Sharon Buteau

Executive Director, LEAD at Krea University

Sharon Buteau combines expansive experience of over 18 years in research and international development, with over 7 years in the field of digital financial services and financial inclusion. Sharon is deeply passionate about finding effective solutions to promote enterprise growth and development, and realising the untapped potential of micro and small businesses.

At LEAD, Sharon focuses on bringing the right combination of talent, expertise and stakeholders together to ensure that investments and efforts are perfectly aligned with the desired goals. Sharon holds significant expertise on how to leverage co-creation, collaborative processes, as well using the power of data from the ground up can improve socio-economic outcomes for individuals, households and enterprises. She has in-depth knowledge in “right-fit research methods” and significant experience in the domain of financial capabilities and well-being, and small business and entrepreneurship development.

Sharon started her journey at LEAD in 2008, when she arrived in India with a strong desire to improve society by producing impactful knowledge that can bring positive change. Prior to joining LEAD, Sharon was an economist with Analysis Group in Montreal Canada.

Sharon holds an MSc in Economics from the Universite du Quebec a Montreal, as well as an MA in Social Research Methods from the London School of Economics.
In her free time, Sharon enjoys travelling across India and spending quality time with her pug.

Preethi Rao

Associate Director, LEAD at Krea University

Preethi Rao oversees the leveraging evidence function (collaborations, training, learning and communications, and innovations) and contributes to strategic decision-making at LEAD. Preethi has served the organization in various capacities such as Head – Innovation, Senior Operations Manager and Researcher (MSME).

As an Innovation Champion, she drives new initiatives and is responsible for conceptualizing new areas of interest for the organization. Prior to heading the Innovation vertical, Preethi has overseen the entire field data collection and digitization operations (spanning more than 10 states) of LEAD in her capacity as Senior Manager (Operations & Development). Preethi was the Director of the Jaipur Digital Payments Lab at Catalyst, where she oversaw the entire on-ground execution, managed partner/stakeholder relations, managed donor liaison and expectations, anchored M&E and was involved in the production of programmatic learning outputs. For IWWAGE, an initiative of LEAD conducting research on women’s economic empowerment, she serves as the Innovation Lead, assisting in setting up the hub, providing particular assistance in terms of confirming policies and procedures, and setting up outreach protocols in coordination with the team.

Apart from donning multiple hats at LEAD, over the years Preethi has undertaken interdisciplinary studies on access to finance for small and medium scale enterprises and the influence of macroeconomic policies on the low-income populations. She has also been involved in developing, designing and leading research studies and short term projects in open data, financial inclusion and MSMEs.

Preethi holds a Master’s Degree in Management from IFMR Graduate School of Business where her focus areas were Finance and Marketing.

In her free time, Preethi likes to write poetry, read fiction and watch documentaries on Psychology or experimentation on human behavior.

Aniruddha Brahmachari

Head, Research Operations, LEAD at Krea University

Aniruddha heads the Research Operations and M&E function at LEAD. He is a social sector professional with more than 24 years of experience in program management, Monitoring & Evaluation. He is passionate about issues of land, livelihood, and entrepreneurship.

Aniruddha has previously worked with Oxfam (International, Horn, East and Central Africa and India, LANDESA, IDE, UNDP India, Care India & Nielsen.

He obtained an M.Phil in Planning and Development from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, and a Masters in Planning and Development from the University of Poona. He also has an MBA from Manipal University.

Aniruddha loves travelling and enjoys books on travel and food.

Kumar Das

Senior Research Manager

Kumar Das is the Senior Research Manager for IWWAGE. He holds a B.A (H) in Sociology with Economics from the Presidency College, Calcutta, an MA in Development Studies from Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex and MSc in Social Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to joining the IWWAGE, Kumar worked as IGC Programme Policy Manager for IGC India focusing on Evaluation, Research, and Policy. His postgraduate research focused on health service delivery in India, involving a policy analysis of India’s Menstrual Hygiene Scheme to examine the role of policy networks, policy actors and politics of framing. Previously, He also worked for UNICEF India Country Office, World Bank Afghanistan and DFID India.

Tanay Chanda

Research Associate

Tanay has completed his MSc in Development Economics from University of Sussex and MA in Economics from North Bengal University. Before joining IWWAGE, he was working at SUVITA, a non-profit start-up working on Child Immunization, and helped to scale up the SMS Reminder and Immunization Ambassador programmes. He also worked with DevInsights Pvt. Ltd. as a research executive and coordinated different projects. Tanay is interested in impact evaluation methodologies and cutting edge quantitative and qualitative research. His postgraduate dissertation focused on the economic impact of Self Help Groups. His areas of interest include financial inclusion, women economic empowerment, econometrics and impact evaluation.

