THE CGAP TEAM
driven, powered & inspired by volunteers
CGAP volunteers are spread all across the world
CGAP's Initiatives
Our Work
Meet The Team
Akhil Neelam
Co-Founder, Director, Research & Operations
Akhil is a public policy practitioner and a gender rights advocate, working towards making politics gender-equal. Previously, he has worked with the state governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where he strategised policy communications and planned the implementation of various public education initiatives and contributed towards implementing systemic changes for better implementation. He is also a Young India Fellow from Ashoka University.
Ragini Puri
Associate, Project Management
Ragini has a background in journalism, with experience across both written and audio formats. Passionate about advancing gender equality, she is currently engaged in research on the Care Economy. Ragini holds an MSc in Empires, Colonialism, and Globalisation from LSE, equipping her with a multidisciplinary perspective on social and economic issues.
Sugandha
Co-Founder, Director, Chief Editor
Sugandha has a background in gender, human rights law and policy. She holds two MA degrees; MA in Women’s Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences and MA in Human Right Law from School of Oriental and African studies, London. She has worked with non-profits, philanthropy and government departments, and is an active member of women and policy initiatives in India.
Escandita Tewari
Associate, Partnerships & Communications
Escandita has a background in business, law, and social sciences, having recently completed her undergraduate degree from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. Passionate about international development and the intersection of gender and politics, she has worked with startups, MPs, think tanks and NGOs in advancing the road to a more inclusive and just society.
Meet Our Advisors
Priti Srivastava
Priti has over 3 decades of experience in policy, strategy and corporate affairs. She is currently Mentor, Advocacy at Reliance Industries Ltd. She is a philanthropist and has recently launched DayaRani, a mental and social wellness initiative.
Srividya Reddy
Srividya is the Chairperson of CII-IWN (Indian Women Network) Telangana. She is Vice-Chair of various G. Pulla Reddy Educational Institutes, including GNITS (G Narayanamma Institute of Technology and Science for Women) in Hyderabad.
Technical Advisory Unit (TAU)
Sakshi Hallan
Member, TAU
Sakshi Hallan is an Economist (ODI Fellow) at the Ministry of Education and Sports in the Government of Uganda. Before this, she was a Research Consultant at Inclusion Economics India Centre, managing a data collection for a research study at the intersection of gender, politics, and environment. Previously, she has worked as a Consultant with the World Bank supporting projects in social protection, agriculture, and financial inclusion. She holds MA in International and Development Economics from Yale University. Sakshi is passionate about public policy, development economics, politics, and gender.
Devanik Saha
Member, TAU
Devanik Saha is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex. He has a PhD from the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. His doctoral thesis explores men's involvement in antenatal care in an informal settlement of Delhi. His areas of interest are gender, men and masculinities, migration, maternal reproductive health, and Indian politics. He is also a recipient of the Global Talent Visa by the UK government, wherein he has been endorsed as an exceptional talent in the field of Global Health and Development.
He can be contacted on Twitter
Poonam Kakoti Borah
Sensitivity Reader
Poonam Kakoti Borah is Assistant Professor at Department of Women's Studies, Gauhati University. She completed her M. Phil and Ph.D from Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. Her areas of interest include Political Theory, Feminist Theory, Gender and Education and Gender and Governance. Before joining Gauhati University, she taught at Indraprastha College for Women, Miranda House and St. Stephen’s College in University of Delhi.
She has also published articles in journals and edited books by reputed publishers like Oxford University Press and Routledge. She is currently also a member of the North East Regional Committee under the Indian Association of Women's Studies.