Fund Raising & Communications Specialist / Public Relations with experience;

skills and knowledge in;

Strategic Planning Content Development Policy Advocacy

Resource Management Program Management

Networking& Communication Fund Raising (Donor Management) Market Research

HR & Relationship Management Preparing Proposal

Product Positioning & Branding Media Relations Liaising & Coordination

Seasoned professional with an experience of more than fourteen years in the development sector in India, with skills and knowledge in program management, knowledge management, research coordination, strategy, policy development and advocacy, communications, media relations, fund raising and donor management, monitoring and evaluation, content development, HR, liaising with government, and managing membership.

CAREER CONTOUR

INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENT

  • Represented Sa-Dhan at SEEP Network Summit and Annual Conference at Washington DC in October 2007. Was instrumental in Sa-Dhan’s selection among the twelve networks that were selected and funded for the Citi “Network Strengthening Programme” through engagement, and conceptualization & development of proposal on the same
  • As part of the India Brazil South Africa (IBSA) Initiative, led a team of sectoral experts to microfinance sector in South Africa and Kenya, towards strengthening the microfinance associations in these countries as well as understanding the microfinance scenario for mutual sharing and learning.
  • Led a delegation of Sa-Dhan members to China Microfinance Summit held at Beijing from 15–25th September 2010, and presented the Indian microfinance sector before participants from South and South East Asian countries.

OTHER ASSIGNMENTS

Head – Communications with Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP):March - December 2014

  • Responsible for developing and executing the communications and media strategy for ISAP. The work included positioning ISAP with an array of stakeholders viz. Government, donors, corporates, among others. Communication and media instruments include – email updates, website, monthly newsletter, annual report, social media updates (facebook, linkedin, twitter), information brochure, engagement with media, among others.
  • Critically evaluate and revise proposals for fund raising to multi-lateral, bi-lateral donors, corporates (CSR), government etc.
  • Develop organization’s proposals/ applications for submission to CSR empanelment institutions like IICA

Independent Consultant - Sept 2013 to February 2014

  • Developed technical and financial proposal on “‘Awareness building and Mobilization campaigns of youth and rural communities”, on skill-development, livelihood generation and education within Meghalaya and/or similar states of India, for Hand in Hand India to be submitted to Asian Development Bank (ADB). The proposal formed part of the support from ADB to initiative on “Supporting Human Capital Development in Meghalaya”
  • Conducted Round Table on “ Mobile Banking and Financial Inclusion: Issues and Challenges” for ACCESS-

ASSIST-UNDP. The ToR included – development of concept note, agenda, list of participants, engagement with speakers/ participants, facilitation of Round Table, and report writing.

  • Conducted Round Table on “Livelihood Financing: Scope, Approaches and Opportunities” for ACCESS-ASSIST-

UNDP. The ToR included – development of concept note, agenda, list of participants, engagement with speakers/ participants, facilitation of Round Table, and report writing.

  • Developed funding proposal on “Financing and Investments in Producer Companies: Issues and Challenges” for

ACCESS-ASSIST

Associate Director – Microfinance India ( in ACCESS-ASSIST May 2012 – Sept 2013

Led “Microfinance India Initiative” a national platform that strengthens the microfinance sector in India, through knowledge management and dissemination, comprising of Microfinance India Summit, the State of the Sector Report on Indian Microfinance, the State of the Sector Report on Social Performance, Policy Retreats, State visioning documents and Microfinance India Awards. These elements bring the sector together to identify impediments to its organised growth, analyse trends and help to construct a vision for its future growth.

Within Microfinance India, managed the initiatives on Microfinance India Summit the largest annual platform for microfinance stakeholders globally. Significantly, the 2012 Summit was inaugurated by Shri P. Chidambaram, Union Finance Minister and valedictory speech was given by Shri Jairam Ramesh, Union Rural Development Minister along with key officials from Ministry of Finance, public and private sector banks, NABARD, SIDBI etc. The Summit was attended by more than 700 participants both from national and international stakeholders.

  • Led and managed the work on State of the Sector Report, the most referred document in Indian microfinance by regulator, policy makers as well as banks
  • Managed the work on the Microfinance India Awards, instituted in 2009 with the support of HSBC and is an annual event since then.
  • Identification of critical issues confronting the microfinance sector, conceptualization and conducting Round Tables on the same by bringing together stakeholders viz. banks, RBI, government, MFIs, insurance companies, community based organizations, academia etc
  • Within the above initiatives engaging with RBI, Ministry of Finance, NABARD, SIDBI, Banks, Insurance companies, Microfinance Institutions, SHGs and their federations, IRDA, academia etc
  • Led the communication and fund raising for the above initiatives from multilateral, bilateral donors, banks, family foundations, apex financial institutions, government, among others.

