François Gautier – Founder and director
Francois Gautier is a French political writer and journalist based in India ,since 1971. Gautier is the founder of the Foundation for Advancement of Cultural Ties (FACT), an NGO which is ‘committed to highlighting the magnificence of India and the threats to its sovereignty’. He has written 9 plus books on India and its culture and history many of which are best sellers. He has also won the pretigious Nachiketa award for excellence in journalism and the Bipin Chandra Pal award. He is a regular contributor in many popular magazines and other journals. In 2012, he founded the Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History which was inaugurated by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Ajit Pawar and Nitin Gadkari. He lives with his wife Namrata Gautier in Pondicherry – India.
Namrita Gautier – Trustee FACT
Namrita was born and brought-up in Delhi & Kanpur, from a Sikh father and a Hindu mother, is a textile designer by profession. She is also trustee of the Chatrapatti Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History Pune. This Museum, which is a difficult project, full of obstacles and hardships, could not have happened without Namrita’s support
Akshay Joshi
Works as a program manager in the financial services technology. Outside of work he is passionate about writing, travel, Indian history, society, culture, Indian politics and policy making. He is passionate about creating a pro India intellectual ecosystem and a knowledge sharing framework to set positive narratives. He is the creator of the FACT digital library that is available on the website and he helps with social media, events and other promotional campaigns for this cause. He also creates short animation movies on important characters in Indian history.
Prajna Khisty
Prajna Kishty is based out of New Jersey and works with individuals and business owners to help them define their retirement goals and create strategies to help meet their objective. She is a veteran sewa warrior and has interests in various social development and cultural endeavors. She is on the national committee for Ekal Vidyalaya USA and is also an art of living teacher. She handles financials and treasury activities for FACT and is a great pillar of support for this endeavor.
Museum Staff
Swapnil Nalavade – Supervisor
Mukund Parkhe – Coordinator
Ravsaheb Kakade – Caretaker
Avinash Jangam – Panditji