Board Members
Our Board
Bim Bissell
Bim Bissell, the wife of late FabIndia founder John Bissell, has run the Playhouse School and worked as a social secretary to US Ambassadors John Kenneth Galbraith, Chester Bowles, and Judge Kenneth Keating in New Delhi. She has spent 21 years with the World Bank and worked as a senior accountant and executive ASP for the Government of India’s Tourism and Travel Account from 1972 to 1975. She worked as an external affairs officer at the World Bank in New Delhi from 1975 to 1996. In 1992, with the help of Japanese government funds and the World Bank, she founded Udyogini, an NGO that works with assetless, landless women in India, with Ela Bhatt of SEWA as chair.
Sumita Ghose
Ms. Sumita holds master’s degrees in Economics and Conflict Resolution and has received multiple honors, including the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2016. She is the founder and managing director of Rangsutra, a social enterprise promoting socio-economic development in rural India by connecting communities with markets. Before establishing Rangsutra in 2006, she spent over a decade working in rural Rajasthan with the URMUL Trust, driving social and economic initiatives. She serves on the boards of several organizations, including URMUL Trust, Udyogini, and PLD, and is a certified yoga practitioner and teacher.
Smita Mohanty
Ms. Smita is a leader with 30 years of expertise in Human Resource Development, and sustainable development. She is the Promoter and Whole-Time Director of Cognisphere Solutions Limited and a Director at Amazon Infratrade Pvt. Limited. A champion of social impact, she is a founder member of the Institute for Group Facilitation (IGF) and serves on the board of Udyogini. With 25 years at PRADAN, she has contributed to organizational development, gender equality, and leadership initiatives. Her expertise includes strategic planning, impact assessments, and facilitating gender awareness programs.
Lalitha Iyer
Dr. Lalitha is an experienced consultant and facilitator specializing in organizational change and women’s empowerment. Founder of Plustrust, she supports rural women’s entrepreneurship and has collaborated with various sectors, including banking, education, and social development. She is the co-editor of *T-Group Facilitation: Theory and Practice of Applied Behavioural Science* (2022) and author of several books on strategy, sustainability, and institutional transformation. With a background in economics and statistics, she is also a feminist mentor and a professional member of ISABS.
Reshma Ghoshal
From working with global corporates and exciting startups to Bollywood’s finest, Ms. Reshma
Ghoshal is a marketing maven who effortless shifts from crafting unforgettable brand stories
to using design thinking for compelling campaigns. A multi-disciplinary marketing and communications polymath, she was an insider at agencies and large corporations for nearly two decades, until she decided to jump headlong into the thrilling world of entrepreneurship. As co-founder of The Good Edge, a strategic and integrated communications agency clocking double digit growth year on year, Reshma oversees all things creative. Her professional life is a tapestry of rich experiences, ranging from hosting mega events and almost headlining her own show on a leading radio channel back in the early noughties to working for a global bank across India, China and Europe. She volunteers her time for NGOs focussing on primary education, sustainability, gender diversity and grassroots entrepreneur development.
Rashmi Saxena
With over two decades of experience, Dr Rashmi is a distinguished expert in training, development communication, and organizational capacity building. Her work is rooted in gender-sensitive approaches, focusing on empowering the marginalized. Holding a PhD in Development Communication, she excels in driving behavioural change and fostering skill development across health, education, and enterprise development sectors. Dr. Rashmi is a member of ISABS and currently serves as the Dean of Social Development, a voluntary role. She has partnered with esteemed organizations, including the American Red Cross, contributing to transformative initiatives in sustainable development, watershed management, and women’s empowerment.
