Our Founderss
Sonia Mackwani
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Our FounderS
S O N I A M A C K W A N I
Founder
Sonia Mackwani founded Touching Lives in India in 2003 with a vision to bring education, mental health, art, and self-work to communities from humble backgrounds. For over two decades, she has worked with children, women, educators, and grassroots teams, creating spaces for learning, healing, reflection, and transformation.
Trained in Clinical Psychology and Hypnotherapy, Sonia brings together therapeutic practice, storytelling, creative arts, and community work. She is also an author, filmmaker, facilitator, theatre practitioner, and Co-Founder of Guidant Films, a production company dedicated to meaningful storytelling.
Recognized as one of India’s 100 Women Achievers by the President of India, Sonia now lives between India and Switzerland, carrying forward Touching Lives’ philosophy of Self-Work, Seva, and Sadhana across cultures and communities.
S A D I K K E S H W A N I
Co-Founder
Sadik Keshwani is the Co-Founder of Touching Lives Switzerland and has been connected with the Touching Lives movement since its beginning in India in 2003. He supports the organization’s vision of building bridges between grassroots work, conscious communities, volunteers, and supporters across geographies.
Professionally, Sadik is an entrepreneur working at the intersection of media, technology, and purposeful innovation. He is the Founder and CEO of Guidant Films and Guidant Technology, and Co-Founder and CTO of Bayartis, a MedTech company.
With a background in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration, Sadik brings strategic thinking, technological insight, and a deep commitment to meaningful social impact.
A N K I T K A N A N I
CEO, Touching Lives India
Ankit Kanani has served as the CEO of Touching Lives since 2018. With over fourteen years of experience in the development sector, he has worked across diverse areas of grassroots work, including teaching in slum communities, building partnerships, strengthening programs, managing compliance, and guiding a multidisciplinary team.
A software engineer by education and purpose-driven in his approach, Ankit brings together deep grassroots experience, community-centered insight, and a strong eye for detail. His leadership supports Touching Lives’ vision of creating meaningful, sustainable change through education, mental health, art, and self-work.
Alongside his role at Touching Lives, Ankit enjoys exploring game design and has recently published his first mobile game.
