Board of Governors

Dr Prasenjit Kumar is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Halifax Defence Consulting. An engineer by professional background and a British-Indian institutional leader with more than twenty-five years of experience, he has built and governed organisations operating across the United Kingdom and internationally.

His leadership has consistently centred on institutional development, responsible governance, regulatory engagement and the creation of organisations capable of operating across jurisdictions. At Halifax Defence Consulting, he provides the long-term strategic direction of the company and ensures that its development is supported by disciplined processes, clear accountability and appropriate professional oversight.

Dr Kumar’s early leadership of a London-based international higher-education operation gave him first-hand experience of establishing and managing an organisation within a complex cross-border environment. That work required engagement with international stakeholders, regulatory bodies, professional partners and diverse institutional interests. He later progressed to the chairmanship and strategic leadership of a group of colleges, executive-training institutions and management organisations serving learners, professionals and partner institutions from multiple countries.

His wider business and institutional experience spans executive education, international student pathways, assisted-living care, housing, workforce development and strategic consulting. Although these sectors are distinct, they share many of the disciplines required in responsible defence advisory work: board-level governance, compliance oversight, risk management, financial planning, stakeholder coordination, quality assurance and the careful management of matters that may require specialist legal or regulatory review.

This breadth of experience now informs his leadership of Halifax Defence Consulting. He brings an institutional perspective to the defence and security sector, recognising that credibility is built not through ambition alone, but through sound governance, documented decision-making, regulatory awareness and a willingness to proceed cautiously where public interest, sovereign responsibility or sensitive information is involved.

Dr Kumar’s contribution also extends beyond commercial and institutional leadership. He has initiated and supported humanitarian programmes, medical-aid projects, educational scholarships and community-development initiatives in several countries. Much of this work has been connected with his long association with AMURT, the Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team, including support for healthcare camps, disaster relief and community assistance.

In 2016, his work in education and social service was recognised with the Global Achievers Award from the Citizens Integration Peace Society. He was subsequently honoured with the Karmveer Award in 2024, reflecting his continuing commitment to social responsibility, community integration and inclusive opportunity.

His leadership philosophy is influenced by the teachings of Anand Murti Jee, founder of Ananda Marga, and by the principles of meditation, discipline, non-violence, service and sacrifice. The belief in one global human family remains central to his approach. For Dr Kumar, Sadhana, Service and Sacrifice are not merely personal values, but practical foundations for ethical leadership, responsible decision-making and service to society.

As Founder and Executive Chairman, Dr Kumar’s defines Halifax Defence Consulting’s long-term purpose and strategic priorities, develops its international relationships and oversees the company’s governance, quality, cyber-security and compliance systems. He also works to ensure that the strategic guidance of the Board is translated into responsible executive action.

His central conviction is that defence advisory work must be conducted with discipline, integrity and an awareness of its wider consequences. Decisions affecting governments, institutions and security partners must also take account of the communities, public interests and human responsibilities those decisions ultimately serve.

Dr Samarth Singh played a formative role in the early conceptual development of Halifax Defence Consulting and now leads the company's understanding of South Asian operating environments.

He brings extensive engagement with senior leadership across sovereign defence organisations, government agencies and international defence authorities, together with practical experience of rigorous, compliant acquisition frameworks, market-entry strategy, the structuring of co-production arrangements and supply-chain probity review. These are precisely the disciplines in which Halifax is building lasting capability, and his experience of managing high-consequence environments adds a grounded perspective on preparedness, leadership under pressure and workforce capability.

A medical professional by background, his role at Halifax is regional rather than clinical. He advises on political, institutional and commercial context across South Asia; identifies credible government, industry and institutional relationships; supports country-level stakeholder mapping and partnership development; helps assess the suitability of potential partners; and represents the organisation in regional discussions where authorised.

His influence on the company's method is distinct: Halifax does not treat South Asia as a single market. Dr Singh insists on a country-specific, relationship-led approach that respects the region's political diversity, institutional structures, security considerations and very different procurement environments.

Mr Jayesh Gosalia is a senior engineering and defence-industry liaison executive with more than four decades of experience in technology transfer, government engagement, technical procurement, product engineering and international supplier development.

