Our Team
CEO, Westford Education Group
Firoz Thairnil
Mr. Firoz Thairinil is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Westford Education Group. As Group Head, Mr. Thairinil ensures that a strong commitment to high standards and a performance culture is embedded across the entire group. Mr. Thairinil comes from a BFSI background with strong management credentials, and an MBA from the University of Wales, UK.
Mr. Thairinil led Westford from very humble beginnings in 2008 from a small training academy to an international network of business schools having students from more than 130 countries across the globe. Mr. Thairinil started his career in Banking in 1995 as a clerical grade officer and rose to be the rank of The Country Head in a span of 15 years. During his 15 years stint in Banking Industry, he worked with reputed Institutions like Standard Chartered Bank, Emirates International Bank (ENBD), and National Bank of Umm Al Quwain (NBQ).
During his very last position as Country Head – Retail Banking Sales for a large bank in UAE, Mr. Thairinil was driven by his vision to create an impact in the Education System. With an objective to make Quality Education more accessible to all, using Technology as the Key Instrument, Mr. Thairinil embarked on his journey to bring transformation to the Education Industry.
Co Founder and Executive Director
Samras Mayimi
Academic Director, Westford Education Group
Prof Col (Rtd) Anil Ahluwalia
Dean, Westford Education Group
Dr. William E. Painter
Admissions Team
Admissions – Management Courses
Admissions – Teacher Training Courses
Administration
Academics Team
Academics – Teacher Training Courses
Academics – Management Courses
Academic Director, Westford Education Group
Prof Col (Rtd) Anil Ahluwalia
Associate Dean
Dr. Vivek Mohan
Dr.Vivek Mohan – Associate Dean, Exeed College
Vivek is currently serving as the Associate Dean of Exeed College. Vivek is an award-winning researcher and an accomplished trainer with years of experience involving multidisciplinary challenges in the education and corporate sectors in UK, Europe, Middle-east and India. Vivek has a PhD in Business Management and an MSc in International Business from UK and is certified in education design for higher education (UNSW, Sydney). Vivek has taken up Faculty and Researcher positions in Sheffield Business School, UK and Leeds Business School, UK. He is a certified member of British Academy of Management and an Honorary Editorial Board member of the International Journal of Family Business and Management based in the USA. Vivek is a winner of the prestigious Medici Enterprise Training Programme award for Business Research and Commercialization of Research in the UK and has trained Senior managers, Management professionals and Business leaders in various sectors across UK, Ireland, Sultanate of Oman, UAE and KSA. Vivek is also an avid Researcher and a reviewer and has published and presented his research in International Journals and International Conferences across the globe.
Faculty
Shahid A Wani
Mr. Shahid A Wani
Mr. Shahid A Wani earned his Master’s degree in Accounting & Finance from the University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom. Currently, He is pursuing his certification from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) body UK. He is also a successful diploma holder in the areas of Leadership and Conflict Management.
Shahid holds 8 years of experience in Business and Finance, both industrial and academic. For the first 3 years of working career, he worked for British Civil Service in financial domain. He has also been an active volunteer for an NGO in India, specifically working for social issues like Women Empowerment, Child education, Child labour, and Dowry.
Shahid Started his teaching career as a lecturer in India and has accomplished himself as a valuable faculty in various domains of business management especially Accounting & Finance. Besides he is also an established Trainer with years of experience in Education & Corporate sector in the UAE & India.
Being a sports enthusiast, Shahid is a State level cricket player and has played across many states in India and local clubs in the United Kingdom. He has won many certifications and awards in various other sports including Basket Ball, Hockey, and Running.
Faculty
Dr. Mila Dimitrova
Mila Dimitrova
Mila Dimitrova is 42 years old and currently an associate professor at Medical University of Varna, Bulgaria (EU) in the Department of Healthcare Management and Economics. She teaches in several universities around the world – Medical University of Varna, Varna Free University and Technical University of Varna in Bulgaria, CASS Institute in Paris, France, Westford Business School and Eaton Business School in UAE, Ghana Technical University College in Accra, Ghana.
Her education in healthcare management (a master and doctoral degree) and additional specialization (in healthcare management and medical informatics) both have a special focus on management and leadership, project management, diagnostics analysis of healthcare organizations, statistics etc. Her professional carrier includes both academic development and work with healthcare organizations (hospitals, medical centers etc.) for 20 years which enriched her theoretical knowledge with practical examples, experience in healthcare industry and specific skills in accreditation, strategic and business planning, complex analysis, management improvement, quality management, project management, data management etc.
