The vartaLeap Coalition Members

Ashwin Makwana is born and brought up in Sara village of surendranagar district in Gujarat. After completing his Masters, he joined Gandhi Fellowship to explore and get exposure of the ground reality in order to part the gap of theoretical knowledge and experiential learning. During this journey he has been a part of projects and events like Quality in Education through E-Smart Class, Environment Exhibition and creation of a teaching module for EVS teachers.

Asim Siddiqui, a faculty member at Azim Premji University in India, specializes in Philosophy and Development Studies. His research focus centers on humanizing access to education and health to foster democracy and nurture a compassionate society. Asim actively collaborates with various youth-focused organizations, facilitating critical thinking and emotional capacity-building workshops while addressing issues of social justice.

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Eva Wallensteiner is a seasoned theatre anthropologist with a specialisation in the popular performing arts of India and extensive experience as a dramatic advisor. Since 1987, she has made regular visits to India for her studies and research on the influence and significance of performing arts. Additionally, Eva has served as a project coordinator in the social field, leveraging her expertise to contribute to various initiatives aimed at social development.

Manak is a dedicated feminist queer activist and serves as the Executive Director of The YP Foundation (TYPF). His commitment lies in empowering young people to take on leadership roles in advocating for gender justice, sexuality rights, health equity, violence prevention, and inclusive education. With a background in Literature and Mass Communication, Manak has curated and led various training programs, social media campaigns, digital storytelling interventions, and leadership development initiatives.

Naghma Mulla, serving as the COO and Board member of EdelGive Foundation, brings a wealth of expertise as a Chartered Accountant with a Masters in Commerce. Over the span of eight years, Naghma has been instrumental in driving the growth and scalability of EdelGive's model of collaborative philanthropy. Through her strategic leadership, she has significantly contributed to the development and expansion of EdelGive's portfolio as a philanthropic manager, advisor, and partner to both institutional and individual grantmakers across India.

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Pradeep Ghosh, an Ashoka Fellow since 2004, serves as the Founder and Advisor of OASiS- A Social Innovations Lab, established in 2003. With a focus on developing new models for the social sector, Pradeep's innovative solutions have addressed a wide range of issues including social security, education, community livelihoods, and volunteering.

Pratyush, a founding member at India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS), brings a wealth of experience to his role, overseeing strategy, program management, outreach, and research. With academic credentials from BITS, Pilani, and Ashoka University, he has honed his skills in finance and interdisciplinary studies through rigorous education and practical application.

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As the Director of ICRW Asia, situated in New Delhi, India, Dr. Ravi Verma spearheads the organisation's local and regional endeavours focused on conducting research, providing technical support, building capacity, and engaging in policy dialogue on various critical issues. These include reproductive health, family planning, domestic violence prevention, child marriage, male engagement for women's empowerment, HIV/AIDS, and economic development.

Shankar's work career of about 40 years has been almost equally divided between mainstream business consulting, social development and business sustainability. Since retiring as the head of sustainability of the Tata group in 2017, he has been involved in several activities in the larger development and business space. He is a part of the founding team of ECube Climate Finance which is setting up a lending platform to address adverse climate change impacts.

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