Priya Naik

CEO & Founder

Samhita Social Ventures is a social sector consulting firm that collaborates with
companies, government and social organizations to co-create and implement impactful
initiatives. Samhita is supported by Indian and global foundations such as USAID, the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation, UNDP, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Omidyar
Network India.
Previously, Priya co-founded The Spark Group, an education incubator that delivered
affordable education to low-income communities in India. She has worked with the
International Finance Corporation, the Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT) and at Arthur Andersen. Priya has a Master’s degree in economics
from Yale University, a Master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor and a Master’s degree (and a Gold Medal) in Commerce from Mumbai
University. She also holds an Executive Education degree from Harvard Business School.

Madhu Bahl

Executive Director

Madhu Bahl has totally more than 30 + years of experience in the education space which includes teaching, designing, training, content creation and building profitable models and interventions that are both scalable and sustainable. She has worked independently as a design and training consultant with well-known funding agencies and social organizations. She also has 15 years of corporate experience at senior management level where she was responsible for profitability along with a deep focus on product development and business delivery. Her corporate responsibilities include experience in working with both the private and the government sector. She has built and worked extensively with large teams, both across physical geography and social demography.

Sudhir Naik

Advisor – Finance

A qualified finance professional (ACA, AICWA, ACS), Sudhir has served articles with A F Ferguson & Co and served MNCs – Shell, Siemens, Ferodo, Colgate Palmolive and Heinz (as CFO and Finance Director) as well as Owner Managed groups – Mittals, Bahwans and Mustafa Sultan as Group CFO. He has worked briefly in Australia, Mexico and for 22 years in the Middle East before joining Samhita.

Ritu Halder

Executive Director – Strategic Partnerships

Ritu has more than two decades of experience in cross-functional teams across MNCs and UN organizations in India, Europe, CIS and the US.

She holds expertise in building strategic alliances & partnerships. Her last assignment was with NASSCOM Foundation where she was working as Head-Donor Relations. She has also worked as Independent Consultant with multiple organizations in Nepal, UAE , India, Hill+Knowlton Strategies India, United Nations Women’s Guild, Vienna, IPAN Hill & Knowlton and Convergys Corporation.

Ritu holds a Masters Degree in History and an MBA from San Francisco State University.

Some of her hobbies include – travelling, cooking, sewing and languages. She speaks English, Hindi, Bengali, Russian and German.

She can be reached at [email protected]

Akshatha Karangutkar

Associate Director – HR

Akshatha brings with her over 17 years of experience in Human Resources across industries. She joins us from Bank of Baroda Financial Services. Her prior experience has been with Dainik Bhaskar Group as their Corporate HR Head. She has worked with Adfactors PR, NewsWire 18 and Centrum Finance in the past.

She is a Computer Science graduate and holds a Post Graduate degree in Human Resources from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management.

Some of her hobbies include reading books, writing blogs, teaching.

Nehal Shah

Executive Director – Alliances

Nehal brings with him over 25 years of experience in diversified sectors like Beverages, Telecom, Insurance,
Media & Financial Services, Banking. His prior experience has been with companies like Coca-Cola, Airtel, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Bharti-Axa Life Insurance, Newswire18, DB Corp Ltd, Swaadhar. He joins us from
Light Microfinance where he was a Chief Business Officer and was instrumental in growing the business from 80cr to 1800 cr in the span of over 6 years and was managing a employee strength of over 2000.

Nehal holds a graduate degree in Industrial Chemistry and a Post Graduate degree in Marketing. He also has completed advanced program in Fin-Tech & Financial Block chain from IIM-C.

Nehal will be driving the over all alliance business. Skilling, Social Security, RG, CG, Climate teams will roll up to him.

During his free time he loves watching sci-fi movies, listening to music, exploring new places and keep a watch on new technology and gadgets.

He can be reached at [email protected]

Shiv Uppal

Specialist – Growth & Innovation

Shiv is a former Consultant at Ernst & Young Singapore where he worked with the Business Incentives Advisory team, helping clients obtain various grants and incentives offered by the Singapore government agencies.

He holds BSc in Information Systems from Singapore Management University.

Some of his hobbies include playing and watching sports (all kinds), reading and cooking

Varnika Jain

Assistant Manager – MEL Team

Varnika has 4 years of experience in Research, Data Interpretation, Analysis & Visualization. She has extensive knowledge of research, analysis techniques, statistical tools such as R, Python, STATA, SQL, Tableau and Advanced Excel.

