Our Team
The fellowship is a commune and that reflects in our team too. Our alumni have come back and give the fuel to the engine. Meet the core team. Click on image to view detail profile
Swati Saxena
a 2016 India Fellow, is a commerce graduate from Lucknow University. She further did an MBA in Finance from ICFAI, and worked with Deloitte for five years. It was during a year-long break from corporate when she got to know about the fellowship while volunteering with non-profits and start-ups. As a fellow, she worked with Chaitanya in Madhya Pradesh, on self help group formation, capacity building, and content development for training. At India Fellow, she is responsible for overall program coordination, building and maintaining relationships with partner organizations, and ensuring relevant documentation and communication. Swati enjoys reading, writing and exploring new places – all of which she gets to do amply here!
Pranoti Monde
a 2018 India Fellow, has done engineering in information technology from Mumbai University, post which she worked with Tech Mahindra for four years. As a fellow, she worked with Basic HealthCare Services in south Rajasthan where she designed and worked on the Health Management Information System (HMIS), strengthened the use of technology and communications for primary healthcare, and supported the team in early detection and treatment of Tuberculosis. During this time, she also picked up design thinking and systems practice. She has now joined full-time as a learning coordinator. Known to be the tallest girl in the room, Pranoti is usually found exchanging books, ideas, recipes and smiles with
Richa Williams
a 2015 India Fellow, has completed her engineering graduation in Biotechnology, followed by a post graduate diploma in event management. She also worked for four years in the event management space before becoming a fellow. As a fellow, she worked with Grassroutes Journeys Pvt. Ltd, her key role being curation of new experiences and promote existing community-based rural tourism initiative. Richa continues to work with Grassroutes (her seventh year there) on business and organizational development. At India Fellow, Richa brings vibrancy to our outreach and communications, with a focus on engaging various stakeholders like youth, grassroots organizations and knowledge partners.
Anupama Pain
CoFounder, is an ICICI Fellow from the founding cohort, and is with the team since 2014. She has four years in corporate finance consulting, after a bachelors degree in computer engineering from Mumbai University. Between 2010 to 2014, she worked on participatory design, piloting and dissemination of products for Self Help Group federations in areas of rural finance, financial literacy and pro poor value chains with Chaitanya. Work locations include western ghats and Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, and Uttarakhand. She also has experience of setting up an enterprise – FreshFromFarms, which connected farmer groups from rural Pune to urban consumers in Mumbai housing societies. Anupama is currently part of the academic advisory and faculty for IIM Udaipur’s Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship program. She is a generalist, always seeking opportunities to fuel her own learning through inventive volunteering and work engagements.
Rahul Nainwal
Founder, iVolunteer and introduced the concept of formal volunteering in India. He has done pioneering work in placing Indian volunteers across the country as well as overseas (through his intra-venture iVolunteer Overseas in 2004). With the next initiative in 2010, the India Fellow program, Rahul led the learning component of the then first of its kind fellowship in India. He is also the founder of Cashrelief which is experimenting with direct cash transfers in India. A TED Fellow, Rahul is an alumnus of Institute of Rural Management IRMA and the Amsterdam school of creative leadership THNK. He is also the head of the UPES School of Business and the Runway Incubator. His expertise lies in entrepreneurship and human centered design. He is a marathon runner, a cyclist and an avid trekker.