Aikantika Das

Documentation Specialist

Aikantika is a Documentation Specialist at IWWAGE. She has an undergraduate degree in Sociology from Miranda House, Delhi University and a postgraduate degree in Rural Development and Governance from TISS, Hyderabad.

Aikantika has a work experience of over 6 years, mostly with women’s groups. She started her career with SERP, Andhra Pradesh in the MLE team on a World Bank project where she worked very closely with SHGs. She has also worked with CDFI at IFMR on conceptualising and implementing technology innovations for social benefit delivery with SHGs and Anganwadis as well as on the software development, testing and maintenance for the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana. Before moving to IWWAGE, she was working with the Population Council as a public health researcher where she was a part of a systematic review on women’s groups and health. She also co-led an implementation research study with NIRD&PR, Hyderabad to understand NRLM’s health and nutrition intervention with SHGs.

Parushya

Research Manager

Parushya is a Research Manager at IWWAGE. He supports research design and handles quantitative data and analytics on multiple projects focused on studying the informal economy, urban poverty, and social protection schemes. Before joining IWWAGE he was part of research projects assessing the role of property rights and public services on the economic and social mobility of urban poor populations.

A civil engineering graduate from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka and Young India Fellowship, Ashoka University, he has more than 5 years of experience in the development sector. He has worked as an International Innovation Corps Fellow with the University of Chicago followed by multiple research and consultancy roles with various international development organizations and government departments in India.

Neelanjana Gupta

Project Manager

Neelanjana is a researcher with an academic background in Economics and quantitative analysis. She has over five years of experience in conducting evidence-based research to inform challenging questions of public policy. Her areas of interest are education and financial inclusion with the cross-cutting theme of gender. She hopes to use her experience and knowledge to empower those who wish to create better lives for themselves, and thus, work towards inclusive and sustainable development. Previously, she has served at NITI Aayog’s Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office, and has published works on topics of human development while at Brookings Institution India Center. She is currently a Senior Research Associate at IWWAGE, a LEAD at Krea University initiative.

Neelanjana is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs where she obtained a Master of International Affairs and holds an undergraduate degree in Economics with Honors and International & Global Studies from Brandeis University.

Ankita

Senior Research Associate

Ankita has joined IWWAGE as a consultant. She holds a Post Graduate degree in Robotics and Automation Engineering from IGDTUW, Delhi. She has a Bachelors degree in Technology from MDU, Rohtak. She has worked as a Junior Research Fellow on a project of AIIMS funded by DST for a year. Currently, she is working on NRLM and women’s economic collectives work, where is engages with the Ministry of Rural Development and Civil Society Organizations partners. She aspires to work on Gender equality and Women Entreprenuership.

Kaliat Ammu Sanyal

Senior Research Manager

Kaliat Ammu Sanyal is a Research Manager with IWWAGE. She has extensive experience conducting research for development outcomes across India and the United Kingdom. Her areas of expertise and interest include rural development, collective action, social accountability, urban sociology and values based approaches.

Ammu has a cross section of experience in methodology design, research, implementation and strategic planning. She was worked with national and international organisations developing and implementing large scale development projects.

With a focus on research, application and evaluation Ammu has conducted research for the Values and Sustainability Research Group at The University of Brighton, The London International Development Centre, Participatory Research in Asia, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, INTACH and UNICEF among others. She is a founding member of the Portal for Shared Values, based at the University of Brighton.

Ammu holds a double Masters, the first in the Anthropology of Development and Social Transformation form the University of Sussex and the second in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics.

Atiya Anis

Senior Communication Manager

Atiya Anis is a Communication Manager with IWWAGE. She supports IWWAGE in developing and implementing the program’s communication strategy, enhancing its visibility, and spearheads the dissemination of outputs and manage other communication work.

Atiya has over a decade of experience across sectors, such as WASH, health, and environment and biodiversity conservation. Atiya has led communications for organizations like The Union, BBC Media Action, GIZ, UNICEF and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, where she supported the development and implementation of effective strategies, behavior change communication initiatives, and campaigns. Her responsibilities also included strengthening brand reputation, enhancing outreach, digital media engagement and   developing multi-channel communication products for diverse audiences.

