About Us & The Team

About Us :

Empower Foundation is an NGO registered with the Planning Commission, Government of India, working on Environment and Wildlife Conservation, Tribal and Youth development and  allied areas specializing in :

(1) Controlling Man-Animal Conflict :

With the increased population, encroachment and reduced forest cover, we believe that removal of encroachers is a long drawn task and interfering with the wildlife and its habitat is against the nature and Co-Existence is the only option !

• We have been working with the Forest and Government authorities on the Man –Animal Conflict in Mumbai Area covering SGNP (Sanjay Gandhi National Park) 

• We have designed and conducted Co-Existence workshops for Tribal Areas and Security personnels of Government Organizations like MCGM (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai- Bhandup), Filmcity Goregaon, Aarey Colony and Private Entities like Reliance Mediaworks etc around the forest area where a lot of conflict situation exists.

• We are also involved in tracking the leopard and leopard habitat and creating leopard corridor and defining  sensitive zones of conflicts

Our work has been avidly covered by renowned media like The Times of India, Mumbai Mirror, DNA, Outlook, Global Post etc.

(2)  Awareness on Wildlife :

We, through our project – The Wild India (www.thewildindia.blogspot.com) have covered and published conservation activities and best practices of various reserves and national parks in India besides promoting tourism through articles and offline white papers at :

• Well know wildlife sanctuaries like Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Tadoba, Gir National Park, Periyar, Pench, Sunderbans and Kaziranga and also

• Lesser known sanctuaries like Vansda National Park and Purna Wildlife Sanctuary, Shoolpaneshwar WLS, Ratanmahal Sloth Bear Sanctuary (Gujarat) and Anshi National Park (Karnataka), Bhagawan Mahaveer Sanctuary (Goa) and Suryamal (Thane, Maharashtra), this creating awareness and also livelihood for the locals

Our website has reached readers from 32 countries creating awareness on Indian wildlife and helped in driving tourism and revenue for locals.

(3) Tribal Upliftment

We have also been involved in tribal upliftment activities and rehabilitation activities along with the government and forest departments

(4) Youth Development

We feel that Youth of the nation, are the most important segment to bring in any change and we have been instrumental in contributing to the Policy Making for Youth by the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Government of India and Government of Maharashtra. We have been involved with various government and non government organizations on the subject.

(5) Save Our Lions

We have been working on the issue of Lion Translocation issue in India where the Hon’ble Supreme Court has directed the Government of Gujarat to translocate a few Lions to Madhya Pradesh, based on lack of eco-centric and scientific defence.

Since there is no precedence of any successful Lion translocation in India and unlike Tiger, where Lions are more social animals living in prides, translocating a few lions without any experience   would not serve the purpose. We got involved in the process, trying to highlight some important facts and data, which could save and conserve the Lions. We recommended not to translocate the Lions just for the sake of translocation and for tourism, that too into an adverse habitat.

One can know more by visiting www.saveourlions.blogspot.com or visiting Facebook Page - Save Our Lions

The Core Team

Jalpesh Mehta – is a management professional and a doctoral scholar in management having avid interest in wildlife and social change. Based in Mumbai, with his roots back in Kolkata, where he also served as the General Secretary of St. Xaviers College Students Union which acted as the seed for the formation of this NGO, Empower Foundation, Jalpesh also writes on Social issues and Wildlife on his website - The Wild India !

Mitesh Panchal – A fitness expert cum entrepreneur based out of Mumbai. Known as “Kali” of Yeoor Range in SGNP (Sanjay Gandhi National Park), Mitesh spends most of his weekends in the forests and also as a part of census teams at Tiger reserves besides enjoying photography of the rare wildlife. Understands wildlife and especially Leopards and Tigers more than Humans.

Amit Kanugo - is a Engineer and Management graduate, an Aviation professional based out of Kolkata. Also known as Baagha, Amit has been involved in Tiger conservation at Sunderbans with a focus on building up an Art, Nature education and Language School.  A key achievement discovering and tracking 7 stray tigers in the territorial forest around Nagpur.

Black Pearl - is an IT Professional from Chandigarh and a Naturalist with phenomenal experience on forests in the Northern India. He is also a Wildlife photographer having taken some great unbelievable world class shots ! A blogger on wildlife, Black Pearl as he is known in the circle is an Editorial and Photography Guru for Team Empower and Wildlife Enthusiasts !

Pranav Shah – is an Engineer from Pune and a native of Morbi, Gujarat. Industrialist by profession but a Change agent by spirits, Pranav has been a part of many social uplfitment activities primarily in Maharashtra and Gujarat regions, where he doesn’t need a googlemap !

Mohammad Kathawala - is an Engineer from Pune residing at Baroda. An avid techie with a passion knowledge spreading, Mohammad has been involved in teaching the underprivileged children at Panchayati Schools where he ensures a good focus on Environment conservation and Nature too. Lion has been an inspiration and passion since Childhood for him.

Sheetal Mehta – An Artist and Visharad in Indian Folk dance, retaining and spreading the folk and tribal art across the urban next-gen in Mumbai is Sheetal’s mission if life. Spends her free time in the Leopard sensitive areas of Mumbai to create co-existence and reduce man animal conflict !

Nupur Kothari – An Interior Designer by profession but a wildlife lover at heart, trying to bring in the creativity in wildlife conservation and tribal upliftment by promoting Tribal Arts and Artisans besides being the Research lead on Wildlife and allied issue for Empower Foundation

We are always looking out for more like-minded people with a common passion to join along. All that is required is passion and a few hours (2-3 hours) every week, on weekends ! 

You may mail us on saveourlions@gmail.com or empowerfoundation@gmail.com