Meet the Team

 
 
Seema Arora
CEO
×

 

Seema Arora
CEO

 
Seema Arora pioneered the creation of services on Sustainable Development within CII. Her journey with CII began with engaging Indian Industry towards the run up to the Earth Summit in 1992. Seema Arora works on designing innovative products and frameworks to build the business case for industry to invest in Sustainability and CSR. She works with Industry, Government and Community based organisations to develop policy instruments, curate collaborative initiatives across sector and stakeholders and develops innovative voluntary approaches to Sustainable Development. Her portfolios in CII include the CII - ITC Centre Of Excellence for Sustainable Development, CII Development Initiatives, CII Foundation, India@75 and Indian Women Network.

Seema Arora has a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Delhi University. She is a member of World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Biodiversity Action Agenda. She has twenty-nine years of experience in the field of Sustainable Development.
 
×

 

Shivani Kumar
Lead - Gender and Advocacy
×

 

 
Shivani Kumar is a Development design, Implementation and Advocacy professional with over 15 years of experience in NGOs, International organizations, corporates and politics. At CII Foundation, Shivani leads the initiatives around women empowerment and early childhood education. She began her career as part of Child in Need Institute where she worked on development, scale and adoption of the concept of community health workers (now ASHA) in Jharkhand. She continued to work on issues of reproductive health in the Upper Himalayan regions, with Constella Futures. She explored the interplay of Gender, Development and Politics through her work with a member of Parliament in Haryana and then continued to JSW Foundation. She holds a MA in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School, USA, a Master’s in social work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences and a BA (Hons) in History from St Stephen’s College.
 
×

 

Chandrakant Pradhan
Lead - Climate Resilience
×

 

Chandrakant Pradhan
Lead - Climate Resilience
 
Chandrakant has over fourteen years of project management and research experience in the areas of social development and environment. He joins us from the Aga Khan Foundation, India, where he was the livelihoods sector lead. Previously, he has worked with PRADAN; IFMR, Chennai; and UNEP, Geneva. He has experience of designing and executing large community development projects in areas of sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, wasteland rehabilitation, nonfarm livelihoods and financial inclusion. Chandrakant has completed M.A. in International Development Policy from Duke University, Durham, USA and B.Sc. in Agriculture from Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneshwar. He has also attended short academic courses at Brandeis University, Waltham, USA (on ecology) and Duke Geneva Programme (on Global Policy and Governance – Environment Track). He was a recipient of the Ford Foundation International Scholarship.
 
×

 

Megha Milan
Lead - Partnerships and Fundraising
×

 

 
Megha Milan is a corporate engagement & partnership professional with over 19 years of experience. She has worked with both Multi-National and Indian companies in the corporate sector. As a Development Sector professional, using her cross-sectoral approach she specializes in driving partnerships, mobilizing resources to unlock financial and non-financial opportunities, developing and executing engagement & outreach plans, managing multi-stakeholder relationships for bridging the gap between non-profit and for-profit worlds in order to facilitate corporate alliances on high impact models that are solving socio-economic challenges of the country. She holds a BA (Hons) in Political Science from Lady Sri Ram College and is a Post Graduate in Marketing Management from Times School of Marketing.
 
×

 

Vineet Nautiyal
Deputy Finance Manager
×

 

Vineet Nautiyal
Deputy Finance Manager
 
Vineet Nautiyal is part of Finance team with CII Foundation. His role primarily involves managing end to end finances of the CII Foundation. He is a Commerce graduate from Delhi University and is a Semi Qualified Chartered Accountant having more than 10 years of experience in the field of Finance, Accounting, and Taxation.
 
×

 

Sukriti Tolani
Program Manager – Gender
×

 

 
Sukriti Tolani is a part of the women empowerment team with the CII Foundation. Having worked on capacity building and Women empowerment in rural Uttar Pradesh, Sukriti has rich field work experience. Previously, she has worked for children protection and women empowerment in line with the government officials and rural communities in Basti (Uttar Pradesh). Following which, she extensively worked on menstrual hygiene management practices and breaking the taboos related to menstruation in our society in Lucknow and around. Sukriti completed her Master’s degree in Social Entrepreneurship from Tata Institute of Social Sciences and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media (Journalism) from Mumbai University.
 
×

 

Akanksha Mishra
Program Manager – Gender
×

 

Akanksha Mishra
Program Manager - Gender
 
Akanksha is currently the Program Manager – Gender at CII Foundation. With 3.5 years of experience of working on a project with the Ministry of Rural Development and Kudumbashree, Government of Kerala, she has directly delved into issues of gender, poverty, and local governance in rural India. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from TISS, Mumbai, and has completed her bachelor’s degree in History from Delhi University.
 
