Councillor Biographies
Dr. Vithal Rajan, Social Activist and Writer
Dr. Rajan is a respected advisor on grassroots community development, and applications of local technologies in India. During the 1970s he served as a mediator in Belfast, on behalf of the church. Later, he was a founding faculty member of the School of Peace Studies at Bradford University, and is a member of Transcend Global Peace Network. He was founder of the Deccan Development Society, and is founder Emeritus Chair of SKS MicroFinance, and of the Confederation of Voluntary Associations, which work for communal harmony. He is Trustee AME India Foundation, which focuses on sustainable agriculture. He has also worked as Chair of World Studies, International School of Geneva; as Director, Ethics and Education, World Wide Fund for Nature International, Switzerland; and as Executive Director for the Right Livelihood Awards. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2006.
