Pooja Sharma is the Founder and CEO of The Sarvodya Collective, an organization dedicated to building informed, enabling, and inclusive communities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities across India. Drawing on her lived experience as a special sibling, she works to cultivate active allies across schools, workplaces, and communities, actively shifting mindsets from basic awareness to genuine acceptance. Before founding Sarvodya, Pooja spent over fifteen years leading corporate finance, strategy, and portfolio management at Pearson plc and Central Square Foundation. Her governance and advisory experience spans serving as a trustee of The Bell Foundation, a school governor in the UK, and strategic advisor to various social impact initiatives.

To Pooja, true inclusion is forged not in policy rooms, but in everyday moments where people choose to see, accept, and act. She views education and mentorship as vital pathways to nurture those everyday allies, advancing her mission of building an #InclusiveDuniya (#InclusiveWorld), one person at a time.

Vivek Khanna brings over 35 years of executive leadership marked by scaling businesses, turning around operations, and building high-performing teams across manufacturing, hospitality, media, insurance, and FMCG. He has served as CEO of Luxor Writing Instruments, COO at Mahindra Holidays, Group CEO of India Today Group, and CEO of Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd (HMVL). His leadership milestones include steering MHRIL to record growth during the pandemic, leading HMVL to become one of India’s fastest-growing listed companies, and spearheading Mint, including its launch in Singapore. Earlier, he was Director of Marketing at Aviva Life Insurance, where he won the global Most Innovative and Best Marketer award, and held key brand management roles at Hindustan Unilever. His leadership philosophy centers on aligning people’s strengths with key roles to drive sustainable growth.

To Vivek, education is the ultimate driver of progress, fostering social, financial, and personal empowerment. He views educating girls as essential to leveling the playing field across families, workplaces, and society. For him, education gives young women the confidence, awareness of their rights, and perspective needed to claim opportunities and step forward as independent decision-makers.

Priyanka Singh is a seasoned HR leader with extensive experience designing and scaling human resource systems across India and Singapore. Currently the Head of People at Classplus, a leading edtech platform empowering over 100,000 educators and creators globally, she leads the people function to strengthen company culture and scale operations for growth. Previously, she served as CHRO of Excitel Broadband, where she led a complete HR transformation across talent development, recruitment, culture, rewards, and engagement to boost productivity during a period of rapid expansion. Her earlier leadership roles include VP Talent HR (COE) for G4S India managing business units across India and APAC, Regional Head of HR operations for Punj Lloyd in Singapore, and early-stage HR exposure during Bharti Wal-Mart’s startup phase in India. Her core expertise covers talent acquisition, end-to-end talent management, and organizational policy and compliance design.

To Priyanka, every young woman deserves the opportunity to dream big and chart her own path. She believes education extends far beyond a degree, serving as a powerful catalyst that equips girls with the confidence to make independent choices, gain financial security, and unlock new opportunities for their families. She views mentorship as a shared journey of growth, trust, and mutual respect, dedicated to helping young women recognize their innate strengths and realize their full potential.

Gagan Adlakha is a Yogi Coach, consultant, and facilitator with over 35 years of experience across human resources, business leadership, entrepreneurship, organizational design, and leadership development. Since joining Vyaktitva in 2004, he has partnered with multinationals, Indian enterprises, family businesses, and start-ups. Integrating 25 years of engagement with Yoga and the Yoga Sūtras into his practice, he guides ambitious leaders toward greater consciousness, joy, efficacy, and empathy, helping them build organizations that balance purpose, people, and performance.

To Gagan, girls’ education is far more than access to a classroom; it is about expanding human possibility. He sees education as giving young women the confidence to find their voice, the wisdom to make conscious choices, and the freedom to shape their own paths, creating a transformative impact that uplifts families, strengthens communities, and fosters a more humane, equitable India.

Dr. Suresh Dutt Tripathi is a senior HR and organizational transformation leader with over 40 years of experience across steel, chemicals, IT, aviation, renewable energy, and education. He has held premier leadership roles including CHRO of Air India, Vice President of HR at Tata Steel, President HR at SRF Group, and CEO of Sri Educare Ltd. Notably, he played a central role in transforming Air India post-acquisition by the Tata Group into an agile global carrier. His expertise spans shopfloor industrial relations, board governance, cultural change, and workforce restructuring while sustaining industrial harmony. Currently, he serves on boards in renewable energy, skill development, and higher education, advises on leadership development, is a member of the AIMA and CII HR Core committees, and previously chaired CEDEP (INSEAD), Paris. He holds a Master’s in Physics from Delhi University, a PG Diploma in Social Work from the University of Calcutta, is an alumnus of Ashorne Hill Management College, UK, and trained at top global business schools. A keen sports enthusiast, traveler, and trainee pilot who learned flying post-retirement from Tata Steel, he shares his life with his wife and two daughters.

To Dr. Tripathi, girls’ education is the bedrock of a stronger India. He believes that educating a young woman empowers her to shape her own future while uplifting the values, health, and aspirations of her family, creating an enduring generational ripple that fosters an inclusive, prosperous, and compassionate nation.

Mansi Kedia is a Digital Specialist with the World Bank’s South Asia team, bringing over fifteen years of policy research experience alongside a background in management consulting and financial services. Prior to the Bank, she led the Digital Economy, Start-ups and Innovation (DESI) team at ICRIER, focusing on emerging technologies, data governance, digital public infrastructure (DPI), competition, and regulation. Her leadership highlights include serving as Co-Chair of the T20 Task Force on Our Common Digital Future (2023), receiving the ISOC Mid-Career Fellowship (2022), and contributing as a member of the Direct Tax Committee (2017) that redrafted India’s Direct Tax Law. She holds a B.Sc. in Economics from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, an MBA from the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, and a PhD from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi.

