brace for impact!
the social impact sector promises both economic development and socio-transformation, which helps accelerate the welfare of the society. we…
the social impact sector promises both economic development and socio-transformation, which helps accelerate the welfare of the society. we can rightly say — it’s a key industry that helps reshape stigmas and norms.
there’s no denying that bringing forth a positive change through this sector goes beyond numbers and profits. it’s about being a voice in the crowd that everyone listens to and boy are we glad, it’s the voice of a woman!
while we have 700+ women in the social impact sector, here are 16 women changing the world, one need at a time:
01 — adhishree parasnis | director of communications, global school leaders
adhishree has spent over a decade in the education sector in india and brings a wide-range of experience in design, research, facilitation and community building. most recently, she was the senior strategist at subu and rakshit, a design for social impact firm — where she helped social impact organizations develop effective communication strategies. adhishree was also a teach for india fellow and holds a masters in international business & emerging markets from the university of edinburgh. we’re floored! she’s also an avid lover of afternoon naps.
02 — aditi seshadri | co-founder & partner, unlock impact
a marketer turned businesswoman who believes in the power of entrepreneurship, gender action and social impact. aditi is the co-founder of unlock impact, a platform that partners with people and organisations to develop and deliver inclusive solutions to tackle poverty across south and southeast asia. her side hustle? she’s also a business transformation advisor at stanford seed — a transformative learning programme for businesses where aditi supports business leaders in their entrepreneurial journey. her role model? kamala harris!
03 — avantika thakur | government innovation fellow, harvard kennedy school
avantika is a government innovation fellow in washington state with the state department of children, youth, and families — currently supporting the department to ensure that families, particularly families of color, are better connected to the right services. she recently graduated from columbia university’s school of international and public affairs where she focused on education policy. there’s more! avantika also worked for four years with management consulting firms, nonprofits, and international philanthropies in india. talk about making a difference! fyi: this pahadi girl loves pahadi mutton more than anything in the world!
04 — divya hegde | partner, oqupi health tech
an udupi entrepreneur who loves interweaving design, technology and social impact. as a partner at oqupi health tech, divya is the powerhouse behind the team building a fully immersive vr tool to improve delivery & quality of treatment to patients — with mobility issues and neurological disorders. she’s also a three- time un woman leadership awardee in gender equality who is passionate about climate action, gender equality and health tech. watch out — divya claims to love pineapple on pizza and will fight you for it if needed ;)
05 — divya puri | social impact advisory at dasra
divya comes with a decade of experience in strategic thinking and has worked across the globe! this passionate runner is changing the game with dasra — a strategic philanthropy movement that aims to transform one billion lives with dignity and equity. she also comes with a background in behavioral psychology, international development & spanish, and aspires to bring a positive change in people and communities. also, your go-to person to learn all things buddhism!
06 — kruti munot | project manager, giz
this brussels resident, works as a country lead to closely collaborate with city governments on climate planning, urban infrastructure development and financing. with a masters degree from the london school of economics, kruti academic interests lie in the energy-environment-poverty nexus and entrepreneurship in driving sustainable development. fun fact: she loves playing the ukulele and is a tea hoarder!
07 — mayura balasubramanian | founder & ceo, craftizen foundation
this social entrepreneur thrives on enabling craft based livelihoods for marginalised communities. as a founder of craftizen foundation, mayura plays an important role in up-cycling & recycling of a wide range of discards using traditional & new age craft skills. mayura’s company has also been awarded social innovation grants from harvard university’s south asia institute and tata trusts. outside of work, she loves to unwind with a good book and a chilled beer :)
08 — mitali nikore | economist — the world bank
this gender economist holds a masters degree from lse and is an advisor for several companies like the asian development bank, world bank, un women and usaid to focus on infrastructure development and gender issues. mitali also has her own company known as nikore associates — a youth-led economics research think tank that aims to create better policy designs. her favourite pastime? wine and cheese tasting! (+1 to that!)
09 — nidhi bhasin | chief executive officer, nasscom foundation
a well-known leader in the social development sector, nidhi comes with 20+ years of experience with an aim to bring change for women and millennials of the world. prior to nasscom, she was the deputy ceo at concern india foundation, where she led a team of 150 people across the country — which she quotes is one of her many key milestones. when she’s not busy changing the world, nidhi loves to escape to the mountains!
10 — nidhi singh | founder, pcos club india
this mba graduate is building india’s first pcos community called pcos club — that is a one of kind patient-led network! as an entrepreneur in the women health & wellness space with over 9 years of experience, nidhi’s goal is to coach women and empower them with the right knowledge to heal their lifestyle disorders naturally! also, no prizes for guessing — nidhi is a yoga enthusiast who gets excited by all things nutrition!
11 — priya thachadi | co-founder & ceo, villgro philippines
the co-founder of two companies: unlock impact (a social impact advisory firm) and villgro philippines (an early-stage social enterprise incubator and investor), priya spends half of her time in philippines, constantly working to improve the lives of the poor and create long-lasting change. her achievements include being recognised as a youth gender champion by un women in 2020. priya is also a podcast host who loves bringing people’s stories to the forefront!
12 — rajashri sai | founder, impactree data technologies
rajashri is currently focused on impacting the lives of over 5 million people by 2025 in rural livelihoods and education. how does she plan to do this? through her data tech company that is automating the entire data value chain for social development. over the last 3 years, rajashri has worked with 80+ non-profit projects through her organisation and she’s only getting started! the way to her heart — good conversations & jokes!
13 — sara khan | head of development, teach for india
sara brings over sixteen years of diverse experience in banking, management, marketing and partnerships, across hsbc, hdfc bank and now teach for india. her mission is to build lifelong champions of the cause and acquire financial and non-financial support for the movement. her wonder woman? indra nooyi!
14 — sukriti somvanshi | communications expert, women’s economic empowerment project
sukriti currently leads communications at an indo-german project on behalf of the german federal ministry and in partnership with the government of india. through her project, this young champ’s goal is to accelerate support programmes for over 800 women entrepreneurs in tier-2 and tier-3 cities of india. prior to this, sukriti was leading marketing & communications at villgro india — one of the world’s largest social enterprise incubators.
15 — swati shah gupta | social impact strategy and measurement, excellerate solutions
this creative thinker’s biggest motivation is improving educated women’s participation in the workforce. as a lead consultant, swati has 14 years of experience in covering impact-driven sectors like water, waste management, and microfinance. as an entrepreneur in the past, she also built a strong community of women freelancers to help them with better opportunities and a thriving ecosystem.
16 — venil ali | senior director, program operations & scale at antarang foundation
a tedx speaker who started working informally in the development sector since 2004. while venil is currently working at antarang foundation to focus on youth employability, previously she started her own centre called leap (don’t we love that name ;)), catering to ~60 students at matunga labour camp, mumbai. it ran for two years and was featured in newspapers like mumbai mirror and dna. apart from all this when she’s not busy volunteering for human rights pulse, venil loves listening to podcast stories of change and is also the host of her own podcast series called — a new kind of celebrity!
want to connect with them? head to the leap.club app, or explore our membership at www.leap.club