Current research interests include: hospital management, performance measurement and management, healthcare project management, healthcare management diagnostics and analysis. Currently she is working on several research projects, including: future of healthcare management and framework for analysis of national healthcare system.
Faculty
Sonja Swart
Sonja Swart
Sonja Swart obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematical Statistics and pure Mathematics from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She continued her studies in Industrial Psychology at UNISA and achieved a second degree, BA (Hons.) in Human Resource Development from the Rand Afrikaans University. She received a M. Phil degree (Cum Laude) from the University of Johannesburg, focusing on Personal and Professional Leadership. She is currently working towards her PhD in Leadership, specialising in Women Leadership in Africa.
Sonja started her career as a research statistician in the South African Department of Statistical Services where she was involved with Education Statistics. She moved from the public to the private sector by becoming a statistical consultant for a large international chemical company (AECI Ltd). There she became involved in the fields of Total Quality Management and Quality Improvement. As Total Quality Manager, she qualified as an ISO 9000 auditor and led the Industrial Chemical division to the achievement of ISO 9002. In 1996 she joined National Brands Limited (NBL) as a change consultant focusing on mergers, restructurings and culture change projects. She was promoted to Human Resource Development Executive where she led a number of strategic change projects.
Sonja Swart has been an independent change consultant in the areas of change management and leadership since 2001. She has consulted extensively to Executive, Senior, Middle and First Line managers. She is also a visiting faculty member of the University of Stellenbosch Business School, Executive Development in Leadership and Change Management, Organisation Development, Human Resources Strategy, Diversity and Communication and Facilitation since 2001. She has been a guest lecturer on the MBA programme at Gordon Institute of Business (GIBS) (Johannesburg) and participated in a working team at GIBS which later led to the publication of the book, Women Leadership in Emerging Markets. She has been a virtual lecturer on the MBA programme at Eaton Business School, Leicester in Strategic Change Management since 2017 and Exceed College, Westford Education group since 2019.
Sonja has successfully managed change and organisational development projects in the private and public sectors ranging from business turnaround projects to business re-engineering, culture change and quality improvement projects. She has served a wide variety of businesses and industries including:
TANESCO (TANZANIA), TELKOM, ANGLO AMERICAN, BRIDGESTONE-FIRESTONE, SANLAM, AFGRI-OTK, SUPER GROUP, PIONEER FOODS, NASPERS, DIMENSION DATA, SASOL, STANDARD BANK, MUTUAL & FEDERAL, SAFMARINE, SABC, DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, APOLLO DUNLOP, IBURST, TCTA, UCS SOLUTIONS, TELECOM (NAMIBIA), MTC (NAMIBIA), GCRA, MERCEDES BENZ, FNB BOTSWANA, VOLKSWAGEN SA, SOUTH AFICAN AIRWAYS, SA EXPRESS, FOSKOR, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE (NAMIBIA), BOTSWANA ASH, ST PAULUS SCHOOL PRETORIA, CIC ENERGY, HALL LONGMORE, GROUNDWATER CONSULTING, AC NIELSEN, MEDSCHEME, BHP BILLITON, VODACOM, ITALTILE, CENTRAL BANK OF SWAZILAND (SWAZILAND), MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES (BOTSWANA), TSOGO SUN, AFRICAN BANK, BMW, TWP WORLEY PARSONS, STANBIC, NESTLE, AIR BOTSWANA, STEINHOFF KAP, BOTSWANA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT, SKORPION ZINC, METROPOLITAN, KIMBERLEY CLARK, SENWES, BOTSWANA RAIL, MAURITIUS COMMERCIAL BANK, DEUTSCHE BANK, CLOVER, LIQUID TELECOM SA, UNICEF.
Senior Faculty
Parag Tikekar
Prof Parag Tikekar
Prof Parag is an Engineering Graduate in Electronics & Communication from Delhi Institute of Technology in 1995, followed by an MBA in Finance & Marketing from Indian Institute of Management in Lucknow India in 1997.
He has an extensive successful experience of more than 22 years in banking and financial services in the Gulf and has been associated with the Westford Education Group since April 2015. In his lectures, Prof Parag draws upon a combination of Management studies and practical work instances to offer an invaluable set of learnings for his students across many different modules or subjects.
He strongly believes in building a strong theoretical foundation for his students by explaining the best-in-class practices and models, topped up with real-life workplace acumen in order for them to be highly successful and achievement oriented in their corporate or entrepreneurial endeavors
Senior Faculty
Dr. Robert P Machera
Senior Faculty
Dr. Jazla Fadda
