Geetanjali Misra is the Co-Founder and Executive Director – Global of CREA and has closely worked at the activist, grant-making, and policy levels on issues of sexuality, reproductive health, gender, human rights, and violence against women. She holds Master’s degrees in International Affairs from Columbia University, US, and in Economics from Syracuse University, US.

Previously, she has worked as a Program Officer at Ford Foundation, taught as an adjunct professor on the intersection of LGBT issues, sexual rights and public health at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and supported non-governmental organizations in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka working on sexual and reproductive health and rights. She is also a co-founder SAKHI for South Asian Women in 1989, a non-profit organization in New York, committed to ending violence against women of South Asian origin. Formerly, she has been Chair of the Boards of Reproductive Health Matters (UK), a global peer reviewed journal on sexual and reproductive health and rights and Mama Cash (the Netherlands).

She was a Board Member of FHI 360 (USA) and also served as President of the Board of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) where she led a strategic planning and organizational development process leading to changes in leadership roles and structure. In the past, she held several key advisory roles such as being a Member of Cordaid’s Expert Advisory Group (the Netherlands), served as a core member of the Action Plus Coalition for Rights, Education and Care in HIV/AIDS (India), was regional and Global Advisor for Global Fund for Women (USA) among others.

She writes on issues of sexuality, gender, and rights, and has co-edited ‘Sexuality, Gender, and Rights: Exploring Theory and Practice in South and Southeast Asia’ from SAGE. She is also author of ‘The Power of Movements’ published by AWID.

Anuradha leads CREA’s India operations, refining strategy and fostering innovative program designs responsive to national, regional, and global contexts. She oversees fundraising, donor relationships, and the Resource Development team, while also guiding CREA’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) strategy to ensure it remains a self-reflecting and learning organisation.

She holds a PhD in Biophysics from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, and has over two decades of experience in resource mobilization, donor relations, and project management. She has worked with the Centre for Science and Environment, Plan International (India), and Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute and consulted for CARE (India), UNICEF (India), and CREA. Anuradha values social and environmental responsibility and enjoys traveling, reading, music, and spending time with friends.

Aditi provides executive support and works closely with the Executive Director (Global) at CREA. She oversees the CREA Boards and also assists the Finance Director (Global), ensuring smooth coordination across leadership functions.

With a master’s degree in commerce specialising in accountancy, Aditti brings over 20 years of experience in the development sector. Outside of work, she enjoys quality time with her daughter and two dogs.

Agnieszka works within the Disability and Sexuality Portfolio (Global) to foster cross-movement collaboration between feminist and disability rights spaces. She supports the leadership of feminists with disabilities, advances advocacy on disability rights and implements international programmes such as the Disability, Sexuality, and Rights Online Institute (DSROI), the CREAte Initiative and the Women Gaining Ground consortium.

A sociologist by training, Agnieszka earned a PhD in social sciences in 2020, researching reproductive autonomy and motherhood experiences of women with disabilities. She has worked on public policy implementation in line with the UN CRPD and has been engaged in feminist, queer, migrant and disability rights initiatives for over 15 years.

Amit works closely with the Advisor – Programs Operation to assist in day-to-day program operations. He supports budgets, work plans, subgrant agreements, and consultancy contracts in coordination with the program team. 

Amit has over 16 years of experience in finance, accounting, taxation, auditing, preparing budgets for projects, and executing professionals, and individual contracts. Amit loves to explore new destinations and play cricket.

Amit works with directors and their teams on planning and implementation of processes in accordance with the organisation’s vision, mission, and strategies. He supports budget tracking and utilisation. He supports budget tracking and utilisation while ensuring the timely submission of work plans and facilitating partner management.

Amit has over 24 years of experience as an Operations professional both in corporate and the development sector. In his free time, he enjoys traveling to hilly areas with family and friends. He also has a passion for singing and poetry.

Anjaly works closely with the Project Lead – Women Gaining Ground | Feminist Leadership and Mentoring, supporting external relationship management, networking, documentation and communication, and representing CREA at various fora.

She holds a master’s in Promotional Media from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a bachelor’s in Journalism from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi. Before joining CREA, she worked on projects focused on gender, youth empowerment and disability justice. In her spare time, she enjoys caring for her small collection of plants.

