» 2020 Grant Recipients

Roshni Nadar Malhotra

Roshni Nadar Malhotra is the CEO and Executive Director of the $9.9 billion HCL Corporation and is responsible for providing strategic guidance to the organization.Sheis also the Chairpersonof HCL Technologies, a leading global technology organization with a market capitalization of $32billion, and the Chairperson of its CSR Board Committee.
Roshni is a Trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation, which is committed to the process of nation building by driving transformational leadership through education. Asthe Chairperson and driving force behind VidyaGyan, a leadership academy for the economically underprivileged, meritorious, rural students of Uttar Pradesh, Roshni has been working towards nurturing future leaders from rural India who can be catalysts of change for their communities, villages and the nation at large
Passionate about wildlife and conservation, Roshni established The Habitats Trust in 2018. The Foundation aims to work towards protecting India's natural habitats and its indigenous species with the core mission of creating and conserving sustainable ecosystems through strategic partnerships and collaborations with all stakeholders, at every level.
Roshni is a member of the Dean's Advisory Council at the MIT School of Engineering, USA. She also serves as an independent director on the Board of HDFC Asset Management Company, one of India's largest and most profitable mutual fund managers.
In recognition of her outstanding work both in business and in philanthropy, Roshni has received several honours and accolades. Some of these include being featured in 'The World's 100 Most Powerful Women' list compiled and released by Forbes, in 2017, 2018 and 2019, consecutively. In 2020, Forbes also featured her among the '25 Most Powerful Businesswomen in Asia'. Roshni was conferred with Lewis Institute Community Changemaker Award by Babson College in 2017 and was recognized byHorasis, an internationally renowned think tank, as the 'Indian Business Leader of the Year 2019.She is an alumnus of the Forum of Young Global Leaders (YGL, 2014-19), a unique and diverse community of the world's most outstanding, next-generation leaders, an initiative of the World Economic Forum.
Roshni holds an undergraduate degree in Communications from Northwestern University and a MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. At Kellogg, she was awarded the Dean's Distinguished Service Award.
Roshni is married to Shikhar Malhotra and they have two sons.

Shikhar Malhotra

Shikhar Malhotra is the Executive Director and Board Member of HCL Corporation, the holdco for HCL's operating companies. HCL has a distinguished lineage as one of India's original technology garage start-ups, founded by Shiv Nadar. He is also on the board of HCL Technologies, a $9.9 Billion global technology firm with over 153,000 professionals operating from 50 countries.
Shikhar serves as the Vice Chairman & CEO of HCL Healthcare, one of India's largest corporate health solutions firms, providing end-to-end healthcare solutions with a vision to make corporate India a healthier place. Today, HCL Healthcare is delivering personalized, sustainable and managed care health solutions to organizations across sectors including technology and banking. It has eight world-class corporate health centers across the country serving over 70,000 families.
As a Trustee, Shikhar plays multiple roles at the Shiv Nadar Foundation including shaping its vision of nation building through transformational leadership. Shikhar is the founding CEO of Shiv Nadar Schools (established in 2012), having led them to become one of the most coveted schools in the National Capital Region of Delhi, and consistently recognized among the top schools in the country. The Shiv Nadar Schools are known to push the benchmarks in education to impart critical life lessons and making students future ready for a complex global environment.
In September 2018, Shikhar took over the role of the Pro Chancellor of Shiv Nadar University, India's youngest university chosen as an Institution of Eminence by the Government of India. Today, SNU is one of the only eight private universities in the country acknowledged for being on an accelerated path to emerge as a world-class research-based, multidisciplinary institution.
Passionate about wildlife and conservation, Shikhar co-founded The Habitats Trust in 2018 with his wife Roshni Nadar Malhotra. The Trust is empowering on-ground conservationists to achieve its vision of securing India's natural habitats and their indigenous species.
Shikhar comes from an entrepreneurial family, raised in Kuwait. His early lessons as an entrepreneur were learnt at his family business and were later sharpened at Babson College in the US, with a specialization in entrepreneurship.
Shikhar is passionate about sports and football in particular. He is married to Roshni Nadar Malhotra and they have two sons.