Manager (Communications, Member Affairs, State Chapters, Grievance Redressal Mechanism on Sa-Dhan Code of Conduct, Sa-Dhan Governance) April 11 – April 2012

  • Developing internal and external communication strategy and plan for the network
  • Identifying issues, challenges and concerns of the sector on a regular basis, and integrate communication strategy with the programmatic strategy of the organization, for effectiveness.
  • Facilitating information dissemination & knowledge exchange amid stakeholders in microfinance sector in India – regular updates through emails, daily news, newsletters, information brochures, flyers, among others
  • Undertaking brand building activities for Sa-Dhan and the microfinance sector–Engagement with journalists from print and electronic media, and through the website of Sa-Dhan.
  • Conceptualizing, developing and disseminating monthly sectoral magazine “MICRO MATTERS” capturing sectoral debates, perspectives, updates, innovations, success stories and concerns, and six monthly newsletter on specific theme.
  • Conceptualizing, developing a film capturing issues and challenges of the microfinance sector in India
  • Positioning and highlighting Sa-Dhan’s strategic interventions on the sectoral issues through conceptualization and development of the “Annual Report”.
  • Overseeing content development and management of the Sa-Dhan website towards positioning it as the “information and knowledge hub” on microfinance sector in India as well as platform for interface between stakeholders in the microfinance space.
  • Liaising & coordinating with government officials viz. Ministry of Finance, Rural Development, Banks, RBI, State

Government Departments, Parliamentarians, etc. through briefing meetings, policy notes, flyers, and organizing small round tables and large conferences, on issues related to policy and practice of microfinance

  • Analysis of members’ data towards identifying trends on practice, identifying critical issues and challenges, and accordingly prioritizing issues for policy advocacy
  • Led the work on finalization of Code of Conduct for Sa-Dhan members. Engaged with other microfinance networks, and important stakeholders towards arriving at mutually accepted code of conduct for the sector. Led the process of establishment of “Grievance Redressal Committee” on Code of Conduct. Organized dissemination workshops on “Code of Conduct” within the membership in states for building understanding and adherence.
  • Led the Member affairs of Sa-Dhan by managing the processing of new application for membership, membership renewal, promotion (Sa-Dhan had 251 member organizations across 20 states in India)
  • Managing the Sa-Dhan State Chapters in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Orissa and coordination with State Forum in Karnataka. Explore possibilities of establishing State Chapters in States according to the requirements of the members. Promoting information sharing, adherence to Code of conduct, promoting transparency among the members through the State Chapters
  • Facilitating platform for engagement of members with local stakeholders like government, RBI, SIDBI, NABARD, banks and Ministry of rural development on specific state level issues pertaining to microfinance sector
  • Facilitating convergence of national and state level efforts of Sa-Dhan on the issues of microfinance sector
  • Positioning Sa-Dhan within State level Stakeholders
  • Coordinating the board meetings in terms of developing the agenda in consultation with the Executive Director and the Chair, developing background notes and taking minutes of the board meeting.

Manager (Communications, Sa-Dhan Governance& Fund Raising Strategy) April 09 to March 11

  • Developing internal and external communication strategy and plan for the network
  • Identifying issues, challenges and concerns of the sector on a regular basis, and integrate communication strategy with the programmatic strategy of the organization, for effectiveness.

Facilitating information dissemination & knowledge exchange amid stakeholders in microfinance sector in India – regular updates through emails, daily news, information brochures, flyers, among others

  • Undertaking brand building activities for Sa-Dhan and the microfinance sector–Engagement with journalists from print and electronic media, and through the website of Sa-Dhan.
  • Conceptualizing, developing and disseminating monthly sectoral magazine “MICRO MATTERS” capturing sectoral debates, perspectives, updates, innovations, success stories and concerns, and six monthly newsletter on specific theme.
  • Conceptualizing, developing a film capturing issues and challenges of the microfinance sector in India -
  • Positioning and highlighting Sa-Dhan’s strategic interventions on the sectoral issues through conceptualization and development of the “Annual Report”.
  • Overseeing content development and management of the Sa-Dhan website towards positioning it as the “information and knowledge hub” on microfinance sector in India as well as platform for interface between stakeholders in the microfinance space.
  • Liaising & coordinating with government officials viz. Ministry of Finance, Rural Development, Banks, RBI, State

Government Departments, Parliamentarians, etc. through briefing meetings, policy notes, flyers, and organizing small round tables and large conferences, on issues related to policy and practice of microfinance

  • Rendering strategic guidance on positioning, as well as improving grant proposals to donors – Informing the sectoral scenario and the significance of Sa-Dhan.
  • Assignment handled as Member of the core team of the Sa-Dhan– IDF study on “counting the number of people who crossed (from below) the USD 1.25 a day consumption threshold in India”. The study was done with a sample of 35,000 poor household in 14 states. The role was to oversee and coordinate the entire activities pertaining to identification and facilitation of Sa-Dhan membership, data from members, hiring of state coordinators and enumerators, and the process of submitting filled out questionnaires to IDF as part of the study.
  • Coordinating the board meetings in terms of developing the agenda in consultation with the Executive Director and the Chair, developing background notes and taking minutes of the board meeting.

