Past Cohorts of ISDM Fellowship

Ankit is a PhD student in Sociology at University of Wroclaw, Poland and has a double Masters in Development and Social Work from Azim Premji University, and MP Bhoj Open University respectively. He previously worked in social development for four years. His research focuses on community philanthropy and women’s rights in rural India.

A public policy researcher with a decade of experience and a Ph.D. from IIMA, Anurag’s focus is on documenting philanthropy interests in Education in India, having worked with organisations like Brhat, Pratham and Azim Premji Foundation.

Pankaj is a dedicated public health researcher with more than four years of experience in Indian states such as Bihar, UP and Odisha. He completed his MPhil dissertation on BioSocial Determinants of Nutritional Anemia. He completed his Master of Social Work specialisation in Rural Development from Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

A tribal social entrepreneur, Raju founded Eklavya India Foundation to promote higher education and leadership among first generational learners. He holds a Masters in Social Work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and recently completed his MSc in Development Studies at the prestigious SOAS, University of London, on a Chevening Scholarship offered by the FCDO, UK.

Professor B. Charumathi is a fervent researcher in the area of corporate financial reporting. She is presently Professor and Head of the Department of Management Studies, School of Management, Pondicherry University (a central University of Govt. of India) and a board member of the Pondicherry University Start-up Hub (PUSH), a Section 8 Company. With 27 years of teaching and research experience, she has written three books, published 140+ research papers. She is the Indian Principal investigator of the SPARC international collaborative project with top 100 QS ranked Australian universities, sponsored by the Government of India. She has been a visiting professor at Deakin University and University of Canberra. She is also a recipient of UGC’s JRF and AICTE’s career award, ICA’s Young Commercist Award and IAA’s Young Researcher Award. She harbours a passion for training human resources and enabling community-based activities.

Doel Jaikishen is Manager, Communications and Partnerships, at the non-profit Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA). For the past five years, she has played a key role in developing YUVA’s communications and messaging, to strengthen the organisation’s identity, impact and influence. During her career spanning 11 years in the corporate and non-profit sector, she has worked with diverse stakeholders in publishing houses, agencies and now at a rights-based non-profit. Her interest areas include creative communications, campaigning and narrative shifts for social change (via festivals and other creative mediums), understanding the dynamic philanthropy ecosystem and aiding meaningful partnerships to respond to complex social justice needs and concerns. Doel holds a master’s degree in English Literature from Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

Dr Ritu Sinha is a Fellow in Management from NITIE, Mumbai. She has also completed an Advanced Diploma in Apparel Merchandising with a specialization in Retail Management from the National Institute of Retail Management, Bangalore. A UGC–NET holder, she has work experience of nearly 22 years spreading over the industry, academic, and research. She holds extensive professional experience in the pharmaceutical sector with GlaxoSmithKline, IMS Learning Resources, and ICFAI Business School. Her research interests include Corporate Philanthropy, Services Marketing, Marketing Analytics, and Entrepreneurship. She works with a wide range of industries, such as financial services, gaming/entertainment, retailing, and pharmaceuticals, and has been actively participating in various forums related to her areas of interest. She has published more than forty papers, and eight case studies on diverse topics, received five research grants and worked on two edited books.

Yoosuf Ali is a doctoral fellow at Centre for Social System, JNU, Delhi and is working on Education technology and its impact on higher education in India. He has a masters’ degree in Sociology from Delhi University and an M.Phil from JNU. With a background in social science research, he has been part of multiple research projects at different parts of the country including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Delhi in multiple roles as a research fellow, project coordinator and academic facilitator. While he can speak Malayalam, English and Hindi, he also has a keen interest in studying languages and connecting with their owners.

Eisha Choudhary is a PhD from Department of Social Work, Jamia Millia Islamia University. Her doctoral work traces the intersectionalities of multiple identities and dynamics of work at the crossroads of gender, faith, and development for Muslim women engaged in entrepreneurship. Currently she is working as a research consultant on qualitative research with International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) to understand the policy impact of COVID-19 on informal women workers in Delhi NCR. As past research assignments, she has conducted a research study for Minority Rights Group Europe as an independent research consultant and worked on a long form essay as part of fellowship on digital rights for IT for Change. Her research interests include gender and work, minority rights, and feminist perspectives on digital rights.