Board Members

Board Members

Rajen Varada

Mr. Varada has been an ICT for rural development pioneer for over 25 years. and is actively engaged in designing and implementing solutions for rural development using technology.

Solutions such as those for health and early childhood care (Sisu Samrakshak – UNICEF), disaster (SMS4Help – Solution Exchange,UN), district e-Governance (Parishkaram and Samadhan – government of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal), ‘Labnet’ — a migrant labour tracking and services portal have been recognised for their impact and innovation. With a background in technology and graphic art, psychology and philosophy Mr. Varada serves on several NGO’s boards as advisor and mentor.

Amir Ullah Khan

Amir Ullah Khan is a Development economist and Professor at the MCRHRDI of the Government of Telangana. He is Research Director at the Centre for Development Policy and Practice. Amir is a Visiting Professor at the Indian School of Business, TISS and NALSAR in Hyderabad. He is an economic policy columnist for the LiveMint. Dr Khan joined the Indian Civil Service in 1993, worked for the Ministry of Finance and the UNDP at Project LARGE, was Executive Director at Encyclopaedia Britannica after which he worked as Director at the India Development Foundation. He served as an Adjunct Professor of Law and Economics at the Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia. He was founder Vice Chancellor at the Glocal University in Saharanpur. He subsequently served as Deputy Director and Senior Advisor at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Mridula Chandra

Mridula Chandra is a post-graduate from the Delhi School of Social Work and holds more than 20 years of experience in the social development sector. She is the moving force behind the Health & Social Development Research Centre (HSDRC). Anything that is visualised and successfully accomplished by HSDRC is due to the sustained, unabated and self-less efforts of Ms. Chandra and her colleagues.

Shalini Kala

Shalini Kala holds an Advanced Degree in Economics, and has worked on issues of agricultural policy reform in India for her M.Phil dissertation. She has 20 years of professional experience in the field of rural development, particularly in the areas of food and agriculture, focusing on knowledge networking, livelihoods and capacity building both in India and the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently, Ms. Kala was at the World Food Programme (WFP) where she worked on design, testing and advocacy of innovative approaches for food aid as a tool of development. She has also been associated with the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and has worked on various USAID projects.

Dr Madanmohan Rao

Dr. Madanmohan Rao is the research director at YourStory Media, charter member of TiE Bangalore, and research advisor at the Asian Media Information and Communication centre (AMIC). An author of five books, he was formerly the communications director at the United Nations Inter Press Service bureau in New York, and vice president at IndiaWorld Communications in Bombay. Madan is an editor and DJ in world music and jazz, and writes for World Music Central and Jazzuality. He produced channels on jazz and world music for RadioWalla.in, and was previously world music editor at Rave magazine, and RJ at Worldspace Satellite Radio.

Shobitha Kedlaya

Shobitha Kedlaya holds a textiles degree and a masters in Management studies. She worked in the corporate sector with J.K (Bombay) Ltd and Huhtamaki Van Leer, post which she embarked on an entrepreneurial journey. She set up a corporate gifting company and a designer brand called Inspira. She then moved on to the social sector to join Protovillage – an intentional community based in Andhra Pradesh. Here she practices permaculture and works on building an education model based on “context enabled purpose oriented learning”. Shobitha is also a Bharatnatyam dancer and an author.