAVaidya Jayarajan is an experienced Ayurvedic scholar, clinician and educator with over 25 years of experience in India and the U.S. Since 2010 he has served Kerala Ayurveda USA as Director for all academic programs and wellness services, as well as Lead Faculty and Chief Ayurvedic Consultant. He earned his degree in Ayurvedic Medicine from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala. In India, he served as Chief Medical Officer at Kerala Ayurveda’s award-winning AyurvedaGram Heritage Wellness Center in Bangalore and headed Kerala Ayurveda Limited’s Ayurveda Expert team in new research project development on Efficacy, Safety and Standardization of Ayurvedic Wellness solutions. With rich experience developing internal resources and new offerings in Ayurvedic education, he is a leader trainer for domain experts. His wellness offerings have been effectively demonstrated and implemented in India, Europe and the U.S. He is a member of the Expert Curriculum Committee for Masters in Ayurveda at Bastyr University, Seattle and also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA). “Dr. J,” as his students call him for short, is a compassionate healer and educator, devoted to the mission of imparting the traditional teachings of Kerala’s Ayurveda. He appreciates the blessing of supporting the journey of each and every student who joins the Kerala Ayurveda Academy family.