Anu manages logistics support for CREA Institutes, workshops and meetings, drawing on her extensive experience in administration, operations and hospitality in the corporate sector.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science (Hons.) from the University of Delhi and loves travelling.

Arkina supports CREA’s Meri Panchayat, Meri Shakti (India) and works closely on feminist leadership and movement-building programmes. She focuses on partnership management, networking, advocacy, and community mobilisation at local and state levels.

She has a  master’s degree in Gender Studies and previously worked at Jagori Grameen, supporting adolescent girls in rural Himachal Pradesh on gender, menstrual and reproductive health, and violence prevention. Arkina believes in creating inclusive spaces and wants to travel the world.

Audrey supports local partners, guiding activity planning and execution, and assisting with feminist programme implementation. She also contributes to event coordination, advocacy, and showcasing the impact of East Africa programmes through data collection and storytelling.

Audrey holds a Social Work degree from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) and a Master’s in Gender and Development from Kenyatta University. With over 12 years of experience in Gender-Based Violence programme management, leadership development, grant management, programme planning, safeguarding practices, and monitoring and evaluation, she has worked with organisations like Women for Women International and Akili Dada. Audrey is passionate about creating environments where girls and women can thrive and grow. She enjoys yoga, reading, travelling, football and F1 races.

Babita works closely with CREA partners in India to strengthen feminist leadership, intersectionality in gender discourses, and SRHR approaches in their work. She also supports the feminist movement-building process with grassroots organisations. Her responsibilities include designing and implementing programmes, managing partnerships, networking, and advocacy on gender issues, as well as supporting the finance and administrative teams in programme management. Her core interest is in strengthening community-based initiatives and bringing those stories to global policy advocacy.

Babita holds a master’s in social work and a diploma in mass communication and journalism. She has more than 14 years of experience in the development sector, having also worked with the State Social Audit Unit of Jharkhand, with the Alliance for Immunisation and Health as a State Project Coordinator, and with Pravah as a Project Coordinator and Programme Manager. She also loves writing Hindi poetry and exploring traditional cuisines.

Chrystobel works on the Our Voices, Our Futures (OVOF) Consortium’s communications strategies, collaborating with partners and conducting outreach to promote equity and amplify stories from underrepresented populations in Lebanon, Uganda, Kenya, India, Bangladesh, and Sudan.

She holds a degree in media and communications and has experience with organisations like UNICEF, Childline, and Transparency International. Chrystobel enjoys travelling to learn about different cultures and uses visual media to highlight social injustices.

Diksha heads the India finance team and is responsible for implementing financial policies, ensuring compliance, managing risk, overseeing audits, budgeting, tracking expenditures against approved budgets, managing investments, and driving financial stability and growth.

Diksha has a master’s degree in commerce and business administration with a specialisation in finance. She has previously worked with INTRAHealth International Inc. In her free time, Diksha enjoys cooking, listening to music, and spending time with her family.

Dipa works closely with the Organization Management Team for program operations at CREA and supervises the Program Operations team. She supports development, rollout and the functioning of annual work plans and budget. She is an independent consultant with more than three decades of experience of working on issues related to reproductive health and rights, and gender.

Between 2019-2022, Dipa was the Director Programs at the Population Foundation of India, an NGO headquartered in New Delhi, India that works on population and sexual and reproductive health. Previously, she was associated with the MacArthur Foundation for almost two decades, with her last role being Deputy Director at the Foundation’s India office. At the Foundation, she managed various programs and projects with a focus on reproductive and sexual health, maternal health, adolescent and sexual and reproductive health and girls’ secondary education.

She serves on the boards of the NGOs-Centre for Catalyzing Change and the Institute for Health Management Pachod. She has master’s degrees in Public Administration from Syracuse University and a master’s in Political Science from Mumbai University.

Dulal joined CREA in 2008 as the office assistant and is one of our longest-standing staff members. He takes care of the office and provides essential logistical and administrative support to various programme teams.

Elena researches, documents and narrates the impact of and the learnings that emerged from the work of the organization across programs with a feminist approach.

Elena has a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master’s degree in human rights law. Elena’s background is grounded in feminist programs, organizing to transform power, feminist popular education, research, and writing, and has been part of different non-profit organizations for the past 10 years.

Elena is the co-founder of the Feminist Hiking Collective.

