Akanksha Shukla
Akanksha Shukla currently serves as the Vice President of the MANAGE Alumni Association. She is the Founder & Director of Meraas Heritage Foundation, a social venture dedicated to preserving Indian heritage crafts and empowering grassroots artisans. Her career as a marketer, consultant, investor, and social entrepreneur spans geographies—from India to Southeast Asia to the Middle East.
Yet, beneath these varied professional roles, her heart has remained consistently aligned with the social development space. Her nonprofit journey began with the Childbirth and Breastfeeding Foundation of Thailand. Over the years, she has remained deeply involved with both local and international charitable organizations, in full-time and consulting roles. Her association with the Cameroonian NGO Goodness and Mercy Mission earned her the UNV Volunteering Award (2011), and a women’s empowerment and livelihood initiative she designed went on to win the World Bank Development Marketplace Challenge—impacting the livelihoods and education of more than a thousand women in the Boyo region of Cameroon.
Her eventual return to India’s cultural roots through Meraas Heritage Foundation reflects not just a professional choice, but a personal calling—to contribute meaningfully to women’s empowerment, indigenous crafts, cultural continuity, and sustainable livelihoods at the grassroots.
Although The Far Acre marks her first formal literary work, Akanksha has long been a writer at heart. She has been an active blogger, and during her years in the development sector, her fundraising proposals often stood out for their narrative richness and human-centered storytelling—documents that did more than seek support; they sought understanding. Her creative interests extend beyond writing into design—digital, editorial, and experiential—and her inclination to create meaningful interfaces between people, culture, and purpose has been evident in projects ranging from heritage craft tours to collaborative design innovation. Whether working with heritage artisans or expat communities, she gravitates toward community-building, storytelling, and human connection.
The Far Acre emerges from that same instinct. It is an exploration of human journeys—of founders who stepped beyond the familiar into unfamiliar territory. For Akanksha, it is both a tribute to peers who dared differently and an inquiry into how ordinary lives expand into extraordinary paths when nurtured with belief, persistence, and purpose.
She sees writing as a continuation of her larger work—to contribute to positive social change, to celebrate stories that matter, and to help readers feel more courageous about their own beginnings. This book is the first of many in that direction.
Dr. J. Shanti
Dr. J. Shanti is an Associate Professor in Management at Alliance University in Bengaluru. She has close to two decades of experience in academics and industry. She has a Ph.D. in Management and a diverse academic background. She has consistently contributed to advancing knowledge and practice in entrepreneurship, sustainability, and strategic management while developing innovation-driven learning environments.
Dr. Shanti’s professional journey is a smooth transition from the corporate world to academics. At the beginning of her career, she had significant industry experience in organizations such as ACS India, a Xerox company, and Marico. As a Faculty Innovation Ambassador and active member of institutional committees, she contributes to building a vibrant startup and research culture on campus.
Besides teaching, she is also a published researcher and has contributed articles to various reputed peer-reviewed journals and publications on various topics of current interest and relevance, such as sustainability and generative AI. Writing is not only a part of her profession; it is an extension of her teaching and learning as well. She regularly engages with industry forums, faculty development programs, and mentoring platforms for entrepreneurs and students.
Dr. Shanti, as an educator, believes that entrepreneurship is not only a concept but also an experience. It is an experience of uncertainty, growth, and learning. These thoughts and philosophies of entrepreneurship have found a place in her book “The Far Acre.” It is a book that reflects her thoughts and learning as an educator. Her contribution as an author lies in shaping these narratives with carefully curated founder memoirs, capturing entrepreneurship in its formative, early stages, where ambition is negotiated against context, constraint, and personal responsibility.
With “The Far Acre,” Dr. Shanti is taking her thoughts and learning beyond the classroom and into the world of aspiring entrepreneurs. It is making entrepreneurship more accessible and available for more aspiring entrepreneurs, and encouraging them to start their entrepreneurial journey without waiting for more clarity and precision. The Far Acre marks her continued commitment to blending scholarship, mentorship, and storytelling to illuminate what it truly means to build with purpose, resilience, and intention.