×

 

S M Tahir Hussain
Program Coordinator, Punjab & Haryana
×

 

 
S M Tahir Hussain is a part of the Climate Change Resilience Team. He looks after the crop residue management project in Punjab and Haryana. His role primarily involves working with farmers, cooperative societies and district administration in order to create sustainable farming solutions for all stakeholders. He has an experience of about 3 years of on ground project implementation. He has also previously worked with BloodConnect, NIIT Foundation and Shanti Sahyog in different capacities. He is a commerce graduate and also holds a postgraduate degree in Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, as well as an M. Com in Finance and Marketing from Jamia Millia Islamia.
 
×

 

Jacob Jose
Project Officer, Kerala
×

 

 
Jacob Jose a passionate social worker with more than 8 years of experience in the field of Disaster Management, Educational initiatives and community development projects. He is part of the CII Foundation team in implementation of Kerala Flood Rehabilitation initiatives and other Relief works. Jacob Has previously worked with BPCL as their CSR Consultant and with several NGO’s and was instrumental in their growth. He has completed Masters in Social Work from Loyola College, Chennai and Bachelors of Social Work from Rajagiri College of Social Sciences. He has also completed short-term course in CSR from Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs.
 
×

 

Tariq Ahmad
Project Coordinator, J&K
×

 

Tariq Ahmad
Project Coordinator, J&K
 
Tariq Ahmad looks after the implementation of the initiative towards enabling Early Childhood Education in J & K. He is Development sector professional with experience in implementing projects to achieve goals in the development and humanitarian sector. Tariq has worked on several cross-sectorial projects while being associated with NASSCOM Foundation, Avant Learning Centres-Delhi, Aman Public Charitable Trust-Delhi, and Bridge Foundation among others. He holds a BSc and MSW from University of Kashmir.
 
×

 

Sambaran Ganguly
Project Coordinator, West Bengal
×

 

Sambaran Ganguly
Project Coordinator, West Bengal
 
Sambaran Ganguly, looks after the implementation of the initiative enabling quality Early Childhood Education in West Bengal, working in close coordination with the Women and Child Welfare and Social Welfare department of State government. He has vast experience in different verticals of social development like Child Education, Child Protection, HIV intervention among Transgender & MSM, Nachni Tribe and Sex Workers. Sambaran holds a Masters in Sociology.
 
×

 

Hitesh Goyal
Project Associate, Punjab
×

 

 
Hitesh is part of Crop Residue Management Initiative, looking after the project implementation in Patiala and Sangrur districts of Punjab. His role primarily involves working with farmers, cooperative societies and district administration in order to create sustainable farming solutions for all stakeholders. He has an experience of more than a year on ground project implementation. He is a commerce graduate and holds a certification in interior designing.
 
×

 

Jibran Zakir
Project Associate
×

 

Jibran Zakir
Project Associate
 
Jibran Zakir is a part of the Climate Change Resilience Team. He looks after Waste Management Initiative in Okhla, New Delhi. His role primarily involves working with waste workers, R.W.A and municipal cooperation in order to create zero waste societies. He has an experience of about 1 year of on ground project implementation. He has also previously worked with Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses (SPYM) and FXB India Suraksha (FXBIS) in different capacities. He has a Bachelor's degree in B.com from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, University of Delhi and holds a postgraduate degree in Master’s in Social Work (MSW) from Amity University along with certifications in Nature-Based Solutions for Disaster & Climate Resilience from UN Environment Programme & in Municipal Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, The École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne(EPFL).
 
×

 

Abdullah Siddiqui
Project Coordinator, Punjab
×

 

 
Abdullah Siddiqui is part of Crop Residue Management Initiative, looking after the project implementation in Ludhiana, Punjab. His role primarily includes working with farmers, cooperative societies, district administration, agricultural department and other concerned departments. Abdullah has previously worked with IIPA as a Research Assistant, where he audited two Central Government schemes. These projects gave him a micro-level understanding of the implementation of government schemes on ground Abdullah holds an MBA from Jamia Millia Islamia.
 
×

 

Prashasti Yadav
Communications Associate
×

 

Prashasti Yadav
Communications Associate
 
Prashasti Yadav is working as Communications Associate in the Communications team.

A budding communication professional, she is committed to bringing nuance, complexities, and impact of the development sector from the margins to the mainstream. Having worked in various social work areas - Geriatric Social Work, Correctional Social Work, Psychiatric Social Work, to name a few, she holds fast to make a change.

Previously, she has worked with L&T's CSR in Rajpura, Patiala, and Fatehgarh Sahib districts in the domain of Women Empowerment, along with Education, Rural Development, and Water & Sanitation verticals.

She has obtained a degree in Masters of Social Work from Panjab University, Chandigarh, and has a Bachelor's degree in Political Science (H) from Mehr Chand Mahajan (MCM) DAV College for Women, Chandigarh.
 
×