Harsh Mandlik strengthens CREA’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) approaches, making MEL a key part of the organisation’s work. He collaborates with management and program directors to enhance the MEL system for learning and accountability, leading all MEL activities, including developing methodologies to assess CREA’s diverse programmes and ensuring data quality and relevance for stakeholders.

Harsh holds a post-graduate certificate in Research Methodology from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and has over 18 years of experience in project monitoring and evaluation. His expertise includes designing monitoring systems, conducting effectiveness studies and capacity building. He enjoys music, singing and playing the flute, and is passionate about fitness.

Imani Kimiri works to create inclusive spaces for the Our Voices, Our Futures (OVOF) Consortium that challenge patriarchal systems and promote queer rights and representation. Imani advocates for the rights and inclusion of LGBTIQ+ individuals and communities across various platforms, ensuring that their voices are heard and valued.

Imani is a lawyer and gender-queer human rights defender with over 10 years of experience. They have previously served as the Head of Legal Affairs at the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) in Kenya and have worked with the United Nations Office of Staff Legal Affairs and Kurauka & Co. Advocates. Imani has pursued capacity-building courses on strategic litigation and advocacy and is an alumnus of Columbia University’s Human Rights Advocates Program. They have also served as a board member of QueerHive Kenya.

Jaisy works with the Impact & Learning Team to support CREA’s efforts to secure funding and resources for its programmes and initiatives. She assists in fundraising activities, donor relations, grant writing, and other resource development efforts.

Jaisy holds a master’s degree in social work with a specialisation in medical and psychiatric social work from the University of Calicut, Kerala. In 2023, she completed a certificate programme in the management of social initiatives from IIM Kozhikode. Jaisy has also worked with NGOs in India and East Africa, where she was responsible for resource mobilisation, donor relations, and reporting and documentation. She is passionate about advocating for the rights of people in low-resource settings and helping ensure their access to basic human rights.

Jannat is part of the Impact & Learning Team at CREA, focusing on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) across programs and institutes. She generates and analyses quantitative and qualitative data to support strategic learning and decision-making. She implements organisation-wide results-based management systems and strengthens the technical capacity of CREA and its partners in Feminist MEL methods, incorporating intersectionality, storytelling, partner well-being, power dynamics, and evaluator reflexivity.

A former German Chancellor Research Fellow at the Technical University of Munich, she holds a PhD in Social Work from the Delhi School of Social Work and an M.Phil. and Master’s from Tata Institute of Social Sciences. With over 13 years of experience in research, M&E, and learning, she has worked on program-based research, M&E frameworks, logical framework analysis, and theories of change. She has authored peer-reviewed articles, presented at global conferences, and worked with organisations including Pratham Education Foundation, Room to Read, India Vision Foundation, and UNICEF.

Jyoti heads the People and Culture team at CREA, overseeing HR functions such as strategic planning, recruitment, onboarding, organisational development, PMS, payroll, and internal and external communication.

She holds an MBA in HR and is a science graduate from Delhi University. With over a decade of experience in the development sector, Jyoti has worked with international NGOs like The Nature Conservancy, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Project Concern International. Outside of work, she enjoys playing badminton.

Kaainaat is responsible for writing grant proposals, managing donor relationships, conducting donor research, and ensuring compliance with organisational and donor requirements. She works with the Director – Resources, Learning and Impact and other team members to ensure the effective delivery of CREA’s programmes and campaigns.

Kaainaat spearheaded the #PadsAgainstSexism campaign in 2015 at Jamia Milia Islamia University, advocating feminist messages through sanitary napkins. She began her professional journey at The Hans Foundation, where she managed cross-sectoral projects. With a background in programme management, Kaainaat has developed expertise in gender equality, disability, and mental health, having spent four years at The Live Love Laugh Foundation. Outside work, Kaainaat enjoys spending quiet evenings with her three cats.

Karan manages day-to-day IT operations, overseeing IT infrastructure, providing user support, managing IT assets, and addressing various IT-related challenges.

He holds a Master’s degree in Computer Applications and has 7 years of experience in the IT sector. Karan’s expertise includes Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and Azure Cloud, with notable achievements in IT asset management, vendor management, negotiation, and cost optimisation. Outside of work, he enjoys listening to music and exploring the latest gadgets.

Kuheli works closely with the Director – People and Culture to enhance CREA’s commitment to continuous learning, diversity, and inclusion. She brings 18 years of HR experience, specialising in recruitment, payroll, performance management, training, and employee relations.

