WHO WE ARE

Meet the Founders

Founders

Deepa Pullanikkatil (PhD)
Co-Founder of Abundance

Brought up in Tanzania and Lesotho, and having attended university in India and South Africa, Deepa has lived and worked with people from various cultures and nationalities. She is a Civil Engineer turned Environmentalist, with a PhD in Environmental Science from South Africa and is currently based in Eswatini. She is Co-Director of Sustainable Futures in Africa, an international network covering Scotland, Nigeria, Uganda, Malawi, Botswana and Eswatini. She has been involved in climate change adaptation work for Government of Malawi, Eswatini and for development partners such as SADC, GIZ, UNDP. Deepa has completed a Post Doctoral Research Fellowship from Rhodes University and undertaken consultancy work for the University of Glasgow in 2018. www.deepapullanikkatil.com

How it all Began
Abundance began as a "wish", "dream" and "vision" of Deepa Pullanikkatil, who was touched by the suffering she saw in Malawi where she spent five years of her life between 2009-2015. Read more......

Cyril Anand Bakianathan
Co-Founder of Abundance

Cyril is a Harvard Alumni with over 15 years of experience across Technology, Media & Telecom. He is based in Qatar and works as Director of Ooredoo Qatar managing a team of senior managers responsible for business development of Mega Projects contributing to the QNV 2030. He is an accomplished public speaker, has delivered speeches at GSMA, World Stadium Congress, Soccerex, Arab Future Cites and a TEDx Speech on entrepreneurship.
Cyril lives in Doha, Qatar.

Read Cyril Anand's article at Harvard University website where he talks about what inspired him to start Abundance:
https://www.exed.hbs.edu/assets/testimonials/Pages/program-for-leadership-development-cyril-anand.aspx

Thangam Pillai
Co-Founder of Abundance

Thangam Pillai is General Manager of Vivartana Ventures, based in Chennai, India. Previously, she was an Entrepreneur running an automobile maintenance workshop in Dubai, UAE for more than eleven years. She is an avid reader and writes blogs and short stories. She has published a book "Auto Maintenance Industry: An Insight! ". She was active with Toastmasters club in UAE and has helped many with public speaking skills and providing encouragement and skills for entrepreneurship. She also set up a charitable group called Manifest Humanity which supported underprivileged girls and boys in India.
Thangam lives in Chennai, India.