Atiya holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and Public Administration from Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi.

Soumya Kapoor Mehta

Head, IWWAGE

As the Head of IWWAGE, New Delhi, India, Ms. Soumya Kapoor Mehta leads IWWAGE’s efforts to generate, leverage, and synthesize evidence on women’s economic empowerment.

Soumya has an experience of nearly 18 years in the development sector, spanning research around gender, women’s empowerment, poverty reduction strategies, social inclusion challenges and policy levers to alleviate them around the world.

Prior to joining IWWAGE, she was working as an independent policy advisor for the World Bank, UNICEF, the Government of India, the Centre for Policy Research and the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), helping these institutions mainstream inclusion and gender issues in their research and projects ranging from investments in women’s collectives (NRLM), to sectors such as water, agriculture, infrastructure, urban development and environment and climate change. She has co-authored several World Bank and UNICEF research outputs, including some of their flagship reports and has two widely acclaimed books to her credit. Between 2003 and 2009, she worked as full time staff for the World Bank anchoring a large cross-country study on poverty and strategies to reduce it.

Soumya has a Tripos Degree from the University of Cambridge in Economics and a B.A. (Hons.) in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University. She has also been a Visiting Fellow to the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Moumita Sarkar

Senior Policy and Program Manager

Ms.Sarkar  has an undergraduate degree in Chemistry (H) from University of Calcutta followed by a Post Graduation degree in Rural Development and Management from University of Kalyani, West Bengal. She has also won the Mathematics Olympiad.

She has an experience of twelve years in programme management, research, training and advocacy with national and international organizations like Ministry of Rural Development (Govt.of India), UN Women, UNDP, J-PAL and CInI (TATA Trust). Her core areas include Livelihoods and Gender.

In the recent past, she has been instrumental in drafting policy documents under the guidance of the Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary of MoRD, commissioned MGNREGS action research studies to provide gender responsive recommendations based on field findings and actively engaged with the DAY NRLM team to draft the gender protocol  at NIRD&PR. AS UN Volunteer she has taken the lead in preparing teaching material for three months certificate course on Livelihood Planning and Supply Chain Management in Chhattisgarh SIRD adopting a case based training model. She also undertook qualitative research studies to review the Read India programme outcomes in Bihar.

She has been invited by various institutions like IIPA, VVGNLI, NIRD&PR, Bhartiya Vidyapeeth College of Nursing (Pune), Bengal National Chamber of Commerce & Industry to deliver session on Gender.

She will be based at IWAAGE, Delhi office.

Rhitabrita Mukherjee

Senior Research Associate

Rhitabrita is a Senior Research Associate at IWWAGE. She is a development economist and has worked extensively in the areas of social infrastructure, gendered economics, food security and ecological economics. Her areas of interest lie in creating sustainable solutions to socio-economic issues plaguing developing nations and LDCs.

She has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Presidency University, Kolkata. Her graduation dissertation looked into the post-globalisation labour market and quality of labour in India. She has a master’s degree in Applied Economics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata with specialisations in Development Economics, Econometrics and Environmental Economics.

She has had more than 3 years of experience working as a full time researcher. Prior to joining IWWAGE she has worked as a Research Associate at the Center for research on the Economics of Climate, Food, Energy and Environment (CECFEE) at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Delhi. She also worked in areas of child labour, women’s education and sanitation amongst migrant labour, food security, nurturing entrepreneurial abilities in both impoverished agricultural communities and urban labour, river plastic pollution and the economics of the Sundarbans ecology as a researcher and M&E specialist with SOCEO gGmbH. She is a regular writer for the Public Economist- Policy Monitor.

Prita Das Gupta

Technical Expert-State Coordination

Prita is working as Technical Expert- State Coordination. She is managing partnership program on gender across states and is involved in providing technical assistance on gender integration to NRLM.

Prior to joining, IWWAGE, Prita was working with the Girls Education Program, Room to Read. She has nearly 15 years of experience in the non-governmental sector around building participation, leadership and agency of girls and women. Prita has rich experience of working on gender issues in diverse locations with various national and international agencies. She is an M.Phil. in Sociology, from the Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi and also holds a Masters in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Nidhi Gyan Pandey

Research Associate

Nidhi is a Research Associate at IWWAGE. She holds an undergraduate degree in Mathematics from Miranda House, University of Delhi and a Masters in Economics from Ambedkar University Delhi. She has been a visiting student at Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, where she worked in the domain of labour economics, around the status of women’s participation in the labour force in major states of India. She is currently engaged in creating state factsheets for India, describing major trends in women’s workforce participation, using the recent PLFS data. Her areas of interest include applied microeconomics, feminist economics and Marxist political economy.