She has worked with organisations such as Atmashakti Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Drishtee Foundation. Outside of work, Kuheli enjoys listening to music, travelling, and reading.

Lavanya is the Coordinator for the Women Gaining Ground Consortium, focusing on feminist leadership and feminist mentoring.

Lavanya holds an MPhil in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and has over 15 years of experience in interrogating power, patriarchy, leadership and mentoring. Her interests include exploring why some initiatives create lasting change and drawing organisation-level learnings from them. Lavanya’s core areas of work include gender equality, masculinities, feminist leadership, and feminist mentorship. She enjoys reading Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse.

Lukas provides support to the office administration and the dissemination of publications. He also assists the finance team and helps staff with IT-related issues.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and has more than 14 years of experience. Outside of work, Lukas is a multitasker and a keen learner.

Mahima works closely with the Manager – Executive Director’s Office, providing necessary administrative support to ensure the smooth operation of the ED’s Office. Her responsibilities include managing schedules, handling communication, organising meetings, coordinating travel, and supporting various tasks.

She holds a Bachelor’s of Commerce degree and a Diploma in Secretarial Practice. With over 20 years of experience in office administration, operations support, and team management across the IT, manufacturing, and service sectors, Mahima contributes to improving efficiency and supporting organisational goals. She is fond of travelling and gymming.

Manavi supports CREA’s Communications team, focusing on major events such as ReConference 2025 and CREA’s 25th anniversary celebrations. She assists in coordinating event planning, enhancing communication strategies and conducting content reviews. She also works with the Team Lead – Communications & Storytelling to disseminate storytelling outcomes across mainstream media, helping amplify CREA’s impact and narratives.

With over a decade of experience in international newsrooms, Manavi is a multimedia journalist and writer who has edited, commissioned and authored more than 500 news reports for platforms such as Quartz and Business Standard. She holds a master’s in public policy from the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK, and brings a valuable blend of analytical understanding and storytelling finesse to her work.

Mary works closely with the OVOF team, consortium members, partners, and donors to lead and manage all functions of the consortium programme. Her role involves ensuring effective delivery and coordination, overseeing programme results, and organising regular learning meetings.

She holds a degree in Social Work from the University of Nairobi and is currently completing her Master of Science in Monitoring and Evaluation at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. With over 12 years of experience in the development sector, Mary has worked with various local and international organisations, including ForumCiv and Kakenya’s Dream. She is passionate about cooking, spending family time, and mentoring girls in rural Kenya.

Nayantara oversees communication, documentation and publication processes for CREA. She also leads the organisation’s Storytelling Initiative.

Nayantara has degrees in Literature from Miranda House, University of Delhi, and Mount Holyoke College, USA, and has spent more than two decades in media. Her most recent position was Managing Editor of the literary journal The Indian Quarterly. She has also edited several books broadly related to culture and the arts. 

Nisha works closely with the Program Director – Sexual & Reproductive Health and Rights to implement programs in partnership with the thematic team. Her key responsibilities include designing activities, coordinating with internal and external stakeholders, and facilitating resource requirements such as knowledge, personnel, and logistics.

She holds a Master’s in Women’s Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. With experience in women’s empowerment, adolescent rights, and gender and urban poverty, Nisha has managed key programs and conducted research on child marriage and women’s livelihood. Before joining CREA, she worked with 3ie, Indo-Global Social Service Society (IGSSS), and Advanced Centre for Women Studies – TISS. She enjoys travelling and reading about psychology and spirituality.

Nityanand supports finance-related operations, managing CREA New York accounts, vendor and consultant payments, staff advances, and preparing program budgets, financial reports, and expense statements. He also ensures proper documentation for expenses.

He holds a Master’s degree in Finance. Prior to joining CREA, Nityanand worked as an accountant in both profit-based and non-profit organisations. In his free time, he enjoys travelling to new places.

Pankaj works closely with the Director, Finance and Compliance (Global) and the Finance Manager (Global) to manage daily financial transactions, process invoices, assist with budget preparation, and track monthly expenses against budgets.

He is a commerce graduate and is currently pursuing an MBA in Finance. With over five years of accounting experience, Pankaj brings valuable expertise to the team. In his free time, he enjoys listening to music and playing cricket.

