Ms. Sheela Balaji, a member of one of the country’s most respected business families, the TVS group, and an ardent devotee of Pujya Swamiji, is committed to community and social development. Her meeting Swamiji in 1997, was a life transforming experience, when she moved away from the field of textiles and natural dyes to community work. Her pioneering efforts in providing succour to the victims of the tsunami in Nagapattinam in 2004, entitled AIM for Seva to a special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). She is awarded by “Nari Sakthi Puraskar award” in the year 2017 from the Ministry of Women and Child Development for her contribution to the field of Education, Community and Social Development.

Currently, she is the Chairperson and Managing Trustee of AIM for Seva and Swami Dayananda Educational Trust (SDET). While AIM for Seva focuses on educating rural India through free student hostels, SDET focuses on integrated community development, education and rural empowerment, in the village of Manjakkudi, the birth place of Swami Dayananda Saraswati. She is also the Founder Trustee of Arsha Vidya Research and Publications, reaching out Swamiji’s teachings through books, card drives, digital App and other media.

A lucid writer, she has authored books on Vedanta, and has chronicled the life of her guru. She devotes her time to the three organizations that have transformed and continue to transform the lives of thousands of people in rural India.