Rama Sastry and B. Ramdas, educationists, began the Vidyodaya Adivasi School, which evolved into VBVT in response to the Adivasi Munnetra Sangam’s vision for culturally rooted education.

Mari Marcel Thekaekara  and Stan Thekaekara, social change agents and founders of ACCORD, have worked with Adivasi communities since the 1980s to advance rights, livelihoods, and self-governance.

Dr. Nandakumar and Dr. Shylaja Devi Menon, doctors trained in India and the US, co-founded ASHWINI and the Gudalur Adivasi Hospital, pioneering a model of community-run healthcare.