As Program Director – Feminist Leadership and Movements, Piyumi works on programs focused on Feminist Leadership and Movements supporting the team delivering on the Women Gaining Ground consortium as well as the programmatic work focused on East Africa. Her role supports CREA as it promotes, protects, and advances human rights and the sexual rights of all people by building leadership capacities of activists, allies and organizations.

Piyumi holds a Master of Science in Politics and Communications from London School of Economics and Political Science and has over 15 years of rich experience in executing innovative community and gender development strategies/programs underpinned by robust rights-based approaches. In her previous organization, she played a critical role in developing strong and resilient relationships with Womankind’s partners based in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Nepal, including through programme co-design, as well as programme and grant management. Most recently she led a team with delivering a FCDO funded land rights centric program in Uganda and authored this leaning paper: Solidarity through Sisterhood: Learning from the eco-feminist project, Participation and Opportunities for Women’s Economic Rights (POWER)

As a Sri Lankan-British feminist, and as someone who has lived, studied, and worked across Asia, the US, and the UK, Piyumi enjoys work that has a global outlook and is connected to women’s rights. Piyumi has a love for the arts and has starred as a lead in “Aksharaya”, a feature-length film that premiered at the San Sebastian film festival in 2005.

Prajesh will work with the Communications team at CREA where he will lead the strategic planning, implementation, and execution of organizational communications. He will work with a team of communications professionals to help amplify programs, events, activism, and voices through effective articulation and storytelling.

Prajesh has worked as a journalist for various newspapers, magazines, and online portals for more than a decade in Nepal. His work has been published in The Kathmandu Post, Republica, M&S VMAG, and Annapurna Express among others. Before joining CREA, he headed the Communications Unit at a local feminist NGO: Women LEAD Nepal. Prajesh is a staunch advocate for capacity-building and has run many workshops and training programs, through and outside his previous organization, to teach professional and technical communications skills. He believes that people need to own all parts of the storytelling process for their voices to be unfiltered and authentic.

An admirer of the arts, Prajesh loves being around and working with artists. He believes art to be one of the purest forms of human expression, which is why he explores worlds, ideas, and expressions through an artistic lens. A multidisciplinary at heart, he works on all forms of media from creative writing to film. Prajesh has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Sharda University.

Rajina supports resource mobilization and Impact and Learning for CREA’s programs and overall organizational strategic plan.

Rajina carries experience in developing young women and girls’ leadership and supporting organizational development for small collectives and non-profit organizations. She is a former board chair of Women LEAD Nepal, an organization for young Nepali women’s leadership development, and co-founder for Women Leaders in Technology where she supported the development of leadership of Women in Tech. She is also involved in participatory grant-making processes as part of the advisory committee for the FREE STEM Fund, and FRIDA The Young Feminist Fund.

Radhika works closely with the Executive Director – India to support CREA’s work within the Count Me In! Consortium. She oversees program management for initiatives on sex workers’ rights, gender, sexuality, identity, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and gender-based violence, focusing on program development, stakeholder engagement, advocacy and communications.

Radhika holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English Literature, a Bachelor of Laws, and a Master of Laws in Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies. With nearly a decade of experience in litigation, law reform, and academia, she has worked on sexual and gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, disability rights, labour law, and access to justice. Her contributions earned her the Outstanding Contribution to Human Rights Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association in 2018. She has previously worked with iProbono, SEWA Bharat, Women Enabled International and O.P. Jindal Global University.

Rahul supports the management of CREA India Accounts, donor reports, sub-grants, payroll, budgets, TDS, EPF, and more, ensuring smooth financial operations.

A commerce graduate, Rahul has over 12 years of experience as an accounts professional in the non-profit sector. He is dedicated and hardworking, consistently applying his expertise to his work. In his free time, he enjoys listening to music and travelling to new places.

Rambishnu is the Global Director of Finance and Compliance at CREA, overseeing financial planning, management, governance, compliance, grant management, and investments. He is also a key member of the Organization Management Team (OMT) and plays a crucial role in training partner organisations in financial management.

Before joining CREA, Rambishnu worked with Partners for Law in Development. He has over 25 years of experience in financial management within the development sector and holds a master’s in commerce, an MBA in finance, and a diploma in financial accounting systems. Outside of work, Ram enjoys listening to music.