She holds Master’s degree in Economics from Amity University and B.A. Hons in Economics from Delhi University.

Some of her hobbies include Art & craft and dancing.

Vinay Menon

Senior Manager

Vinay started his career with Samhita in 2016 in the Research and Knowledge team, before moving on to handle strategic partnerships with key donors, before moving on to work with Piramal Foundation’s water initiative Sarvajal. At Savajal, Vinay led the New Product Development team and was instrumental in driving product expansion into water conservation and Government partnerships, including with NITI Aayog and NSDC.

Vinay holds a MSc in Development Economics from SOAS, London and a BA in Economics from St Xavier’s Collge, Mumbai.

Some of his hobbies include – reading, watching movies and travelling.

Ayushi Bhatnagar

Senior Associate- Marcomm Team

Ayushi is a knowledgeable professional with over 3 years of experience in the humanitarian and development sectors. She has technical proficiency in a wide range of areas, including communications, learning and development, training, and capacity building services. She has previously worked for a leading Humanitarian Non-profit Organization and a prominent CSO/Think Tank that advocates Sustainability and Climate Change-related initiatives.

She graduated with Honours in Geography from Kamala Nehru College, Delhi University and is a University Gold Medalist with a Master’s degree in Disaster Management from Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Ayushi is a good conversationalist who likes travelling and listening to music. She is interested in gardening and enjoys watching films as well as television shows.

Hardik Rai

Digital Strategy and Planning Specialist

Hardik is a self-proclaimed marketing geek. Prior to joining Samhita, Hardik has honed his skills in two prominent Ed-tech companies, further enhancing his capabilities in the field of marketing.

He likes Social Media so much that he made it his profession. Hardik’s expertise is Social media marketing alongside media buying, email marketing, and SEO.

Hardik holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Delhi.
Some of his hobbies include – Playing Football, Reading, and Skateboarding.

He can be reached at [email protected]

Aakriti Singh

Associate – Marcomm Team

Aakriti has been working in the social sector through diverse roles in research, public relations and communication.

Her major contributions have been in/around the fields of gender, inclusivity and education. She has done her internships in Value 360 Communications where she assisted in handling client companies, Youth Empowerment Foundation ,Pratisandhi and many more.

Aakriti holds a bachelor’s degree with a major in journalism and minor in psychology from Lady Shri Ram College for Women.

Aakriti is passionate about theatre, and film- making, and finds resilience in art.

She can be reached at [email protected]

Sweden Dsilva

Sweden Dsilva – Graphic Designer – Marcomm Team

Sweden Dsilva has developed creative designs for marketing packages – including print materials, textures, brochures, banners and signages.

He has also good knowledge on video editing, illustrators, Indesign and Photoshops. He has worked with organizations like Eschmann Textures, Cimpress India Private Limited, ABEC Exhibitions & Conferences Pvt. Ltd, TT Group Worldwide and Chinagate Restaurants Pvt. Ltd..

Sweden Dsilva holds B.E. in Computer Engineering from St. John College of Engineering & Management.

Some of his hobbies include – bike rides, swimming, playing videogames and drawing.

He can be reached at [email protected]

Divya Wagle

Associate –  Growth and Innovation

Divya is a development studies and public policy enthusiast. Her academic focuses included international relations, subaltern studies, street level bureaucracy, policy design and more recently, impact investing. Her previous experience includes business development and data analysis internships at PATH, Teach For India, Piramal Foundation, Saathealth and NDTV.

Divya holds a BA(Hons) in Political Science and Diploma in Advanced Research from Ashoka University.

Some of her hobbies include playing basketball, travelling/backpacking, watching plays, reading and
trying new food.

She can be reached at [email protected]

Kajol Sitani

Analyst – RKMS

Kajol has worked with Foundation for Democratic Reforms in the Research segment and has a brief experience in experiential marketing with Crewtangle LLP. This aligns with her interest in Research and strategy planning across varied socio-economic domains of importance.

Kajol has completed her graduation in IT and master in Public Policy from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

Some  of  her  hobbies  include  Yoga and Teaching.

Shiboni Sundar

Insights  Associate – RKMS

Shiboni worked with Centre for Budget and Policy Studies  wherein she gained experience with working in public finance, gender and education largely. She also engaged herself with government officials and has provided trainings on budget data analysis. Her work led her to explore different parts of India which in turn expanded her knowledge base as the dynamic nature of field enabled her in understanding the ground realities of public policy closely.

