A room of builders.
The leaders, founders, policymakers, and practitioners turning ideas into action
Pratiksha, from Badarpur, Delhi, is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Medical Science Technology. She joined Lend A Hand India as a Skill Mitra in 2024 (Cohort 6), where she worked with school students to promote skill education and vocational awareness through workshops and mentoring. She has shared her journey at Charcha 2024 and on the NITI Aayog Best Practices platform. Having later mentored Skill Mitra Cohort 7, Pratiksha continues to inspire young learners while honing her leadership and communication skills.
Praveen Singh is the CEO of Apnalaya, based in Maharashtra, India. He has extensive experience in the social impact and development sector, having previously served as Director of Impact at Magic Bus India Foundation and Head of Monitoring and Evaluation at TechnoServe. Praveen has also contributed to organizations like ARPAN and CRY – Child Rights & You.
He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Management (PGDRM) from IRMA – Institute of Rural Management, Anand and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from St. Columba's College.
Praveen brings a strong background in program management, impact evaluation, and strategic leadership to his work in driving social change.
Preeti is currently pursuing her Master’s in Tourism Management from Delhi University. As a Skill Mitra with Lend A Hand India, she has gained hands-on experience in leadership, communication, and vocational skill development. During her fellowship, she supported employer onboarding, facilitated student orientations, and represented the organisation at the Delhi Job Fair. She also hosted the "Conversation with Intern" series, which strengthened her confidence and teamwork skills.
Pritha is a Partner and Co-Head, Asia and Africa at The Bridgespan Group, and also serves as the head of the India office. She advises philanthropies/ donors, governments, nonprofits, and the private sector on a wide range of global development opportunities. Her work has ranged across strategy, business plans, operating models, and partnerships for social impact initiatives in over 25 countries in South and Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Pritha has led and co-authored knowledge reports and articles on strategic and collaborative philanthropy, a more resilient NGO sector, community driven change, and public health, among others.
Prior to Bridgespan, Pritha established and led the New Delhi office of Dalberg Global Development Advisors, where she co-led the Global Health and Nutrition practice. Previously, she was a Director and India office head at Cambridge Economic Policy Associates (CEPA), UK; and earlier as a financial specialist at the World Bank.
Pritha holds a Masters in Development Management from the London School of Economics and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, including an exchange program at Melbourne Business School. She is a recipient of the Citibank Leadership Award and V-WA Award for Women Leaders. She serves on the Advisory Boards of Social Alpha and Bahaar Foundation; and is a mentor at WomenLift Health.
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Priya Anant is the Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer of Life Circle Health Services Pvt. Ltd., a social enterprise delivering affordable, home-based care for older adults across India.
At Life Circle, Priya leads initiatives in quality, customer engagement, and caregiver skilling. Her work focuses on strengthening India’s care economy through gender-inclusive employment, competency-based training, and technology enabled operations that support ageing in place.
Life Circle has been recognised with the DBS Foundation Impact Beyond Award and awarded by the UN Women led Asia-Pacific Care Accelerator, supported by Groupe SOS France and the Ministry of Social Justice, Govt of India, for its elder-care solution. Priya also contributes to national curriculum and policy development in geriatric care, serving on expert committees that advance professional caregiver training and advance quality in care delivery.
Gaurav Verma, is a Professor of Polymers and Nanotechnology at the Chemical Engineering and is the Director of a premier Advanced Instrumentation Laboratory at Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. He is a holder of CV Raman Post-Doctoral Fellowship from MIT, Cambridge USA and a PhD in nanotechnology & materials from PU, and is amongst top 2% influential scientists list published by Stanford-Elsevier Statisticians. He has published a text/reference book on Nanostructures (https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-820048-3.00013-9) and about 80 research publications with 2100 citations. Granted with 02 Indian Patent he has filed 03 others. He is a recipient of Nottingham Trent University Research Grant (2022), Go Global Exploratory Grant of British Council (2021), MARIHE visiting fellowship (2020/21), Indian Chemical Council recognition for contribution to nano- agriculture (2019), DST Travel grants (2018, 2012) ChascoVention Young Investigator Award at 2012 Chandigarh Science Congress and has also bagged five best paper awards at IIT Madras (2008, 2010), ICT Mumbai (2014), and Panjab University Chandigarh (2010, 2004). He was instrumental in setting up the Drone fabrication and repair facility at PU.
His research interests include applying nanotechnology and materials science and adoption of AI to various applications like nanocomposite coatings, agriculture, energy, and waste management. He foresees integration of nature and nanotechnology, which will benefit the human race in future. He extensively lectures internationally and around the country at various forums and also is an avid cyclist and sports enthusiast.
With fearless determination and a pioneering spirit, Ms. Pushpa Bector stands at the forefront of India’s retail evolution. As Senior Executive Director of DLF Retail, she has been instrumental in shaping DLF Malls into benchmarks of excellence, consistently anticipating global industry trends and evolving consumer needs. Under her leadership, DLF Malls have not only adapted to changing market dynamics but have also set new standards for innovation, experience, and growth in the Indian retail sector.