Rupsa is responsible for developing and implementing CREA’s strategic initiatives and program in India, South Asia region and at the global level. Rupsa has over two decades experience in advocating for sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender equity and justice in various capacities. Previously, she has worked with the National Foundation for India, Centre for Health and Gender Equity in the US and South Asia Regional Office of the International Planned Parenthood Federation among others.

Rupsa holds a Master’s degree in Women and Development from the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, the Netherlands.

Bani works closely with the Project Manager, Programme Director, and other members of CREA’s Feminist Opportunities Now (FON) team. Her key responsibilities include managing grant applications, coordinating the grant process, and implementing initiatives to strengthen organisational capacity.

She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Sociology from the University of Dhaka. Over the past decade, she has worked extensively on SRHR, human rights, gender justice and diversity, GBV, and sexuality in various roles. Prior to joining CREA, she worked with BRAC, Plan International Bangladesh, and FPAB. She is also a Women Deliver Youth Alumni. Bani enjoys travelling and experiencing diverse cultures, as well as reading and writing.

SSanjay is responsible for grants management, budgeting, donor fund reporting, financial management, governance, statutory compliance, and financial operations at CREA.

Sanjay has a bachelor’s in commerce (hons.) and a postgraduate diploma in business administration (finance). With over 23 years of experience in the non-profit sector, he has worked in various capacities with organisations such as CARE India, the International Congress of Immunology, and HRIDAY.

Seema works closely with the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights team to develop strategies for engaging WASH practitioners on gender and sexuality. She ensures effective project implementation, reporting, budget utilisation, and collaboration with partner organisations and trainers.

She holds an MSW in Community Development, along with an MA in Economics, an LLB, and a Postgraduate Diploma in District Health Management. With over 16 years of experience, she has worked on gender, maternal and child health, adolescent health, child protection, WASH, and the rights of marginalised communities. Her expertise includes field-based research, process documentation, and writing on social issues. Seema is an avid trekker and enjoys spending time in nature.

As the Training cum Training coordinator, Shalini will work closely with the program team and Program Director – Capacity Building, Knowledge Resources, Technical Support. Her key role extends to the implementation of training in partnership with the thematic teams. She will be engaging in designing training activities and modules, coordinating with internal and external members of the programs and facilitating resource requirements including knowledge resources, personnel and other logistics related to programs.

Shalini has done Masters in Counselling Psychology. She has also had years of training in aspects of mental health and special education. Prior to joining Crea, she worked at schools as a counsellor, while also incorporating sexuality education. Her work on sexuality, gender, health and rights issues began at TARSHI, more than two decades ago. She also spent a few years with The Lawyer’s Collective (HIV/AIDS Unit) where she worked with marginalised communities on rights and public health, while conducting trainings and workshops on the Draft HIV/AIDS Bill.

She is fond of the natural surroundings and enjoys travelling, reading, yoga and spending time with her dogs and children.

Shalini works on strengthening Feminist Leadership at Grassroots level. Her current role also involves leading implementation of Grassroots Feminist Leadership Program “Meri Panchayat Meri Shakti” in three states Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with 12 partners organizations, work with 30 grassroots organizations for capacity building, conceptualize, design and manages all annual Hindi training programs and institutes which includes Basic training on Gender and Sexuality, Feminist Leadership institute and Sexuality and Gender rights Institute in Hindi.  She is also involved in training with external organizations on Gender, Sexuality and Reproductive health and rights. She has developed training manuals on Gender, Sexuality, VAW and Patriarchy for activists and trainers in Hindi.

She is a trained counsellor, with a background in social science and law. Shalini is part of several Internal complaint committees on Sexual harassment and conduct trainings with ICC members and organizations on Anti Sexual Harassment act, 2013.  Her previous work experience includes counselling, legal case work, training on laws, gender and human rights. She enjoys writing in Hindi.

Srilatha Batliwala is a feminist activist-scholar and trainer and currently Senior Advisor, Knowledge Building at CREA. She is also a Senior Associate at Gender at Work, a global network of gender experts supporting organizations to build cultures of equality and inclusion, and Honorary Professor of Practice at SOAS, University of London. Her work focuses on building knowledge from practice, and capacity building of young activists and social justice organizations to advance feminist visions of social justice through feminist movement building and feminist leadership. 

