Founder

Praveen is the Founder of Suchitra Academy, an international school in Hyderabad, India, established in 2011. Suchitra is home to over 2,200 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 and is widely recognized as India’s premier badminton sports school. Its sprawling green campus includes seven indoor badminton courts, a 25-meter swimming pool, and a state-of-the-art fitness center. Notably, Suchitra has served as a training ground for world champions P. V. Sindhu (Badminton) and Nikhat Zareen (Boxing), with Praveen mentoring Sindhu in her journey. Suchitra Academy has been featured in Fortune Magazine’s Future 50 Schools and Forbes’ Great Indian Schools, ranked #1 in India in the Multi-Sport Category by Education World, and certified as a Great Place to Work.

Praveen’s leadership has been recognized nationally, including being named among the 25 Leaders Reinventing K–12 Education. In 2024, he received the Technology Trailblazer in School Education Award from The Economic Times (June 6, 2024) and the Visionary Education Technology Leader Award from the Education World Learning Exposition (January 23, 2024). He has also contributed to shaping India’s education landscape by contributing to the drafting of the National Education Policy (NEP).

Before founding Suchitra, Praveen served as Executive Director of Indus International School and was the Founding Chairman of Indus Early Years. He has also held leadership roles with organizations such as TiE Hyderabad and FICCI ARISE, where he served as Co-Chairman until December 2023. He is the current President of ARISE and currently leads the Hyderabad Chapter of Nexus of Good.

With a strong background in sports, Praveen was a university-level badminton player and a national-level snooker player. Academically, he holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Communications from Osmania University and certifications in School Management & Leadership from Harvard University Graduate School of Education and Harvard Business School, with a focus on Leading Schools, Leading People, and Leading Learning.

Head of School

Born and raised on the island of Jersey in the English Channel, Zoë retains her UK citizenship despite having lived in the USA, Myanmar and India. From the day she entered school at the age of 4, she enjoyed the idea of school community and has spent her career as a passionate educator.

Zoë’s qualifications are from King Alfred’s College in England and New York University but her real understanding of how children learn best took place in classrooms and in a variety of communities. She worked as a teacher in the Franklin School in NYC and as an administrator in City & Country School, the first true progressive school in the USA. As Head of School at Stevens Cooperative School in New Jersey for 16 years, she established a vibrant, child-centered program where learning is hands-on, skill-based, meaningful and relevant to a changing world. Zoë then spent four years as Middle School Principal at the International School of Myanmar, followed by six years as Head of Primary at BD Somani International School in Mumbai. Bringing a more progressive approach to Indian education, she has worked with a number of organizations to steer educators away from traditional, rote learning toward a more engaging and practical approach to developing applicable skills, character development and global thinking.

As Chair of the Accreditation Committee in New Jersey, Zoë has led the accreditation visits for many schools in the United States and, once going abroad, continued that work for a wide variety of schools in Asia, the Gulf and Europe.

Zoë believes strongly that educators must respect the inherent qualities of every individual, help them to honor all the unique personalities in a classroom where all can practice the skills to be thoughtful, discerning, collaborative, critical thinkers and doers. Play, creativity, experimentation and, most importantly, joy are essential to vigorous learning environments. She has always brought passion, energy and engagement to her work and is delighted to accept the challenges of leading a new, innovative, world-class school in the evolving city of Hyderabad.

Co-Founder

Eshita believes the best learning happens when children feel free; free to explore, to make mistakes, to ask questions, and to follow what sparks their curiosity. She holds a Master’s in Human Development and Education from Harvard University and earned her B.A. in Psychology, summa cum laude, from NYU, with a focus on child and adolescent mental health. Her work has centered on how children grow, what kinds of environments help them thrive, and how schools can feel nurturing and deeply alive.

A lifelong learner and constructivist at heart, Eshita draws inspiration from thinkers like John Dewey and is passionate about learning environments that emphasize agency and hands-on exploration. She believes that children should begin developing life skills from a young age, learning not only academics, but how to collaborate, solve problems, manage emotions, and care for themselves and others. Her own experience as a former under-19 top-20 world-ranked badminton player shaped her understanding of how differently each child learns, and the transformative power of experiential education.

Before co-founding Sagebrook, Eshita worked across a range of academic and global contexts– from conducting research in business and psychology to working in consulting, and designing science-backed early childhood experiences. She is a published researcher, with work featured in the Asian Journal of Psychiatry and the International Journal of Current Research.

Her commitment to mental well-being began early. While still in high school, she ideated and helped launch a 24/7 suicide prevention helpline in Gujarat, an experience that shaped her lifelong dedication to child and adolescent wellbeing. She later received recognition for her work in social psychology, including New York University’s Dean’s Undergraduate Research Fund, and was named a Joan Kupersmith Larkin Research Scholar.

For Eshita, Sagebrook is a reflection of everything she’s come to believe about childhood: that wonder matters, relationships are everything, and when we give children the Freedom & Joy & Joy to explore, they often surprise us in the best ways.