Board

Usha Rai is a veteran journalist, currently working as media and communication consultant. For the last three/four years she has been travelling and reporting as well as documenting the work of the Aga Khan Foundation in UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh; the work of the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana in several districts of UP; for Engender Health on adolescents and RKSK (Rashtriya Kishor Swasthiya Karyakram in Bihar; for CHETNA, Ahmedabad on tackling malnutrition and adolescent issues. She is also a consultant for Limca Book of Records and handles two chapters on Development and the Natural World. As a freelance journalist she has contributed to the Hindu Businessline, The Asian Age, the Hindu, The Sunday Guardian and the Tribune. As a journalist, she has worked for mainline newspapers, Times of India, Indian Express and Hindustan Times for over 40 years and was a pioneer in reporting on women’s issues, health, environment and development. She was among the first to bring out a development page in the Indian Express for five years—1992 to 1996. For the Times of India and the Indian Express she has covered several international conferences like the Earth Summit at Rio, The World Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, and The International Development Conference, Copenhagen. For the Centre for Science and Environment she visited Ralegaon Siddhi as a member of the Media Task Force for the report ‘People vs Corruption’ on the Anna Hazare movement in its initial years. For four years as the deputy director of the Press Institute of India, with the support of UNFPA and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, she ran a project on population and reproductive health which included bringing out a newsletter in English and Hindi on reproductive health issues and holding workshops for the media. For the National Commission for Women and the Press Institute of India she brought out the first report on the Status of Women Journalists in the Print Media in India in 2004. She has conducted two workshops for journalists on Millennium Development Goals and Women’s Rights in the context of Human Rights in Hyderabad and Udaipur in partnership with DFID and British High Commission. As a communication expert, along with two colleagues organised the media facilitation and coverage of the fourth Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health Rights in 2007 in Hyderabad. For the first five years after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights was set up in 2003, she and her team brought out their newsletters, documented their work and facilitated the NCPCR’s media relations. For the UNDP and Population Foundation of India brought out a manual for journalists, called ‘Journalists as Catalysts, A Media Manual on HIV & AIDS Reporting’ and then helped the Press Council of India to change its guideline on HIV & AIDS reporting. For UNIFEM and UN Women, she has done three studies on widows – two on the widows of Vrindavan (their status and extent of deprivation) and one on programmes and policies for widows in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. For Plan India did a series of articles, documented in a book called Stories of Change on innovative ways in which problems of child sex ratio was being tackled in five States of the country. For ActionAid India documented ‘Critical Stories of Change’ based on their eight to 10 years of work with local NGOs in Odisha, Punjab and Maharashtra. Awards: Chameli Devi award for outstanding women journalists; FAO/Science Writers Award for article on forest right and tribals; Media India award for series of articles on school education in Delhi published in Times of India. Also received the Stree Shakti lifetime achievement award as a woman journalist. Books: Text for Coffee Table books on The Taj Mahal; Vijayanagaram Empire (Hampi) and Khajuraho by Raghu Rai. Other books: The Wonderful World of Wall Paintings; Man Mettle and Steel for Steel Authority of India and A Fragrant Journey of 50 years on the life of Rasik Lal Hemani in the world of perfumes.

Ramesh Saran is the Secretary and Chief Executive at URMUL Trust, Rajasthan, with over 30 years of experience in integrated development in the Arid Zone of Rajasthan. He has demonstrated proficiency in facilitating grassroots institutions, focusing on community-based participatory management of elementary and primary education, health, and income generation projects. Under his leadership, URMUL Trust has mobilized approximately 100,000 poor families in the Rajasthan desert, guiding them towards self-reliance and sustainable development. Throughout his career, Ramesh Saran has established 11 community-based organizations in the Thar Desert and set up eight business value chain Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). His commitment to empowering local communities is further exemplified by his role as Founder Director of Rangsutra, Bikaner Agri Milk, Desert Resource Centre, and Marugandha. In recognition of his efforts, he has received various district and state awards from the Government of Rajasthan. Additionally, in 2004, he represented the Government of India and Asian Heritage in Barcelona, Spain, to market Indian handicrafts from different states. Ramesh Saran’s educational background includes a Master in Commerce (1987-1990), completion of the Chartered Accountancy program at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (1990-1993), and a Higher Diploma in Management (1995). He has also participated in executive programs at the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (1996), and the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad (1997). His extensive experience and dedication to sustainable development and community empowerment have significantly impacted the arid regions of Rajasthan, making him a respected leader in the field.