Shiboni holds a B.Com degree from the University of Mumbai and a M.Sc. In Economics from Symbiosis School of Economics (Symbiosis International University)

In her free time, you will find her reading books , playing badminton or cooking up a meal while sipping a good cup of coffee.

Sreyoshi Bhattacharya

Associate – Implementation team

Sreyoshi is a development practitioner and researcher with keen interest in public health, sustainability and gender rights. She aspires to learn and develop more in this sector and make this  world  a  better  place  to  live!

Sreyoshi holds a B.Sc in Geography from University  of  Calcutta  and  M.A  in  Development  from Azim  Premji  University, Bangalore.

Syeda Farkhanda 

Analyst – RKMS

Syeda Farkhanda  completed her post graduation in 2022 and worked with Samhita (Collective Good Foundation) for 3 months. This aligned with her interests in the field of Development Economics and helped expand her knowledge in the field.

Syeda holds a BSc. in Economics degree from Loreto College, University of Calcutta and an MSc. In Economics degree from the University of Calcutta.

Some of her hobbies include – reading books, listening to music, watching movies and writing.

Dr. Usha Gopinath

Executive Director – Impementation

She has 2 decades of demonstrated experience in the social sector in senior leadership positions. Has worked for multi lateral and bi lateral organizations such as World Bank, ADB, IFC, CIDA, AKF, DFID, UK AID, FCDO, PwC, KfW & Accion International. Led multiple teams across Asia in capacity building, leading large projects to bring scale & sustainability. Certified in markets and livelihoods from Coadys International Nova Scotia and Leadership course from Harvard .

Enjoys working on programs that are impactful and brings transformational change to the last mile. Thematic areas handled are women empowerment, entrepreneurship, skilling,  livelihoods, WATSAN, education, gender mainstreaming. Highly passionate about entrepreneurial initiatives & creating the right strategic fit.

She holds a Masters in Economics and a Doctoral degree in Enterprise Management from Bangalore University.

Usha enjoys travelling , plays the instrument Veena and is a movie buff. Believes in “Zindagi na milegi dobara”,   very humorous and lively person , enjoys gardening, cooking and reading friction.  Likes to blog experiences while travelling and has a keen eye on observing people and mimicking.

Amruta Adhyapak

Senior Associate – Implementation team

Amruta  has successfully carried out project implementation, stakeholder management, documentation, building reports and project proposals during her tenure with various organizations. She has worked in various thematic areas like education, child sexual abuse, livelihood & skill development, sexual & reproductive health and rights & road safety.

Amruta holds a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology from University of Mumbai .

Some of her hobbies include gardening, reading, drawing, and cooking.

Ajay Satish Soni

Full-stack Developer

Ajay has 1 year experience in Full-stack development. Completed 15 project and reached up to 1 million leads. Builded e-commerce ,Food Franchise and Traveller Franchise, Waterpark  website using technology like React.js,Bootstrap,Sass,Css and Html for Front-end and Django,python,REST Framework for Back-end.

He holds B.E in Electronic and Telecommunication from Mumbai University.

Some of his hobbies include – Speed Cubing,Cheese, programming, playing video games and drawing.

Surabhi Shikha

Manager – Marketing and Communications

Surabhi holds expertise in building brand strategy, curating campaigns and developing successful learning programs within the academic, social and e-commerce sectors. During her tenure, she has managed  end-to-end projects and coordinated with various teams, stakeholder and partnerships.

Surabhi holds a Masters degree in Development Studies from TISS Mumbai, and completed her Bachelors in English Literature from Lady Shri Ram College for Women (Delhi University).

Some of her hobbies include – collecting vintage sarees, tending to her plants and taking solo travel adventures.

Harsha Kumavat

Data Analyst

Harsha has expertise data visualization tools like Tableau, Power BI, Seaborn, and Plotly and programming languages like Python. She is proficient at MySQL and Excel and managing large database. She has worked as an intern for The Sparks Foundation, TwoWaits, Accenture, PwC and Standard Bank.

She holds BSc in Computer Science from Nagindas Khandwala College and Master’s Degree in Information Technology from Nagindas Khandwala College.

Some of her hobbies include – programming, writing blogs, cooking and listening to music.

