The People Behind
The Work

ISDM is shaped by a community of leaders—founders, faculty, board members, and advisors—who bring decades of experience across the social and development ecosystem. From field to policy to organisational leadership, their perspectives ground the institution in real-world practice and purpose.

Their collective stewardship carries ISDM’s mission forward, building an institution committed to strengthening leadership for India’s social development.

Faculty

Council

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Academic Council

Technology Council

Donors

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Founder Patrons

Founder Sponsors

Founder Donors

Institutional Donors

Donors

Advisors

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Advisory Board

Statutory Advisors

Team

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Board of Governing Trustees

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Founders

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Technology Council
Academic Council
Institutional Donors
Statutory Advisors
Advisory Board
Guest speakers
Donors
Founder Donors
Founder Sponsors
Founder Patrons
Faculty
Faculty And Bricoleurs
Sector Practitioners
Visiting Faculty
Board of Governing Trustees
Donors

Rohit Kapoor

Vice Chairman and CEO, EXL Service Holdings, Inc.

Team

Roopa Sharma

Manager, Programs, ISDM

Team

Roshan Nair

Centre Lead, Centre for Philanthropy for Inclusive Development, ISDM

Team

Rupal Singhvi

Senior Associate, C&P, ISM

Team

Sajit Ravindran Nair

Senior Manager, Digital, ISDM

Faculty

Sana Siddiqui

Executive Director, Multiple Action Research Group (MARG)

Faculty

Sandhya S. Iyer

Visiting Faculty and Development Economist

Team

Sangita Kumari

Associate, Communication and Engagement, ISDM

Team

Sanjana Kaushik

Manager, Admissions and Outreach, ISDM

Donors

Sanjay Naraindas Kirpalani

Chairman, ENPEE Group; Chairman, RenewSys India Pvt. Ltd.

Donors

Sanjeev Bikhchandani

Founder and Executive Vice Chairman, Info Edge (India) Ltd.

Donors

Sanjiv Kumar

Pro Vice-Chairman, Delhi Public Schools; Founder, Takshila Educational Society

Donors

Sar - La Education Trust

Team

Satender Rana

Senior Manager, Research, ISDM

Faculty

Saumya Seth

Education Strategy and Curriculum Consultant

Advisors

S C behar

Founder and Director, Eklavya

Board of Governing Trustees

Setika Singh

Executive Director of Takshila Foundation

Donors

Shankar Viswanathan

Board Member, Advisor, Investor, Consultant, Coach.