Trisha Ghose

Trisha is the Project Director of The Habitats Trust, which works towards protecting habitats and their indigenous species. She is a part of the strategic team shaping the Trust's activities and engagements. The mission of The Habitats Trust is to create and conserve sustainable ecosystems through strategic partnerships and collaborations with all stakeholders at every level.
An avid lover of wildlife and the forests, Trisha has spent close to a decade working on conservation issues in India. Her love for wildlife began with a childhood visit to Ranthambore National Park, when she spotted her first tiger. Although, she says her greatest and rarest sighting till date is that of an Indian pangolin in the buffer area of Kanha Tiger Reserve.
Trisha is passionate about bringing to the forefront conservation issues that are often overlooked and that she believes if unaddressed could hinder the great work being done by committed conservationists in the field. Over the span of her career she has worked with some of India's premier conservation organizations, including WWF-India and the Wildlife Protection Society of India. Trisha has worked on a myriad of conservation issues including human-wildlife conflict, poaching and illegal trafficking in wildlife parts, habitat loss and fragmentation, conservation awareness generation, and support to forest fringe communities.

Strategic Partnership Grant (INR 25 lakhs)

This flagship grant will primarily reach out to mid to large sized field work oriented organisations to create a two-way partnership for our common cause of conservation. This grant is directed towards the running costs of on-ground projects. The grant should enable the creation of a sustainable and replicable conservation model to address some of the key conservation issues in India.

Lesser-known Habitats Grant (INR 20 lakhs)

This first of its kind initiative aims to secure and regenerate the overlooked and unaddressed habitats of the country that are in urgent need of conservation attention. These lesser-known habitats are home to an array of biodiversity, and serve as important connections between key wildlife landscapes and as havens for dispersal populations from the "celebrity" parks. Through the lesser-known habitats grant, we hope to secure and bring into the limelight these vital habitats.

Lesser-known Species Grant (INR 15 lakhs)

In recent years, a great deal of attention has been given to the "glamour" species of the country such as tigers, leopards, elephants and rhinos. Unfortunately, several of our equally endangered species have not received the same level of conservation support. This unique grant aims to support conservationists working to secure a future for our lesser-known endangered species.

Conservation Hero Grant (INR 10 lakhs)

Across the country there are grassroots conservationists working dedicatedly, with little to no support, to protect our biodiversity. The work they do in their individual capacity has a huge positive impact on conservation in the country. This grant aims to recognize these conservation heroes and provide them a platform to expand their activities and garner further support for their work.

First Level Screening and Shortlisting

Successfully submitted applications and projects will be screened for eligibility, relevance of answers and authenticity of information. A team of experts, including sector specialists and external auditors, evaluate successful entries on the following parameters:

Applicant Profile: Based on past performance and credentials, capacity to deliver, financial management, program management and other such criteria.
Project Profile: Based on statement of need, clarity of objectives, measurability of impact, innovation, strategy and approaches, replicability, stakeholder participation, scalability and sustainability.

At the end of the First Level Screening and Shortlisting round 24 applications, 6 in each category, will move forward for Field Level Verification.

Field Level Verification

The Habitats Trust team will visit the proposed project locations to verify if details provided by the applicant are true to fact. Along with a Sub-Jury, The Habitats Trust team will shortlist twelve proposals, three in each category, move to the Jury Round. The work of all the applicants shortlisted for the Jury round will be published in The Habitats Trust Grants compendium, as a tribute to their efforts and achievements. Disseminated widely by HCL, this provides national and international visibility to the applicants.

Jury Round

The twelve shortlisted applicants, three in each category, will be invited to present their proposed projects in person to our Jury of eminent conservationists at the Jury Round. Recipients of The Habitats Trust Grants will be announced at a Felicitation Event the next day.