Dr. Prashika Kurlikar

Sr. Associate – MEL Team

She has worked on various public health-related issues like women and migration, gender and labour, the reproductive and sexual health of women (RTI/STI), child health, and occupational health.

She has completed her PhD in Population Studies from the International Institute For Population Sciences and M.Phil & Master in Population Studies from the International Institute For Population Sciences.

Some of her hobbies include – Dancing and cooking.

Shivani Tripathi

Associate – Implementation Team

Shivani has worked as a Gandhi Fellow at the Piramal Foundation, she has gained expertise in community development, conducting dipstick studies, and community profiling focusing on health awareness and hygiene practices for mothers and children. She also contributed to public health efforts, including the Aashwashan campaign to increase TB notification rates. She gained skills in stakeholder management, research, and interventions in health, nutrition, and education.

Shivani holds a degree in Bachelor in Life Sciences from Ramjas College, University of Delhi and Masters in Design and Innovation in Rural Technology from University of Allahabad.

Some of her hobbies include playing badminton and travelling.

Afshan Shaikh

Associate Director

Afshan is a marketing and communications professional with over 18 years of experience in the field. She has previously worked with Swades Foundation and Child Rights and You (CRY) in the social development sector. She has been a part of multiple award winning marketing and awareness campaigns, specializing in brand transformation, creative direction, and marketing strategy. Prior to moving to the social sector, she has worked extensively with advertising and media agencies, as well as corporate houses.

Afshan has a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Sikkim Manipal University, and a Bachelor’s in Commerce from S.N.D.T University, Mumbai. She believes in continuous learning and has completed courses in advanced technologies (including XR, AI, and IoT), and design thinking.

She is an astrophysics and pop culture geek who enjoys reading, painting, board games, and lightsaber duelling with her children. She is also a published author of fiction.

Biswanath Senapati

Manager – Finance Team

Biswanath has worked in development sector and handled various portfolios like statutory compliance, banking reconciliation, project management, audit etc. He has also worked with SOS Children’s Villages of India, CBM Bangalore, American India Foundation, India Development Foundation and The Nature Conservancy.

Biswanath is  CA (intermediate) and has done Bachelor of Commerce from BJB(A) College, Bhubaneswar.

Some of his hobbies include – travelling, making new friends, bird watching, nursing.

Ipsita

Associate – MEL team

Ipsita is passionate about the impact sector and comes with an experience of working across various thematic areas like education, livelihood, skilling, gender and agriculture. She has worked with Sattva Consulting  and PureScan AI.

She holds a degree in Geography from Kirorimal College, Delhi University and pursued the Young India Fellowship at Ashoka University.

Some of her hobbies include reading some spiritual & philosophical book, marveling at some historical places, doing yoga or pilates.

Vishakshi Raj

Associate – MEL Team

Vishakshi has completed her Masters in Development Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad and she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Delhi. She has done her internships with Plural Societies, South Asian Women’s Fund India (SAWF IN), Palle Srujuna and many more think tanks and research organizations.

She is passionate about working in the projects including financial inclusion, gender, and labour market assessments.

Some of her hobbies include – travel, reading books, cooking, and photography.

She can be reached at [email protected]

Nora Alexy

Senior Associate –  Implementation Team

Nora Alexy  completed her Gandhi Fellow and Master’s in Development Policy, Planning, and Practice from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Tuljapur. She has a strong passion for creating social impact and worked as a research fellow with EQUATIONS, Bangalore. With a deep understanding of social contexts and issues, Nora is dedicated to positively impacting people’s lives, with areas of interest being the creation of sustainable livelihoods while also keeping in mind the various intersectionalities such as gender.

Some of her hobbies include singing, playing the piano and writing music.

Swastika Bhuyan

Associate – Implementation Team

Swastika holds a Masters degree in Development Policy, Planning and Practice from Tata Institute of Social Sciences. During her internships, she has worked in various thematic areas like livelihood for women, returnable grants, mapping the climate vulnerabilities of Bihar and Assam etc.

Some of her hobbies include dancing, writing, reading.  She is  a professional kathak dancer and holds a B. Music degree.

Nirmala Mathew

Senior Manager – Research Team

Nirmala is a development practitioner with a decade of experience in research, documentation and communications. She has led teams and managed diverse projects across themes of nutrition, child protection, education, health and gender. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she also worked on projects related to risk communication and community engagement (RCCE). She focuses on research design, including tool development, field team training and recruiting, project oversight, monitoring, data collection and analysis and research report writing.