Sr. Program Executive, Strategic Initiatives Apr’ 07 – Mar’ 09

  • Responsible for internal communication within the organization to gather information and transform it into communication material, as well as external communication with donors, members, and other key stakeholders through regular updates via email, monthly and six monthly publications, annual reports, website design and content, among others.
  • Facilitating information dissemination & knowledge exchange through the publications, e-mails, website, conceptual briefing notes to policy makers, etc.
  • Liaising with donors, developing conceptual proposals for their consideration, donor reporting and compliance.
  • Coordinating the process of implementation of “Strategic Review Exercise” by engaging with senior management, board, external stakeholders, members, etc. Led the second “Strategic Review Exercise” after completion of ten years of the organization. The work involved identifying the elements of the framework around which the exercise would be carried out, developing a concept note based on this, identifying and engaging with the consultants for the exercise, identified and engaging with the stakeholders that needed to be interacted with as part of the exercise.
  • Instrumental in coordinating the process of implementation of the recommendations of the review report.
  • Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation – engaging externally with the board, members’ bodies and experts, and internally with the thematic teams to arrive at an annual plan, and regular monitoring and evaluation of the same. Periodic feedback to the teams towards meeting the planned targets, and facilitating convergence of efforts Coordinating with board members for board meetings and Annual General Body meeting.
  • Handling HR activities encompassing the identifying the HR requirements and facilitating recruitment process to recruit the right people, apart from organizing development workshop for staff.

Program Executive Apr’06 – Mar’ 07

  • Responsible for internal communication within the organization to gather information and transform it into communication material, as well as external communication with donors, members, and other key stakeholders through regular updates via email, monthly and six monthly publications, annual reports, website design and content, among others.
  • Identifying the prospective donors, realignment of work as per donor need, conceptualizing and developing proposals, timely submission of reports and participating in the donor liaising process.
  • Immensely contributed to receiving of a Corpus Grant, which was very critically needed by the organization at that point
  • Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation - Providing inputs towards the organization’s effectiveness in dealing with the issues and challenges of the microfinance sector.

Sr. Program Associate Apr’ 04 – Mar’ 06

  • Responsible for external communication viz. with donors, members and other stakeholders as well as through the monthly and six monthly publications of the organization, annual report, etc. Website design, content development and regular updates were some of the other responsibilities.
  • Developing proposals under the direct supervision of the head of the organization and reporting to donors on the activities of the Association on a regular basis.
  • Assisting the head of the organization in implementing the recommendations of the first “Strategic Review Report” for Sa-Dhan, internally within the organization as well as in terms of strategy with external environment.

Program Associate Mar’ 02 – Mar’ 04

  • Conducting a study on "SHG Federations in India", involving 28 SHG federations across India. Also, coordinated a national workshop on the findings of the study with an array of stakeholders, including central government, state governments, ministries, banks, microfinance practitioners, etc.
  • Responsible for external communication viz. with donors, members and other stakeholders as well as through the monthly and six monthly publications of the organization, annual report, etc. Website design, content development and regular updates were some of the other responsibilities. On the six monthly publications the work involved identifying theme, identifying writers on theme, coordination with writers from the stakeholders group on the articles, editing the articles towards finalizations and bringing out the publication in a proper form.
  • Developing funding proposals under the supervision of the head of the organization

Research Officer Mar’00 – Feb’02

DFID Funded Project

Titled / “Finance for the Poor & Poorest” lead by Institute for Development, Planning and Management (IDPM), University of Manchester under the guidance of Prof. David Hulme
Synopsis / The project focused on understanding the financial behaviour of the poor and the kinds of financial services available to them. The study also suggested kind of financial products to be launched among the poor in urban slums. Involved in field site selection, mapping, wealth ranking, research methodology formulation, data collection, analysis and development of the final report. Assisted in starting up similar project in rural area as well as analysis of data and towards final report till February 2002. Gained learning with regard to development research, data management and analysis, development perspective in microfinance and issues of rural and urban poor.

ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS

  • M.Phil. from Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1996 Awarded for dissertation on “Ethnicity, Identity and Conflict in Tajikistan” a study done on the Tajik Civil War
  • M.Sc. from Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1994.
  • B.Sc. from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University in 1992.

IT SKILLS

Software: MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Web/Multimedia: PageMaker 7, Adobe Photoshop CC 2014, Adobe Light Room 2014 Corel Draw X6

PERSONAL DETAILS

Date of Birth: 12th July 1970

Address: 332 B, AbhayKhand 3, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad – 201010

Last CTC – Rs. 11,00,000 p.a.

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