Founders
Board of Governing Trustees
Council

Sharad Agarwal

Co-founder, ISDM

Board of Governing Trustees
Faculty
Council
Special Invitee

Sharad Heda

Founder, Pot2Kinetic Consulting; Strategy Consultant; Advisor, ISDM

Faculty

Shashi Nair

Director, Viridus Social Impact Solutions; Trustee, Kiirti Trust

Team

Shelly Arpana Aind

Manager, People Management, ISDM

Team

Shikhar Jaiswal

Associate, Admissions, ISDM

Team

Shivakshi Bhattacharya

Senior Associate, Strategy and Operations, Founder's Office, ISDM

Faculty

Shivangi Bhasin

Writing Instructor, ISDM

Team

Shivika Kapoor

Associate, Programs, ISDM

Team

Shreyasi Banerjee

Manager, Curriculum and Content, ISDM

Team

Shruti Mishra

Executive, Research,

Team

Siddharth Dhote

Senior Associate, Data Analyst, ISM

Team

Simrita Kaur Takhtar

Bricoleur, ISDM

Donors

S K Jain

Founder & Trustee, Plaksha University

Faculty

Smith Shah

Content Writer

Faculty

Soma Wadhwa

Associate Professor, School of Modern Media, UPES

Faculty

Sowmyaa Bharadwaj

Development Sector Practitioner and Facilitator

Team

Sowmya Rajaram

Senior Manager, Communications, ISDM

Team

Sparsh Verma

Manager, Marketing, ISDM

Team

Sreya R Menon

Associate, Research, ISDM

Donors

Subir Mehra

Partner, EY

Faculty

Suman Srivastava

Founder, Marketing Unplugged

Founders

Suparna Diwakar

Co-founder, ISDM

Team

Swetha Prakash

Associate Director, Centre Lead, ISDM

Board of Governing Trustees

Tanvi Bikhchandani

Co-founder of Tamarind Chutney, Manager - Family Office

Donors

Tattva Developers

Team

Tenzin Chorran

Associate, ISDM

Team

Tias Dutta

Manager, Communications, ISDM

Team

Trisha Varma

Director, Global Knowledge Hub, ISDM

Faculty

T. R. Raghunandan

Director, Avantika Foundation

Team

Tuhin Ghosh

Senior Associate, Marketing Operations, ISDM

Team

Tushti Sharma

Executive, Marketing Operations, ISDM

Board of Governing Trustees
Team
Donors

Urvi Shriram

Lead, Centre for Philanthropy for Inclusive Development

Team

Vaishnavi Pawar

Senior Associate, Center for Philanthropy, ISDM

Advisors

Ved Arya

Founder and Director, The Buddha Institute

Board of Governing Trustees

Vidya Shah

Exec Chairperson, EdelGive Foundation CFO, Edelweiss Financial Services

Faculty

Vijay Mahajan

CEO, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation

Team

Vijay Sadasivani

Senior Associate, Communications, ISDM

Donors

Vijay Santhanam

Inspirational Speaker; Visiting Faculty IIM Lucknow

Team

Vinita Yadav

Senior Associate, Counselling Lead

Donors

Vipin K. Agrawal

Managing Partner, AG Management Advisory

Team

Vishaka Gulati

Senior Associate, ISDM

Donors

V. 'Paddy' Padmanabhan

Unilever Chaired Professor of Marketing, INSEAD; Academic Director, INSEAD Emerging Markets Institute

Why Management Matters in the Social Sector?

Impact does not scale on intent alone.

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India’s social sector is operating at an unprecedented scale and ambition—seeking to deliver measurable outcomes, manage complexity, and steward public and philanthropic capital responsibly.

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What holds the sector back is not ambition or intent. It is the absence of leadership and management capability designed for social purpose organisations.

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While business has Business Management and the state has Public Administration, the social sector has long lacked a comparable discipline to build leaders, strengthen institutions, and sustain impact over time.

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Development Management addresses this gap.

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It equips leaders to build organisations that endure, adapt, and deliver sustained impact at scale—without losing sight of purpose, ethics, or context.

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Because social change demands stronger leadership.

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What Is Development Management?

A discipline built for leaders of social purpose organisations.

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Development Management is a field of practice and learning focused on leading and managing organisations that exist to advance social development.

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It draws from management sciences, public systems, and social theory, but is fundamentally shaped by the realities of development work. It recognises that social purpose organisations operate amid multiple stakeholders, unequal power structures, uncertain outcomes, and deep contextual complexity.

At its core, Development Management helps leaders to:

  • build organisations that are mission-driven and well-managed
  • make decisions that balance impact, scale, and sustainability
  • design systems that respond to people, context, and change
ISDM’S Role

Advancing Development Management as a discipline.

ISDM exists to advance and anchor Development Management as a foundational discipline for India’s social sector.

Its role is to ensure that Development Management is not treated as an abstract concept, but embedded in how leaders are prepared, organisations are built, and institutions endure. By shaping leadership pathways, contributing field-informed knowledge, and strengthening organisational capability, ISDM helps establish Development Management as a shared standard for leadership and management in social development.

In doing so, ISDM operates at the level of the ecosystem—supporting the long-term capability of organisations and leaders working toward India’s social development goals.

Our Values

The beliefs that anchor our intent and ethics

Equity

‍We build leadership spaces where dignity, access, and opportunity are non-negotiable.

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‍We recognise structural inequality and work actively to counter it—across caste, class, gender, language, faith, sexuality, and geography. Equity shapes who gets to lead, whose voices are heard, and how institutions are built.


Compassion

‍We lead with humanity—towards others and ourselves.

‍We create learning environments that honour vulnerability, difference, and growth. Compassion at ISDM is not softness; it is the practice of listening deeply, engaging honestly, and holding complexity with care.


Courage

‍We choose clarity, even when it is uncomfortable.

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‍We question assumptions, redesign what no longer serves, and express principled disagreement when needed. Courage shows up in learning, unlearning, apologising, failing, and beginning again—with integrity.



Justice

‍We act with responsibility, transparency, and accountability.‍

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Justice guides how we teach, research, partner, and build institutions. We value truth, dialogue, and trust—and commit to practices that are ethical, sustainable, and rooted in democratic values.

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