Nirmala holds a Masters in Development Practice from University of Denver, Colorado and a M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry from University of Mumbai.

Some of her hobbies include reading, baking and running.

Aswathy S

Associate – Research Team

Aswathy started her journey as a Database Engineer with Zoho. Post that she did her Post graduate program in Public Policy, Design & Management from the Indian School of Public Policy.

During her internships with she has worked closely with Capacity Building Commission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and NUVAH on mental health in Indian workplace.

Aswathy has completed her B. Tech in Computer Science Engineering from University of Kerala and
completed P.G. in Public policy, Design and Management from Indian School of Public Policy, New Delhi.

Some of her hobbies include traveling, photography and doing art especially fluid art

She can be reached at [email protected]

Hemlata

Manager – Flagship Team

She comes with multi-sectoral experience of working and leading various government projects and strategic initiatives across state and central government. She has been instrumental in strategizing and executing campaigns for political and bureaucratic leadership/organizations by combining a top-down management consulting approach with a bottom-up understanding of the governance ecosystem, and leveraging technology and data to drive impact at scale. In addition to the consulting experience she has exposure to Inside Sales, Relationship Management, Contact Centre Operations Management, Brand Strategy and Learning & Development in a B2C and B2B environment.

Hemlata holds a degree in Commerce from Shri Ram College of Commerce and Masters in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics.

Some of her hobbies include – Reading, gardening, traveling, photography and cooking.

Sanjoli Jain

CS Professional

Hello, my name is Sanjoli Jain, and I am excited to join this company as a CS professional. I have worked for two years in a CS firm, where I gained experience in dealing with contracts, wills, company law, and various other laws. In addition to my professional background, I am also visually impaired, which has given me a unique perspective on the challenges faced by persons with disabilities. As a result, I have a strong desire to work in the development sector and help empower underprivileged communities. I am committed to promoting the rights of persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups, and I look forward to contributing my skills and experience to create positive change.

Dr Vinti K. Agarwal

Director – MEL

Vinti has had more than 2 decades of experience across academic institutions, professional training organizations and non-governmental organizations in roles of research, capacity building, consulting and MEL. She is proficient in designing MEL systems and impact evaluation studies including those with a gendered and mixed methods approach.

She holds a specialization in economics, finance, and data analytics. This includes a C.F.A designation from ICFAI, a doctorate in economics from C.C. S University and an M.S in Government Analytics from Johns Hopkins University.

She loves reading, listening to music, enlightening talks, watching classic old-time movies and standup  comedy shows. She also enjoys bonding with people over cups of tea and looks forward to occasional travel for quiet reflections and learning.

Dhatri Kotak

Senior Manager – Finance

Dhatri is rank holder of the Gujarat Board and a qualified Chartered Accountant with a Bachelors in Commerce. She has worked for more than 7 years in the Accounts & Finance sector. She has 3 years of experience as an article assistant and more than 4 years of post qualifications experience. Prior to Samhita, she was part of the Accounts and Finance team of Backbone Construction Private Limited and Jain Wealth Managers Private Limited where she looked after the finalisation of accounts, auditing and taxation work. She is fond of travelling to places of natural beauty and loves dancing.

Shiv Kumar Pandey

Senior Manager – Skilling

Shiv has  10  years of experience, He was designated as DGM in Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC) handling  Standards,  Operations  &  Special  projects  i.e  RPL,  NAPS  &  Strategic  projects.

He  holds  an  MBA – PGDM  in  Telecom  from  MITSOT,  Pune  and  Engineering  degree  in  Electronics  &  Communications  from  RGPV  University. 

Some  of  his  hobbies  include  Watching  Sci-Fi  movies  and  love  to read on innovative products

Avantika Seth

Communication Specialist

Avantika has a vast experience as a Journalist, Researcher, Oral Historian, Documentary Filmmaker, and Podcaster. She  is  a  staunch  believer  in  the  power  of  storytelling  and  her primary interest lies in recording, archiving, and communicating personal life stories of people or organizations. 

She is a graduate from Asian College of Journalism  where  she  specialized in New  Media. Before she made  this  switch  in  her life, she finished her degree  as Bachelors  of Commerce  Honors from  Delhi  University. 

Apart from documenting  family  histories  and archiving objects, She loves to indulge in the world of psychology, neuroscience, and narrative therapy. She spends a lot of time communicating  with  auto-rickshaw   drivers  and  writing  their  life  histories.