Ms. Bector’s professional journey began in the hospitality industry with Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, followed by her role as Head of Marketing at Domino’s Pizza (Jubilant FoodWorks). These early experiences honed her expertise in customer engagement and brand positioning—skills that would later prove invaluable in her retail leadership journey.
At DLF, she first made her mark as Vice President and Mall Head of DLF Promenade, where her creative marketing strategies and operational acumen transformed the mall into a leading fashion destination—even amidst the challenges of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. She also played a pivotal role in establishing six successful food courts for DLF before assuming her current role overseeing the entire retail portfolio.
Today, Ms. Bector provides strategic leadership across marketing, leasing, finance, and operations, steering DLF Retail toward continued innovation and excellence. An alumnus of Harvard University, she balances her dynamic professional life with a love for music, cinema, and family time.
Rajat Gupta is a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, India, and a founding member of McKinsey’s India office. With over 32 years of experience, he has led large-scale transformations across power, mining, metals, paper, oil, chemicals, and infrastructure, working closely with boards, CEOs, and top management teams. His expertise spans strategy, operations, sustainability, digital/AI, and organization building, and he leads McKinsey’s work with the Indian government and several top Indian conglomerates. He has founded and led multiple practices, including the Asia Sustainability Practice, Energy & Materials, Capital Projects, Operations, and Industrials.
Rajat leads McKinsey’s social responsibility efforts as Chair of the Board of Generation, the world’s largest demand-driven skilling initiative, and is a member of the McKinsey Global Institute Advisory Council. A gold medalist from IIM Calcutta (1992) and BITS Pilani, he has contributed to McKinsey’s thought leadership, co-authoring reports on India’s decarbonisation pathways and the bestseller Reimagining India. He also serves on the boards of Childline India Foundation and the Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP).
Raj Gilda, Co-founder & Director (Strategy and Development), a banker-turned-social entrepreneur leads resource mobilization and external relations at Lend A Hand India. With over 20 years of experience in education, banking, insurance, and IT, he transitioned to full-time in social development sector in 2011. His past roles include positions at Citibank and Deloitte Consulting in New York. Raj has been involved in various government advisory roles, such as a member of the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) from 2014-17 appointed by Gov of India, part of the committee to review scheme of vocatioanalisation of school education and part of the Curricular Area Group for Vocational Education under the National Curriculum Framework(NCF) 2023. He is a Chevening Gurukul Scholar at the London School of Economics. He's recognized as a top 100 graduate alumni of the University of Texas at Austin and received an award for community service from the U.S. President. Raj is an Electronics Engineer from the University of Pune, and holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
Rakesh Dosi is a distinguished leader at the intersection of digital transformation, financial services, and enterprise technology. With over two & half decades of experience across India’s technology landscape, Rakesh has consistently championed innovation and customer-centric growth.
As Chief Business Officer at Protean eGov Technologies Ltd., he leads the company’s domestic business portfolio and spearheads its expansion into new sectors—leveraging next-generation technologies and platform-driven models to strengthen India’s digital public infrastructure. Rakesh’s leadership is defined by his ability to translate strategic foresight into actionable business outcomes.
Prior to Protean, he served as Business Head at Sify Technologies, where he led the end-to-end transformation of the Network Services business, and as Business Head at Jio Enterprise, delivering sector-specific, tech-enabled solutions to clients in banking, capital markets, insurance, IT, and manufacturing. His career includes influential roles at Nxtra Data, Airtel, and Safescrypt, where he has driven innovation, scale, and resilience in complex business environments.
A respected voice in enterprise strategy, Rakesh brings deep expertise in go-to-market execution, organizational transformation, and building future-ready teams. His academic credentials include Post Graduation from SP Jain Institute of Management & Research and SMP from IIM Calcutta.
Rakhshanda Jalil is a multi-award-winning translator, writer, and literary historian. She has published over 25 books and written over 50 academic papers and essays. Some of her books include: Liking Progress, Loving Change: A Literary History of the Progressive Writers Movement in Urdu; a biography of Urdu feminist writer Dr Rashid Jahan: A Rebel and her Cause; a translation of The Sea Lies Ahead, Intizar Husain’s seminal novel on Karachi, and Krishan Chandar’s Partition novel Ghaddar among others. She runs an organisation called Hindustani Awaaz, devoted to the popularisation of Hindi-Urdu literature and culture.
Rashmi Arun Shami is a senior IAS officer of the 1994 batch, known for her leadership in governance, education, and rural development. Over her career, she has served in key administrative roles including Principal Secretary, School Education; Commissioner, Rajya Shiksha Kendra; and Collector in Dewas, Sehore, and Bhind.
She is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Administration for the implementation of the Forest Rights Act.
An alumna of Loreto Convent and Lucknow University, she holds an M.A. in Medieval and Modern Indian History and a PG Diploma in Public Policy and Management from IIM Bangalore.
Rashmi is a keen reader, she has a deep interest in education, human resource management, and environmental issues.
There’s a lot happening at charcha 2025
Exciting programming in play - marquee speakers, extensive CSR and CSO network participation, thought-provoking panels and workshops, curated networking, and more.