Through the past four decades, Srilatha’s work has spanned grassroots activism, building movements of highly marginalized grassroots women, research and scholarly work, policy advocacy, grant-making, and capacity building of young women activists around the world. Up to the mid-90s, she was involved for over twenty years in grassroots work in India, where she helped build large-scale women’s movements that mobilized and empowered tens of thousands of the most socio-economically marginalized rural and urban women in slum communities in Mumbai (Bombay) and in the backward districts of Karnataka state in South India.

Thereafter, she worked internationally including as Civil Society Program Officer at the Ford Foundation, New York (1997-2000), Research Fellow at Harvard University’s Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations (2000 – 2007), and from 2008 – 2016 as Scholar Associate at AWID (Association for Women’s Rights in Development). She has also served on the boards of several International and national women’s rights and development organizations (WEDO, PLAN, AWID, ISTSR, Just Associates, Gender at Work) and currently serves on the International Advisory Board of IHRB (Institute for Human Rights and Business), the Advisory Council of the Population Foundation of India, the Governing Council of the Srishti Institute for Art, Design and Technology, and chairs the Board of IT for Change.

Srilatha has written and published extensively on a range of gender issues, and is best known for her work on women’s empowerment, women’s movements, feminist leadership, and feminist approaches to monitoring and evaluation. Her most recent publications are (i) “Feminist Mentoring for Feminist Futures”, “All About Power” and “All About Movements”, primers for activists; and (ii) “Engaging with Empowerment – An Intellectual and Experiential Journey” (Women Unlimited, 2014, and eBook version 2015), a collection of her writings of the past twenty years.  

Srilatha commutes between homes in Bangalore and the Nilgiri Hills of South India and is an active feminist grandmother to her four grandchildren!  

Favourite quotes: A dream is not something you see in your sleep. It is the thing that does not let you sleep! (APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India); Only when you stop moving can you see where to go next… (Pico Iyer).

Favourite books: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, The Colour Purple by Alice Walker, and The Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

Favourite pastimes: baking, sewing, watching Netflix.

Sudipta Mukhopadhyay has joined our team at CREA as Senior Team Lead – Emerging Leaders, Learning Exchanges and Partnership from 1^st June 2023.

She comes to us from Magic Bus where she was Head of Government Partnership – East. She has closely worked with CREA in various consultancy assignments- under Nuffic project in Bangladesh. She developed content on gender, sexuality, and SRHR for Government MR training documentation for community health workers and field-level workers along with RHSTEPs MR training manual. Additionally, she made contributions to the training of master trainers and the formulation of content for the master trainers manual for the Meri Shakti Meri Panchayat project in Jharkhand. Furthermore, she exhibited her linguistic proficiency by translating CREA’s two books on power and movement building in India from English to Bengali. Lastly, she played a crucial role in facilitating interpretation during workshops for the SAYWLM project in Bangladesh.

She will closely work with the Executive Director. Her work focus will be leading CREA’s efforts in Bangladesh which are across various programs, donor interfaces related to specific programs, and upcoming efforts related to the Emerging Leaders Initiative.

She attained her Master’s degree in Geography from Jawaharlal Nehru University. She has over two decades of rich experience working on issues of SRHR and gender in the South Asia region primarily in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. She worked with various reputed organizations i.e. Institute of Social Studies Trust, National Foundation for India, CREA, Population Foundation of India, C3 – Centre for Catalyzing Change, International Planned Parenthood Federation, India HIV AIDS Alliance Regional Technical Hub, and Magic Bus India Foundation.

Sunita Kujur works at the intersection of sexuality, gender, feminist leadership, and human rights and is currently Advocacy Advisor at CREA. In her current role, she advises and implements CREA’s advocacy strategy. Over twenty-seven years, Sunita’s work spans grassroots activism, capacity building, movement support, national and international advocacy, managing consortiums and coalitions, and organisational development. Before transitioning out at the end of 2022, Sunita has a long stint of sixteen years at CREA, during which she contributes significantly to strengthening organisational processes and managing growth, as well as leaving a larger and stronger footprint in India, South Asia, East Africa, MENA, Central Asia, and globally.

Sunita is a part of several progressive social movements and agendas. She works extensively with coalitions and consortiums, playing a fundamental role in ensuring that they remain transformative and relevant to the social change that they aspire to bring about.