Anisha Panigrahi

Sr. Manager – Strategic Partnerships

Anisha has total 6+ years of experience in the Automotive and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Consulting, Skill Development, Ed-Tech solutions, Govt. & Private Sector Advisory, Governance & Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Space in designing outcome-based scalable solutions and managing PAN India level projects. Previously she worked with IL&FS Skills Development Corporation Ltd (a leading TVET provider in India) as a Strategy & Business Development Manager in the Corporate Skill Development Vertical handling B2B, B2G and CSR partnerships and solutions. She has also been associated with reputed organizations like Eicher Motors Limited, Teach for India and AIESEC. Being passionate about empowering the under-served population, she has worked extensively on the ground in designing and managing multi-stakeholder and multi-locational projects involving diverse skill sets in rural and semi-urban geographies. She has also worked on several bilateral/ multilateral projects funded by USAID, World Bank, ADB, DFID, UNDP, ILO, IFC etc. focusing on projects aimed at socio-economic development. She has worked on various Cluster Development initiatives in the African continent and GCC countries; with Central Ministries & State Govts on various Govt. Schemes and has designed CSR projects for aspirational districts as prescribed by NITI Aayog (GoI). Anisha is an avid reader and loves travelling, listening to music, playing squash, painting & being an active member of global networking clubs.

Richa Arora

Manager – Implementation

Hailing from the beautiful land of Jammu, Richa has done her Masters in Psychology from the University of Jammu. She started her career in a de-addiction centre after which she also served as a school counsellor and thereafter joining Kaivalya Education Foundation as a Program Leader. With a certification in human resource and management, Richa has been a part of Samhita since 2018. She is an outward friendly and a pleasant personality with extreme fondness towards food and dogs. Her outgoing and free nature is what makes her unique. She truly believes in ‘Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.’,

Miral Gosalia

Manager – Implementation

Post graduate in Sociology (Honors), Miral has been in the development sector since 8+ years with diverse experience raging from program implementation, monitoring and evaluation, liaising with government, fundraising, networking and reporting with relevant stakeholders. She has worked with organisations such as CHILDLINE India Foundation, Cuddles Foundation who has pan India presence. Dance being her passion she is trained in Bharatnatyam and folk dance. She also enjoys reading, music and travelling.

Siddhanta Banerjee

Manager – Implementation

Siddhanta has done Masters in Mass Communication and possesses 5 years of work experience while managing teams. His work with his organisation could successfully impact and bring about changes in the Nutritional aspects and Natural Resource Management of 36 Villages in Purulia District. He had read a few articles and thus CSR interested him and so Samhita. He is keen to learn about the various dynamics of CSR in the upcoming years, Siddhanta’s hobbies are Photography and Film Making. One of his movies was shown in Banaras Film Festival. He also loves sports. He has represented his department and schools in various athletic meets.

Vishal Konbattulwar

Manager – Monitoring, Evaluation & Research.

Vishal is driven by the need to create tangible social impact, and is biased towards innovative and bold ideas carrying potential to achieving real results. He has spent 5 profound years working on various social problems and enriched competencies in problem solving, strategy and research by endeavouring in inclusive businesses, education and governance.

Vishal holds Master of Technology in Transportation System Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and Bachelor of  Technology  in  Civil  Engineering  from  VNIT Nagpur.

Shatakshy Bhatt

Assistant Manager – Qualitative Research, RKMS

Shatakshy is a social science researcher, pursuing her PhD in Social Work from the TISS, with a specialization in participatory research/assessments and Participatory Learning and Action (PLA). Having travelled extensively for fieldwork across the country, Shatakshy has worked with NGOs and people’s networks in community mobilization, people-centred development design and capacity building.

She has worked with various government institutions on designing social accountability tools and was part of the team that designed the social audit manual for the Ministry of Rural Development. Given her research acumen, she was awarded the Institute Shield for the Best MSW Student in Fieldwork at TISS.

She wants to contribute in building transparency and accountability in institutions and feels passionately about research ethics and issues that concern women.

Nayonika Basu

Assistant Manager – Implementation

Nayonika has four years of experience in strategy and operations  across  information systems  and  governance  consulting. She  started  her career  in  automobile  sector, but  it  was her  varied volunteering and CSR  experiences that motivated her to pivot to the social impact  sector   full-time.

