Trustees

Currently there are 5 Trustees who are all professionals in their own right (The Trust deed allows for no fewer than 3 and no more than 9 Trustees)


All the trustees are individuals who have been working in the community for a long time and have been/are associated with other charitable groups as well.


All the trustees are reputable members in the community and are from different professions. They are all performing their duties in good faith and for the betterment of the community.


There are no payments made to any of the trustees for their services or reimbursement of cost to any individuals – everything is done for the love of helping and serving others.

Mr Pravin Kumar
Chairman & Trustee

Pravin is the Managing Director of Lotus Group of Companies including:


-Lotus Foreign Exchange Ltd – NZ

-Lotus Foreign Exchange Pty Ltd – Australia

-Lotus Foreign Exchange Ltd – Fiji

-Lotus Gold Merchants Ltd – NZ


He has been in business for 14 years, prior to which he worked for Westpac Bank in Fiji for 10 years.


By qualification, Pravin is a Chartered Accountant and a Senior Associate member of Financial Services Institute of Australasia.


Pravin is a community worker and is the current President of Waitakere Hindi School. He lives in Te Atatu South with his wife, 2 kids and parents.


Mr Salendra Kumar
Treasurer & Trustee

Salen is a New Zealand qualified Chartered Accountant and a member of the NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA).


He has been practicing as a Chartered Accountant in the public sector for over 16 years and specialises in Accounting and Taxation Matters.


He also has experience in the Audit sector having worked in the Audit division of Coopers & Lybrand in Suva, Fiji and in Audit division of UHY International, Auckland.


He looks after a substantial number clients and provides business and taxation advice to a broad range of clients and community organisations.


For larger and more progressive clients he assists in developing business plans, budgets, cashflow forecasts, monthly management accounts & development of KPIs.


Salen is also the owner & director of a Party Planet, a small business based in West Auckland and specialising in party supplies, party hire, balloons and venue decorations.


Salen has been living in West Auckland for over 15 years and has been involved with several community and sports groups. He is passionate about helping the community and looking forward to the challenges of building a community centre for the people of the west.


Mr Shiu Charan
Trustee

Shiu is a retired school teacher and a former politician from Fiji who immigrated to NZ in 2004.


He is a very well known and respected member of the Indian community in Auckland and NZ wide. He is very passionate and believes in helping the needy and the poor in the community.


Shiu has a lot of experience in public organisations as he has been involved in several organisations, both in government sectors and the community in Fiji.


He is currently the President of NZ Association of Fiji Teachers (A Charitable Organisation based in NZ) and he is also involved with several mandalis (religious groups) in various capacities.


Some of the organisations that Shiu has been involved with in the past are noted below:


- President & Secretary of Fiji Teachers Union & Vice president of Suva Intellectually Handicapped school


- Member of parliament of Fiji (1992 – 1999)


- President & Secretary of a political party & Vice President of Fiji Trades Union Congress


- Member of Public Service Appeals Board & secretary of Fiji Bus Operators Association


- Assistant Secretary of Sanatan Dharam Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji


Mr Giyannendra Prasad
Trustee


Giyannendra Prasad, Barrister & Solicitor, has been practising law for the past 20 years.


Mr Prasad is a former secondary school teacher. During his teaching days, he was the Labasa Branch President of the Fiji Teachers Union from 1984 to 1987.


In early 1987, he resigned from the public service in Fiji to study law at the Victoria University in Wellington.


In 1992, he returned to Fiji and worked for the Suva law firm, Parshotam & Co.


From 1997 to 2000, he was also Council Member of the Fiji Law Society.


In 1999, he set up legal practice in his home town, Labasa, Fiji.


In May 1999, he was elected a Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives in Fiji.


In the aftermath of the 2000 political crisis in Fiji and due to his personal circumstances, he ceased his Labasa practice in 2002 and moved to New Zealand.


He worked for a number of law firms in Auckland before setting his own legal practice under the name of GP Legal in 2007.


Since his student days at the University of the South Pacific in late 1970’s , Mr Prasad has been involved in community and public life as a student leader, teacher, trade unionist, lawyer and parliamentarian.


In those capacities in his life, he has represented Fiji at anumber of regional and international conferences and meetings. Currently, he is the Vice- President of the NZ based charity, New Zealand Association of Fiji Teachers which is registered as a charitable entity with the Charities Commission.