Sunita holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Delhi. Away from work, she is a sports enthusiast, especially football. She is a die-hard fan of the Arsenal women’s and men’s football teams. Her other interests include watching films and TV series and traveling.

Surbhi brings over 15 years of HR experience in the development sector. She has led key processes such as Organisation Development, HR Policy, Competency Mapping, and Learning & Development, having worked with SAARC, Delhi Disaster Management Authority, and international NGOs like Family Health India and MSF.

Surbhi holds a Ph.D. in HR Management from Amity University, along with an MBA and M.Phil. Her research in competency mapping and multiple certifications further enhance her expertise in HR. Outside of work, she enjoys playing badminton and reading research-based articles and studies.

Sushma’s role involves organizing and coordinating conferences, institutes and workshops for CREA.

She holds a diploma in Hotel Management and Food Technology from Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai. She has worked for two years as the Networking and Operations Manager of the South and Southeast Asia Resource Centre on Sexuality based at TARSHI, New Delhi. She has previously also worked with other non-profits, Taj Mansingh, MNCs, etc.

As Manager Admin & IT, Taruna will work closely with the Admin & IT team and Director – Events, Admin & IT. Her key role extends to taking care of all office administration, procurements, vendor contract management and IT needs of the organization.

Taruna, with experience of more than fifteen (15) years, holds a PGD in Human Resources and Administration from Tata Institute of Social Sciences along with a bachelor’s Degree from Delhi University. She has enriching experience in administration and worked with national and international organizations in the development sector throughout her career. She is coming from Plan International (India Chapter) where she was heading the administration department. Prior to joining Crea, she also worked with the HIV/AIDS Alliance, the American India Foundation, and the International Centre for Research on Women.

She is an avid reader and loves to travel.

Valleri is a development practitioner and has worked with several rights-based organizations in rural pockets of Bihar, including SEWA Bharat. At SEWA, she led their projects in the State. She got an opportunity to work with women collectives in establishing their Farmer Producer Company and engaged with goat farmers.

Prior to her time at SEWA, she worked at a Delhi-based organization, Manas Foundation. As a Program Manager, she managed the gender sensitization program, during which she worked closely with commercial vehicle drivers and Uber drivers across metros.

Valleri completed her post-graduation in rural development at the Tata Institute of Social Science, Tuljapur. She also has an MPhil in Development Practice from Ambedkar University, an action research-based program anchored by Pradan. Her action research project under her MPhil was, ‘Transforming Spaces for Women-Reflection of Young Women in Budeli Village, Chattisgarh’.

Valleri recognizes mental health as a significantly important feature of everyone’s engaging, busy work life and therefore continues to find ways to maintain a balanced and healthy mind-body engagement. She loves running, practices yoga, and loves reading fiction.

Yamini Perera is the Project Coordinator for Feminist Opportunities Now (FON), Sri Lanka. She will work closely with the Our Voices, Our Futures (OVOF) consortium and the FON team, supporting grant management, ensuring compliance, monitoring reporting, and assisting in capacity-building programmes and event coordination.

Yamini holds a BA (Hons) in International Studies from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, and a Diploma in Diplomacy & World Affairs. She has a strong background in international relations, with a focus on gender equity and advocacy. Outside of work, Yamini enjoys travelling, playing the guitar, exploring new recipes, and staying active.

As Associate in the Communications team, Zeba’s responsibilities include maintaining CREA’s India website to ensure an engaging online presence. She supports all CREA’s Comms processes, including collaborating with the People & Culture team for internal and external updates, archiving, developing growth strategies, and managing mailing lists.

Zeba holds a postgraduate degree in Western Literature from KU Leuven, Belgium, where she developed an interest in leveraging communication strategies for societal impact. Before joining CREA, she worked as a Researcher for the British Council on their Gender Equality in Higher Education in India project.

Beyond her professional endeavors, Zeba is an avid reader.

As Program Coordinator- OVOF, Ziayan works closely with Senior Team Lead- OVOF, she works closely with partner organisations. Her role includes managing day to day programmatic functions, ensuring effective delivery and coordination within CREA. She also works on networking, documentation and communications, and represents CREA on different fora.

She has a master’s degree in Gender Studies from Jamia Millia Islamia and has pursued Sociology for her bachelor’s degree from Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi. Previously, she has worked with Action India on gender, youth and educational projects.

She loves to doodle and travelling to new places bring her joy.