Dr Andharia has over 35 years of experience in the development sector. In 1995, she co-founded ANANDI along with four colleagues, building a collective leadership model that worked closely with the poorest communities in Gujarat. For nearly two decades, she engaged directly with women from marginalised rural communities in Gujarat and Maharashtra, shaping her grounded feminist perspective and deepening her understanding of intersectionality, vulnerability, marginalisation, and empowerment. She later spent three years developing the Civil Society, Governance and Human Rights portfolio at an Indian philanthropy.

Dr. Jahnvi joined ISDM in 2018 as a Bricoleur and served as Program Director – Post Graduate Program in Development Leadership (2019–2020). She has co-authored several papers on gender equality and related themes and continues to support governance processes of women-led organisations.

Education - Ph.D. (2018) for her thesis on Impact of Progressive Laws and Civil Society Facilitation on Empowerment: Women Law Users’ Perspective; Master of Arts in Social Work from TISS (1989); B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

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