Ashraf Patel is the co-founder of Pravah and ComMutiny – The Youth Collective, organisations working to promote ‘inside–out’ youth leadership using the 5th Space framework. Along with over 100 members in the collective, she has helped shape the youth work field in India by developing world-class designs and high-impact interventions with young people and youth-focused organisations, including initiatives promoting young women social entrepreneurs. She is currently part of the cross-sectoral vartaLeap Coalition in India, working towards the mission “Every youth a Jagrik, Every space nurturing Jagriks” — building a narrative of youth leadership grounded in justice, equality, liberty, and fraternity.

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Ashraf is an Ashoka Fellow and recipient of the Jubilant Schwab Social Entrepreneurship Award of the Year (2020), and was honoured as a Distinguished Alumna of XLRI in 2015. She serves on boards and advisory groups of key organisations in India and is a member of the Commonwealth Alliance of Youth Work Associations (CAYWA), International Forum for Volunteering in Development (IVCO), and Catalyst 2030. She is the co-author of Ocean in a Drop – Inside Out Youth Leadership (Sage, 2013) and began her professional journey in Human Resource Development in the corporate sector.

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Education: Graduate in Physics from the University of Delhi; Postgraduate in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations (PM&IR) from XLRI, Jamshedpur.