Prashanto Chandra Sen completed his B.A in History (Hons.) from St. Stephens College, University of Delhi. He went on to do his LLB from the University of Delhi and completed the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) Course from the University of Oxford, UK. He began his career as an associate in Amarchand Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff And Company. Thereafter, he worked under Dr. A.M. Singhvi, Senior Advocate and subsequently under Mr. C.A. Sundaram, Sr. Advocate. He is now practicing independently and has put in 18 years of practice. His core area of practice consists of civil/commercial litigation. He has been involved in cases relating to land acquisition, mining, electricity, environmental law, municipal law, labour law, service law and commercial/contractual law. He was one of the four Additional Standing Counsels for New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) for seven years which is the premier Municipal body in New Delhi responsible for Lutyen’s Delhi. Currently, he is also on the panel to represent the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in various cases. He appears in a number of fora apart from the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court. He has also been appearing in the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL), Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), Mines & Minerals Tribunal and Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT). He has also been involved in international commercial arbitrations under the aegis of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and London Council of International Arbitration (LCIA).

Rajdeep Sardesai is a senior journalist and author of the best-selling book, ‘2014: The Election that Changed India’. With 26 years of journalistic experience in print and TV, Sardesai was managing editor of the NDTV network before he set up the IBN 18 network with channels like CNN IBN as founder editor. He began his career with the Times of India and was the city editor of its Mumbai edition at the age of 26. He is presently a consulting editor with the India Today Group and anchors a prime time show on India Today. Specialising in national politics, Sardesai has won numerous awards for journalistic excellence including the prestigious Padma Shri for Journalism in 2008, the International Broadcasters Award for coverage of the 2002 Gujarat riots, and the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award for 2007. He has also won the Asian Television Awards 2014 for Best News Presenter in Asia for the coverage of the 2014 general elections. He has been News Anchor of the Year at the Indian Television Academy for eight of the last ten years and his programme Big Fight won the Asian TV award for best talk show twice in a row. He has been the President of the Editors Guild of India and was also chosen as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 2000. Sardesai writes a fortnightly column across several newspapers, including the Hindustan Times. An Oxford blue at cricket, he completed his Masters and LLB from Oxford University after graduating in economics from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai.

Sumita Ghose is the founder and managing director of Rangsutra, an organization of over 2000 Craftspeople, who own shares and have a stake in the company. She has over 3 decades of experience of working with rural communities in remote areas of India, where she worked for social and economic change. From forming women’s health collectives and self-help groups aimed at economic self-reliance, to mobilizing village communities to run primary education programs for their children, Sumita has worked extensively at the grassroots. Sumita has a master’s degree in economics from Mumbai University, India. She has a second masters in conflict resolution from the Eastern Mennonite University in the US as a Fulbright Fellow. Sumita is also a recipient of the MacArthur and Ashoka Fellowships in India. She is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the India Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Sumita is a recipient of the Nari Shakti Award, given by the President of India in 2015.

Ela Ghose has worked as a market researcher specialising in qualitative research and customer satisfaction research for over 25 years. She has worked in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore. She is currently based in Gurgaon and is also a Wellness Coach, endurance cyclist and competitive Scrabble player.

Sehjo Singh has dealt with a very wide range of developmental issues, as an independent filmmaker in a career spanning two decades. She won national and international awards for her films and also served on several juries. She later served as the Director of Programmes and Policy at ActionAid India with an oversight of the regional teams across India supporting hundreds of community-based partnerships. Her last preoccupation was setting up a producer owned company in Ethiopia with International Trade Centre. She currently supports social enterprises in advisory roles.

Ena graduated from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi, with an Honors degree in Economics. She obtained a Master's degree in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a Gates-Packard fellow of the University of Washington School of Public Affairs. She has served as Assistant Representative of the United Nations Population Fund in India, working on issues of Population and Developed, Reproductive Health and Rights, and Gender.

Dr. Monica Banerjee currently heads the InterGlobe Foundation and has more than 25 years of experience in the field of development, with a distinct focus on philanthropy. During her three decades of devoted service, she has actively contributed to the establishment and growth of numerous voluntary organisations and social enterprises in the remote areas of the country. As a practitioner and scholar in the field of development, she masterfully integrates concepts such as inclusion, diversity, gender dynamics, institution building, and capacity enhancement into her endeavours. In addition to her formal training in Agricultural Sciences, Dr. Banerjee holds a Doctorate in Gender and Governance from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi. She was granted the prestigious J.N. Tata fellowship, which enabled her to go for a post-PhD visiting fellowship at the London School of Economics in 2006. She also imparts her knowledge by serving as a visiting faculty member at universities, educating students on topics such as Civil Society and Philanthropy. Dr. Banerjee also co-founded the Council for Social and Digital Development (CSDD) in the year 2020