Ayushi Gupta

Research Associate

Ayushi is a Research Associate at IWWAGE. She completed her Post-graduation in Economics from Ashoka University and holds a Bachelors in Economics degree from Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi. Previously, Ayushi has been associated with the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) and Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) and has worked closely on matters of revenue mobilization. She is interested in issues of gender and caste discrimination especially with respect to resource allocation.

Ramesh Sinha

Team Lead

Ramesh Sinha is the Team Lead at IWWAGE for Chhattisgarh project. He has more than 15 years of experience in project management, Government liasoning and partnership, corporate social responsibility, business development, social mobilisation and community institutional development, skill development, micro enterprise, and livelihoods.

Prior to joining IWWAGE, Ramesh has also contributed to assignments for Tata Steel Society for Rural Development, Usha Martin, Tata Refectory, Ambuja Cement and L&T Cement. Ramesh has completed his MBA (Rural Management) from Xavier Institute Social Service, Ranchi

Ruchika Chaudhary

Senior Research fellow

Ruchika Chaudhary is an economist with over eight years of experience at the national as well as the international levels. She has worked extensively on the issues of labour and employment and specifically in the areas of gender equality and non-discrimination in Asia and the Pacific. She specializes in large-dataset and micro-dataset management, econometric analysis and modelling. She has a doctorate in Economics from the Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her doctoral thesis explored the complex issue of women’s work in India, in which their labour force participation behavior was examined. This included interviewing and elaborated analysis of domestic workers, as an important group of urban women workers.

Before joining IWWAGE, Ruchika has worked with the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Regional office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, and ILO’s Decent Work Team for South Asia and Country Office for India, New Delhi. She has also worked for the University of Manchester’s research project on ‘Use of Blockchain in ending Child labour’, taught undergraduate courses on economics at the University of Delhi, and conducted research on ‘urban poverty’ at the Institute of Economic Growth, and the National Institute of Urban Affairs. She has been awarded University Grants Commission’s Junior Research Fellowship in Economics. She has published her research in journals, edited books, and participated in various national and international forums.

Kanika Kingra

Senior Policy and Advocacy Manager

Kanika is a Senior Policy and Advocacy Manager at IWWAGE and is responsible for developing and implementing the organisation’s advocacy strategy to promote evidence-informed decision making on women’s economic empowerment.

Kanika has over six years of experience in developing and implementing research uptake and communication strategies in international development. She has worked on developing tools and processes for monitoring and measuring evidence impact of policy-relevant studies. She has worked at the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), where she synthesized and communicated evidence to policymakers, programme implementers, civil society and other stakeholders on issues specific to women’s economic and social empowerment, social protection, humanitarian assistance, transparency and accountability in natural resource governance, public finance and urban development.

Kanika holds an MSc in Media, Communication and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA in Journalism from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi.

Hiya Singh Rajput

Research Assistant

Hiya Singh Rajput is a Research Assistant at IWWAGE. She is an Economics graduate from Miranda House, University of Delhi and a post graduate in Economics from Ambedkar University Delhi. She engaged with several government and non-government organisations such as An-gawadi, Girl Rising India, Delhi Queer Pride, The WordsWorth Project and the Enabling Society at Miranda House. She is especially interested in the issues of gender and sexuality. Her long term goal is to work as an economist and policy analyst after completing her post-doctoral stud-ies.

Anjana Thampi

Research Fellow

Anjana Thampi is a Research Fellow at IWWAGE, and works with the Research and Analysis team. She is a development economist motivated to understand the problems of unemployment, women’s under-representation in the labour market, and market and non-market forms of discrimination and exclusion. Her areas of interest include gender, employment, food security and inequality.

Prior to joining IWWAGE, she has worked at the Centre for Sustainable Employment at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. She has done her PhD at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Her doctoral thesis assessed whether food provisioning programmes have mitigated the mismatch between economic growth and nutritional indicators in India, and explored the impact of two such programmes on child nutrition and inequality. She has experience in applying statistical tools to large datasets. She has also worked and published on the high and rising levels of wealth inequality in India, and contributes opinion pieces on contemporary issues.