Dinesh Kumar

Kumar grew up in a small town in Rajasthan, where, by his account, people lived alongside animals and birds: grain was put out for birds during the rains and stray cows were fed. He kept dogs, cats, rabbits and parrots. He has said that seeing a goat sacrificed at a nearby temple as a child left a lasting impression on him.

He is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.

Kumar and his wife are both management graduates who held senior positions in the corporate sector, and had been associated with charities working with destitute children, older people and blind people before deciding to set up their own organisation for animals.

At STRAW he contributes to strategy, programme execution plans and the technology that supports them, and is described by the organisation as a member of its think tank. STRAW is recognised and certified by the Animal Welfare Board of India, is a member of the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations and a partner of the Humane Education Coalition, and was formerly a member society of the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

STRAW India received the Impact Grant Award from The Pollination Project in the United States in 2013 for its Compassionate Classrooms project, and the Education and Outreach Award for 2022 from the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations at the India for Animals conference. The World Society for the Protection of Animals gave STRAW a certificate for best practices in education.[2][3][4][5]