Nayonika  holds  a  B.Tech  in  Information  Technology  from  SRM  University,  Tamil Nadu.

Some  of  her  hobbies  include  –  travelling,  singing  and  reading.

Asha Ashish Wellorkar

Assistant Manager – Finance

Asha has a good amount of knowledge of the account and finance department. Prior to joining Samhita and CGF, she was working with Population First as an Account Officer. She has completed her post graduation in Commerce from Mumbai University and certified in Advance Account and Taxation from ICA Institute. God has blessed her with a small family, which includes her husband, son and herself. She enjoys listening to soft music and spending quality time with family.

Ujwala Parab

Assistant Manager – HR & Admin

Divya Agarwal

Assistant Manager – Research, RKMS

Divya is a law graduate from Symbiosis Law School, Pune with prior work experience in policy research, primarily in education. Her quest to expand the scope of her work to include other areas of development has led her to Samhita. Having led field research in policy-centric projects, she now aims to focus on impact in order to understand the mechanics of positive change and enact the same in ever-expanding areas of need. She has been working as an independent consultant since a while now and some of her past organisations that she worked with were Centre for Civil Society and Tata AIG. In her leisure time, she likes to explore new places, experiences and ideas.

Aman Mateti

Senior Associate – REVIVE

Aman  has a mix of working in the project management and construction along with working in the social development field. 

He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from GITAM University and a PGD in Development Management from Indian School of Development Management.

Some of his hobbies include – Cycling, reading comic books, making memes, video games

Abhishek Chandra

Senior Associate – Implementation

Abhishek has an experience of 3 years in the development sector in project implementation leading the Employee Engagement vertical at Piramal Foundation and as a District Consultant- Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen in Bihar working on ground with Tata Trusts and  Government  of  India.

He holds a Masters in Social Entrepreneurship from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Some  of  his  interests  include  cycling,  cooking,  cricket  and  current  affairs.

Pratik Trivedi

Assistant Manager, Implementation

Pratik Trivedi joins us as Assistant Manager Implementation, based out of Mumbai, and will be  working  closely  with  Richa.

Pratik  has  been working in the development sector since last 8 years and has worked on multiple thematic areas. He comes with a strong project management background and has experience in program implementation, monitoring & evaluation, reporting, stakeholder management and designing dashboards. He has worked with organisations such as Learning Links  Foundation and Tata Strive, and has handled a PMU of Godrej Properties’ CSR initiatives.

Pratik  has  done  MBA  in  Social  Entrepreneurship  from  NMIMS  Mumbai.

Some  of  his  hobbies  include – Watching  movies,  playing  cricket  & volleyball and travelling.

Smriti Sangam

Associate – Implementation

Smriti is a Psychology graduate from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai with a post-graduate degree in Development Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad. Her exposure to social sciences during undergraduation sparked the drive in her to pursue a career in the development sector. Being an inquisitive learner with varied interests, her work experience ranges from Arts Management, Urban Governance and Development to CSR and Public Policy, with her key interests being in the domains of Education, Livelihoods, and Informal Labour. She has previously worked with Praja Foundation, Social Lens Consulting, and Reliance Foundation on projects related to urban governance, Informal settlements, and Education. She has also contributed to a policy research paper on the adoption and effectiveness of Ed-Tech in India submitted to the office of Mr. Ninong Ering (MLA, Arunachal Pradesh). She is passionate about optimally combining her diverse experiences to augment sustainable human development through social policy. On a personal front, Smriti finds great joy in balancing her work life with some of her other passions such as solo travel, dancing, cinema and theatre, and doing a range of courses to satisfy her appetite for learning!

Toji  Easo  Varghese

Business  Analyst

Toji  Easo  Varghese  joins  us  as  Business  Analyst, he is based out of Mumbai, and  will be  working  closely  with  Akash.

Toji  has  been  a Business  Analyst Professional for the last 5 years working in different domains  with  the  likes  of  Location Based Services, Logistics and E-Governance with expertise  in  various  reporting,  wireframing,  and  content  management  applications.

He holds Masters in Management Studies from Mumbai University and is an Engineering Graduate  from  Mumbai  University,  both  under  the  domain  of  Information  Technology

Some  of  his  hobbies  include – playing  the  guitar,  long  distance touring, singing

Akshay Kamtam

Assistant Manager – Strategic Partnerships

Akshay Kamtam joins us as Assistant Manager – Strategic Partnerships, based out of Mumbai, and will  be  working  closely  with  Anisha.