He served as a Technical Specialist for the Government of India in the United Kingdom, Germany and Indonesia, where his responsibilities included technical and policy-related work connected with India’s position on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty at the United Nations. This experience gave him direct exposure to the relationship between engineering expertise, national security policy and international governmental engagement.

Mr Gosalia has also worked extensively with government departments and international manufacturers involved in supplying engineering products and specialist technologies to the Indian defence and railway sectors. His experience includes identifying overseas technologies, evaluating potential suppliers, supporting government-facing engagement and helping introduce technical solutions into highly regulated institutional environments.

Earlier in his career, he held engineering and research-and-development roles with Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Corporation. His work covered product engineering, technology transfer, international technical liaison and the management of complex engineering issues across the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. This industrial foundation supports his ability to assess whether a proposed technology is technically viable, commercially credible and capable of being adapted to demanding operational requirements.

As Corporate Director for the North America Region, Mr Jayesh Gosalia leads Halifax Defence Consulting’s engagement with defence technology providers, engineering manufacturers and specialist suppliers across the United States and the wider North American market. He supports supplier identification, technical assessment, technology-transfer planning, procurement preparation and the development of relationships between North American providers and defence or government institutions in international markets.

His role is particularly focused on connecting credible North American engineering capability with clearly defined defence requirements, while ensuring that technical suitability, supplier reliability, regulatory considerations and long-term support arrangements are examined before any engagement progresses.

Dr Kanon is a public-health physician and senior international programme leader with more than twenty-five years of experience in health systems, government engagement, workforce development and institution-building. His career includes senior responsibilities with major international development and multilateral organisations, sustained engagement with governments, public institutions, civil society and private-sector partners, and current senior country-management responsibilities within an international alliance, including work connected with fragile and demanding environments.

His relevance to a defence consultancy is deliberate. Modern security policy increasingly turns on human security: national resilience, emergency logistics, civilian preparedness, critical infrastructure and the capacity of institutions to keep essential services running under disruption. Dr Kanon advises the Board on how these considerations shape strategy, programme design and international engagement, and on how governments, development institutions, security actors and civilian agencies coordinate in complex environments.

His presence on the Board reflects a conviction that runs through Halifax's work: security is never only equipment. Sustainable security depends on resilient institutions, trained people, credible systems and the protection of communities and essential services.

Mr Sage is an international humanitarian leader whose work spans disaster response, community resilience, humanitarian logistics and practical support for vulnerable communities. He is Executive Director of AMURT, the Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team, an international humanitarian organisation working in emergency relief, health, education, community development and long-term recovery, where his leadership has required coordinating international teams, local organisations, volunteers and specialists in environments marked by disaster, displacement and institutional weakness.

Since 1990 he has also served as the volunteer Executive Director of Food For All DC, leading a community organisation that delivers food support to elderly, disabled, home-bound and economically disadvantaged residents of Washington, DC. Thirty-five years of unpaid leadership is its own credential.

At Halifax, Mr Sage provides an independent humanitarian and ethical perspective on strategy, leadership and crisis-related work, and his counsel matters most where defence, security, humanitarian need and civilian welfare intersect. He presses the organisation to ask not only whether an intervention or capability can be delivered, but what it will mean for communities, institutions and vulnerable groups, and he advises on leadership under pressure, responsible partnership, organisational ethics and the discipline of keeping humanity and accountability present in complex environments.

Ms Veltsi, a practising lawyer based in Athens, brings an independent European legal perspective to the Board and to the company's approach to governance, contractual discipline and responsible decision-making. Her value lies in timing: identifying legal considerations early, before relationships harden, so that partnerships, appointments and commercial arrangements are built on proper documentation and clearly defined responsibilities.

She contributes to the Board's consideration of corporate governance and decision-making structures; contractual frameworks and written agreements; international and cross-border relationships; authority and accountability between parties; conflicts of interest and professional independence; confidentiality and information handling; dispute prevention and escalation; and the terms on which advisers and representatives are appointed.

Her role is strategic and advisory, and its boundaries are stated plainly: she does not personally advise on every jurisdiction or every specialist area of defence law. Where a matter involves export controls, trade controls, sanctions, procurement law, controlled technology or classified information, her contribution is to ensure the issue is recognised early and the appropriate qualified adviser is instructed in the relevant jurisdiction. Knowing where specialist advice begins is itself a governance discipline, and it is one Halifax takes seriously.