Our Team

RURAL DEVELOPMENT (GURGAON)

Anjali Godyal, Program Leader, Capacity Building Center, holds a degree in rural management from the Institute of Rural Management (IRMA), Anand, Gujarat. She has over 5 years of experience working with rural women and children in the areas of health, education and governance.
Email: a.godyal@irrad.org

Vikas Jha, Group Leader, Policy, Governance and Advocacy Center, is doctorate from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has ten years of professional experience in the development sector, especially in projects related to policy analysis, governance and advocacy, capacity building (of government officials, elected representatives, civic leaders, NGOs) and community mobilization in both rural and urban regions of India. He has field experience of working in Brazil, South Africa, South East Asia and South Asia on social accountability and decentralized governance.
Email: v.jha@irrad.org

Ramesh Kapahi, Director, Finance & Administration, holds a master's degree in finance and marketing from Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management (LBSIM), Delhi. He worked as an internal auditor for 16 years before joining IRRAD.
Email: r.kapahi@irrad.org

Pawan Kumar, Program Leader, Income Enhancement, holds an MSc in agriculture economics from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, and an MSc in forestry, science policy and management from Oxford Forestry Institute, Oxford University. He has 16 years of experience working with small and marginalized farmers in agricultural development, watershed management, and natural resource management.
Email: pawan.kumar@irrad.org

Aparna Mahajan, Director, Resource Mobilization and Partnerships, holds an MBA and a World Bank Institute (USA) certificate in corporate social responsibility and sustainable competitiveness. She has worked in the private and development sectors with leading organizations in India and abroad, including the UN as international consultant and country specialist/consultant. A World Guide expert contributor, she is author of the UAE chapter and co-author of the India chapter in The World Guide to CSR, by CSR International, 2010.
Email: a.mahajan@irrad.org

Anjali Makhija, Group Leader, Capacity Building, holds a master's degree in social work from Delhi School of Social Work, Delhi University. She has 18 years of management and training experience working with various NGOs in the areas of education, health, and community development. She is an invited member of the UN Global Compact Subcommittee for Training.
Email: anjali.makhija@irrad.org

Pradeep K. Mehta, Senior Scientist, Rural Research, holds a PhD in economics from Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore; an MPhil degree from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay; and MA and BA degrees in economics (honors) from Punjab University, Chandigarh. He has 4 years of experience in teaching and research.
Email: p.mehta@irrad.org

Pooja O. Murada, Director, Communications, holds a bachelor's degree in English (honors) from Delhi University; postgraduation in communications; management program from Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, USA. She carries over 15 years of work experience in both corporate and development communications. She is an invited member of the UN Global Compact Subcommittee for Training and Communications.
Email: poojamurada@irrad.org

Navneet Narwal, Program Leader, Policy, Governance & Advocacy, is involved in policy trainings at the grass roots. He holds an LLB degree from Faculty of Law, Delhi University, with postgraduation in English from Punjab University, Chandigarh. He also holds a one-year post-graduate diploma in journalism from Bharti Vidya Bhawan, Chandigarh.
Email: n.narwal@irrad.org

B.R. Poonia, Program Leader, Community Mobilization, holds a master's degree in rural sociology from the University of Udaipur, and has over 30 years of experience in community development. Prior to joining the Foundation, he was employed at CARE-India for 14 years. He is an invited member of the Planning Commission's Working Group on Panchayati Raj Institutions and Rural Governance for the formulation of the 12th Five-Year Plan.
Email: br.poonia@irrad.org

Salahuddin Saiphy, Program Leader, Water Management, holds a master's degree in applied geology and postgraduate diploma in hydrogeology from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, and a postgraduate diploma in environmental monitoring and impact assessment from Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi. Prior to joining IRRAD, he worked with the Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, where he organized training programs and designed rainwater harvesting projects.
Email: s.saiphy@irrad.org

Niti Saxena, Associate Scientist, Rural Research, has a master's in human development from Lady Irwin College, Delhi University. Her expertise is working with children with special needs, and she has contributed to the concept of ECCD (early childhood care and development) through her writings.
Email: niti.saxena@irrad.org