Akshay has more than 4 years of experience in consulting, entrepreneurship & account management space. He has worked in Indian and International markets for companies like Ray Business Technologies, Australia & Infratech. He also co-founded a social venture called Marine Meadow Farms where he worked as a think tank for Maharashtra Fishery Department for development of seaweed  projects in Maharashtra to tackle climate change and create women empowerment.

Akshay  holds Masters Degree from Melbourne Business School, Australia  and  BBA  from  Mumbai  University.

Narendra Kulkarni

Assistant Manager – Implementation

Narendra Kulkarni joins us as Assistant Manager – Implementation, based out of Pune, and will be  working  closely  with  Vinay  Menon.

Narendra has experience of working with corporate, non for profit and the government for more than 5 years. He was involved in designing large scale projects with Paani Foundation and Government of Maharashtra. His expertise are stakeholder management and program design and  implementation.

He holds B. Tech from Pune University and Post graduate diploma from Indian School of Public Policy.

Some  of  his  hobbies  include  –  travelling,  reading  and  watching  movies  and  plays.

Sanika More

Associate – Implementation

Sanika graduated in Mass Media with a major in journalism and a Masters in Public Policy from St. Xaviers College, Mumbai. She worked as a Public Relations professional after graduation. Post her masters, she grew passionate about conservation, with a vision of a sustainable and inclusive future. She worked on political campaigns and party’s and politician’s social media. She carried out various PR projects for FMCG and sports brands with a team and a few PR campaigns by herself. She believes in social equality, opportunity and work towards the greater good. She is a moviegoer who enjoys cooking, reading historical fiction/non-fiction, sketching and travelling!

Dipti Bairagee

Senior Associate – Finance

Dipti has 9 years of experience into the field of Accounting & Finance

She holds an B.com Graduate degree from Mumbai University and CA-Intermediate.

Some of his hobbies include – Reading Books and  Listening Music

Kedar Annam

Assistant Manager

Kedar is a Development Sector Professional for more than 7 years and have worked in area like sanitation, waste management, WASH, social and financial inclusion, livelihood, health and education.

He is a Mechanical Engineer and holds a Masters Degree in Business Management from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management.

Some of his hobbies include – exploring new places, reading and crafting.

Dr Rashi Saboo

Senior Associate, Implementation

A public health professional at heart, the larger goal is to positively influence the public health landscape globally.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Dental Surgery from Maharashtra University of Health Sciences and a Masters Degree from Indian Institute of Public Health-Delhi.

Some of her hobbies include playing board games, listening to indie music bands & watching “The Office” on the loop. “There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things” is the thought that she would like to leave us with.

Vishal Dhale

Director – Strategy and Alliance Development

Vishal brings with him over 2 decades of experience across industries like consumer durable, automobile, financial services. His experience has been in Sales, Business Development, Sales Strategy across products. Vishal has been recognized with many awards and accolades in his corporate journey. People who know him consider him to be passionate and a people’s person with clear focus on business and the knack to align people and business. He now wants to leverage his core management skills in the development sector and in the consulting space and that is how Samhita happened to him. He is excited to start his journey with us and impact lives positively.

Vishal is a Mechanical Engineer and holds a Masters Degree in Business Management from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management.

Some of his hobbies include – travelling, nature photography, gardening & cycling

Yamini

Assistant Manager, Implementation REVIVE

Yamini is an aspiring entrepreneur with 2+ years of experience in social sector. She has worked in different sector from financial inclusion, education, business accumen, health to mental health. She is a team player and  After her formal working hours she is a co founder at a mental health organization “Vartamaan care network”, and wanna be illustration artist.

She holds B.A hon in History from Delhi University and Postgraduate professional Certificate in Management Practice and leadership  from Vedica scholars Program.

Some  of  her  hobbies  include  illustrating, paining and traveling.

Prachi Patni

Associate – Assessments, RKMS

Anirban Saha

Analyst – Implementation

Anirban brings with him a diverse background as a graduate in Electrical Engineering from KiiT University and as a Gandhi fellow! At the Gandhi Fellowship Program, he was extensively involved in Improving Student’s Learning Outcome working in tandem with various school stakeholders in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan. Anirban’s interests lay in the convergence of education and sports sector.

His curiosity to learn how to create impact through CSR projects at scale has led him to Samhita!

Mukesh Kumar Pandey

Network Support – IT