Bhawana is Executive Director of the Fellows Program at LEAD (Leadership for Environment and Development) International, New Delhi. Over the years her expertise has been developed in designing and delivering sustainability learning and leadership programs for senior-level professionals across all sectors. Thematically, her work has been focused on NRM based Sustainable Livelihoods (through Community based enterprises and designing climate compatible development projects), Climate Change Adaptation, Water-Sanitation, and Disaster Preparedness.

She has first-hand on-the-ground experience supporting various State governments in design strategies for Climate Compatible Development, integrating participatory approaches in development work, identifying best practices and designing strategies for upscaling community-driven projects through research and policy advocacy. Being a Systems Thinker, she is a qualified trainer and learning facilitator cum advisor on how to Integrating Climate Adaptation into Development Planning and Climate Proofing of Development Projects across sectors.

Having worked in Siemens for one year, Jagdish joined LEAD India in 1998 and goes on to be one of the oldest serving employees of LEAD India.

Role in the organization: Jagdish proves to be the spine of the day-to-day functioning of LEAD India secretariat. He is responsible for maintaining files, day-to-day bank work and maintaining call logs.

A trying Human! A seeker of freedom and believer in choice. He aspires to build a culture of inclusivity and celebrating the individual. He largely engages with youth in addition to diverse groups from a cross-section of the society. He believes in serving people and being part of their journey of growth. For over half a decade he has been working with people in different parts of the country. As a facilitator, he had the privilege and the opportunity to engage, interact and create experiences for organizations and individuals from all walks of life. He and his partner strongly believe that relationships are foundational in our engagement with the world, this belief gave birth to an initiative called Weaving Lives, with the purpose to deepen partnerships for couples. During COVID pandemic, he held space for youth across India, and supported them in purposive engagement with communities.This engagement has offered an opportunity to the youth to get in touch with their deeper self and understand who they are and how they can be responsible citizens of the country.

Independent Researcher- Biodiversity

Anupam has conducted the longest running survey of Butterflies in Chhattisgarh spanning over a period of more than seven years.

He has reported 22 species of butterflies for the very first time from Chhattisgarh and has reviewed works of Zoological Survey of India. He presented his work in Student Conference on Conservation Science at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

He has seven more science publications to his name and has written popular articles in Sanctuary Asia, The Wire and The Print.

He has worked on tribal livelihoods to map tribal dependency on forest ecosystems in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy.

He has prepared a forest management plan template for communities who have got Forest Rights in collaboration with Foundation for Ecological Security.

Anupam engages with the tribal communities of Jharkhand on environmental issues in collaboration with Ekjut.

Anupam has conducted a bird survey for Aditya Birla to pick up cues for landscape restoration in Hindalco mines of Jharkhand.

As a part of Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD)- India, he has designed and conducted experiential training programs revolving around sustainability and leadership for mid career professionals across the remotest parts of the country.

His expertise on issues of wildlife, biodiversity and sustainable development is harvested by State Forest Departments, Planning Commission of Chhattisgarh and District Administrations along with educational institutions, media houses, civil society and corporates across country.

Hardik Kathuria is a Program Officer at LEAD. He has done his Masters in Environment Management from Indraprastha University, New Delhi. He has deep interest in exploring how spirituality and science can convergence to create a better planet. He has penned two research papers in Spirituality and its role in the Environment, and presented these at few international conferences. He anchors “Principles from the Gita”, an online free biweekly Gita Class on the LEAD platform. This is a free offering open to anybody who aspires to bring Gita in their own lives. He also anchors a program for Teenagers at Gurugram where he teaches them about Science and Spirituality. He is an avid reader, aspiring writer, confident theist and part-time philosopher

Sanajana Kurmi or Sanjo identifies herself as a Social worker who wants to help women rise above all discrimination and barriers to realise their own potential.

She aims to know and solve the problems and the orthodox malpractices prevailing in society. She has done her Masters in Sociology and has worked for 2 years in Yazaki India Pvt Ltd in Rajasthan in the Quality Department. She also has a couple of years experience in the field of Education. In 2021, she got selected to become a fellow of DISOM, the Leadership School where she learnt about the social, political, economic, educational, gender, and caste very closely in all areas of India.

Rajesh Kumar or RK (as he fondly calls himself) is a Social worker and campaigner who aims to bridge the disparities between societies by taking ground-level problems to higher Leadership. RK is highly influenced by the life, values and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and is currently a student of Gandhian and Peace Studies. He financed his own education by selling newspapers and became the first in his family to complete high school, graduation and post-graduation. RK has served as an Assistant Professor at a Private University. In 2021, he was selected for “Disom: the leadership school” fellowship, committed to building ethical and alternative leadership, which opened many new horizons for him. Currently, RK runs a campaign called ‘Aao Kabhi Chaurahe Par’ in Ranchi, where he aims to create a space of open communication between people and the system, and government

He strongly believes that every child should get a quality education without any discrimination of caste, class, gender, language, religion etc. and professes that the values we talk about are more important to be reflected in our life and behaviour. Empathy, forgiveness, compassion, non-violence and love for all can be adopted in our daily behaviour to spread positivity in our lives and those around us.