Jane E. Schukoske, CEO, holds a JD from Vanderbilt University and LLM from Georgetown University, USA. A Maryland lawyer, she has represented low-income clients, directed law school clinics, and taught on the faculty of the University of Baltimore School of Law. In South Asia, she conducted research at the University of Colombo as a Fulbright scholar and directed US Educational Foundation in India. She serves on the governing body of O.P. Jindal Global University in Sonipat, Haryana.
Email: j.schukoske@irrad.org

Lalit Mohan Sharma, Group Leader, Natural Resource Management, is a civil engineer who holds a master's degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and a postgraduate diploma in construction management, and is a fellow of the Institution of Valuers. He is an invited member of the panel of experts for the War for Water and Water Technology initiatives under the Technology Mission of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India.
Email: lalit.sharma@irrad.org

Consultants

M.D. Asthana, has 38 years of experience as a member of India's premier central administrative service, the Indian Administrative Service, in the fields of public administration, good governance and public policy.
Email: md.asthana@irrad.org

Ryan Clutter, IT Consultant holds a degree in computer science from Grand View College, Iowa, USA. He has worked as a senior network engineer at a leading US mortgage company, as well as at a regional US hospital prior to becoming a consultant for IRRAD.
Email: r.clutter@irrad.org

Murali Dhar Gupta, a PhD in genetics from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, established the crop improvement project in July 2002 at the ICRISAT campus near Hyderabad and had been its technical director until May 2007. He is now associated with SMSF as an honorary technical advisor. He has 37 years of experience in plant breeding research with national and international institutes and in seed enterprise management with two multinational companies.
Email: m.d.gupta@cgiar.org

Ellora Mubashir, holds a PhD in biochemistry from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. She was manager of biotechnology regulatory affairs at Proagro Seed Company (now Bayer CropScience). Subsequently she was communications program leader at S.M. Sehgal Foundation for five years.
Email: ellora.mubashir@irrad.org

Ajay Kumar Pandey, is a lawyer and a human rights practitioner. He has 16 years of experience of working with voluntary organizations. He holds an M.Phil. degree in International Law from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and an LL.M. degree in Clinical Legal Education from Vanderbilt University, USA. Currently he is Associate Professor and Assistant Director, Clinical Programmes at Jindal Global Law School.
Email: ajay.pandey@fulbrightmail.org

Crop Improvement (Hyderabad)

P. Vani Sekhar, Senior Scientist, holds a master's degree in genetics and plant breeding from ANGRAU, Hyderabad. She carries over 21 years of experience in the field of plant breeding. Prior to joining SMSF, she worked as a senior scientist with Hytech Seed India Pvt. Ltd. from 2007-2011 and as a breeder with Bayer CropScience Pvt. Ltd. (Formerly Proagro Seed Company Pvt. Ltd.) for 17 years (1989-2007).
Email: p.vanisekhar@smsfoundation.org

N Mallikarjuna, Scientist, holds a PhD in plant pathology from the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bangalore. Prior to joining SMSF, he worked on maize pathology for six years at UAS, Agricultural Research Station, Nagenahalli, Mysore.
Email: na.mallikarjuna@irrad.org

S.P. Deshpande, Special Project Scientist, Biotechnology, holds a PhD in genetics and plant breeding from Marathwada Agricultural University, Parbhani. He has six years of experience in the field of molecular breeding and biotechnology.
Email: s.deshpande@cgiar.org

Support Team (Hyderabad)

G.P. Shravan Kumar, C. Venkatesh, K. Venkatesh, K. Chandrasekhar, K. Pandu, and Syed Ghouse

Village Champions: Sayeed, Imran, Iqbal, Narendra Poonia, Sharafat Ali, Hakmudeen, Abdul Jabbar, Sanjiv, Pawan Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, Samaydeen, Geeta, Santosh Sanwaria, Ram Dia, Sajid Khan, Abdul Kadir, Arshad Hussein

Research Investigators: Shabeer Ahemd, Mohd. Sahil, Mohd. Jamshed, Jaan Mohd, Manju Sharma, Asif Khan, Mohd. Irfan

Governance Guides: Balram, Rajuddin, Farooq, Jamaluddin, Mohd. Arif, Jakariya, Niyaz Mohd, Prem