Mansi strongly champions the transformative power of education, particularly for underprivileged youth who make the most of every learning opportunity. She views the education of girls as a vital force that enriches individual lives while nurturing families and strengthening wider communities. For her, investing the very best resources in educating young women is essential to shaping a resilient future for both the country and the world.

Lavanya Garg is the Associate Director for India at Forum for the Future, a global sustainability organization where she steers impact delivery and operations to drive systems change across energy, food, responsible business, and climate. Bringing over a decade of experience in building mission-driven organizations, her career is rooted in trust, empathy, and people-first leadership. She was the first employee at Good Business Lab, helping scale the nonprofit to impact more than two million blue-collar workers globally, and co-founded Sustainable Style Speak (SUSS), creating India’s first sustainable fashion community. She is an alumna of Lady Shri Ram College and Yale University.

To Lavanya, advancing girls’ education goes far beyond earning a degree; it is about cultivating the confidence to break generational cycles and achieve emotional and financial independence. She sees education as a transformative force that empowers young women to lead fulfilling, self-reliant lives while driving long-term shifts in gender attitudes across their communities.

Atika is a Strategic Advisory Partner to founders and CEOs navigating growth, having partnered with organizations across sectors ranging from digital upskilling to social impact. She previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer for South West Asia at Cheil Worldwide, an integrated communications network. Her global career includes roles as Global Planning Director at Wunderman Thompson (now VML) in Singapore and Strategy Consultant at DSM, steering brand and business strategy across markets from China to Brazil for companies like Samsung, Unilever, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Reckitt Benckiser, and Morris Garages. A speaker at Cannes Lions and a jury member for major Indian and international advertising awards, she actively champions the advancement of young women in corporate leadership. Outside work, she is passionate about mountain hiking, cultural festivals, performing arts, literature, and exploring AI.

To Atika, education is a powerful tool for young women to break cycles of dependency and transform their lives alongside future generations. Drawing from its role in shaping her own independence and career, she views education as the gateway to agency, voice, and opportunity, equipping young women with the confidence to make informed choices and realize their full potential.

Punnya Vij is the founder of EduCoach Services, a leading college and career counseling consultancy in India, dedicated to bridging global academic pathways with strategic mentorship. An alumnus of St. Stephen’s College in Economics and an early academic achiever (CBSE Delhi #1, All India #2 rank), he actively shapes the higher education landscape. He serves on the advisory board of the Association of Independent Education Consultants (AIIEC) and is a member of the International ACAC. His contributions to academic advocacy and public welfare have been widely featured across national media and earned him the prestigious United Nations and iCONGO REX Karamveer Chakra Award (Silver Category) in 2019. Beyond advisory work, he hosts the YouTube show Kin and Kindness, exploring empathy and human connection.
To Punnya, the transformative power of girls’ education is not an abstract concept, but a lived reality shaped by a lineage of pioneering women in his family, from his entrepreneurial grandmother, mother, and sister to his wife, a data scientist at Google. Now a father to a young daughter, he believes education gives young women the keys to a future they are already fully equipped to build. Through his mentorship at the KARM Fellowship, he is committed to paying this legacy forward by helping the next generation of women unlock their limitless potential and achieve enduring financial independence.

Ayush Bansal first recognized the profound need for accessible career guidance at age 17 while helping a domestic worker resume her education. Driven to solve this systemic challenge, he left his investment banking career at 22 to establish iDreamCareer. Over the past 14 years, he has built the organization into India’s largest career navigation social enterprise, impacting more than one million students annually across the country.
To Ayush, educating a young woman in India is the single most powerful catalyst for generational change. He believes that equipping girls with knowledge, opportunity, and self-belief does not merely transform their individual trajectories, but uplifts entire families and communities, paving the way for a more equitable society.

Anshu Daga is a theatre practitioner, director, and facilitator who harnesses Applied Theatre, Forum Theatre, Playback Theatre, improvisation, and mindfulness to help individuals and organizations build presence, communication, collaboration, and resilience. Before founding The Inner Startup in 2015, she spent over 15 years in the corporate sector, including as Senior Vice President at YES BANK advising CEOs and CXOs on strategic communications and leadership. Anshu trained in Forum Theatre with Adrian Jackson in the UK and Theatre of the Oppressed with Barbara Santos at KURINGA in Berlin.
As the founder and artistic director of Roots & Wings Theatre, she creates original devised productions on social issues and performs Playback Theatre as a medium for dialogue, reflection, and human connection. An improviser, coach, and seasoned artist with over 150 improv shows to her credit, Anshu designs and leads experiential learning programs across corporate, academic, and community spaces, using the power of play to help people translate insight into meaningful action.

Rati Misra brings over three decades of leadership experience in the social development sector, dedicated to empowering individuals and organizations to achieve lasting, sustainable impact. A postgraduate in Economics, she has led large-scale programs across education, youth development, gender equality, disability rights, and organizational transformation throughout India and Southeast Asia, with a strong focus on strengthening fundraising capabilities. Combining practical insight with empathy, active listening, and continuous learning, Rati has coached senior leadership teams, nurtured emerging talent, and guided institutions through critical periods of growth. Her mentorship is anchored in helping young leaders build strategic thinking, resilience, and the self-belief needed to navigate challenges and maximize their potential.
To Rati, girls’ education is far more than access to a classroom; it is about unlocking agency, expanding choices, and building the confidence to lead a self-determined life. She sees education as a vital catalyst for dignity, financial independence, and equality, giving young women the tools to challenge limiting norms and take charge of their health, livelihoods, and futures. Believing strongly in the multiplier effect of educating a girl, she views it as the bedrock for uplifting entire communities and driving generational change.