Governance

Board of Directors

Prof. Vinod Chandra Menon

Chairperson

Ms. Priya Patil

Secretary

Dr. Aravind Chinchure

Trustee

Mr. Adolph Furtado

Treasurer

Mr. Nisheeth Kumar

Trustee

Ms. Urvashi Devidayal

Trustee

Mr. Abhishek Kadam

Trustee

Ms. Archana Bhosale

Trustee

Ms. Payal Randhawa

Trustee

Ms. Suranjana Gupta

Trustee

Senior Leadership Team

Ms. Naseem Shaikh

Chief Executive Officer
Naseem Shaikh has over three decades of experience working with Swayam Shikshan Prayog to mobilize rural grassroots women and strengthen their economic, social, and political capabilities, enabling them to move from the margins to the mainstream. Following the 1993 Latur earthquake, SSP worked as an implementing organization across villages, mobilizing women in 500 villages to act as a bridge between communities and the government. Since then, she has continued to work with SSP to shape women as leaders, entrepreneurs and planners, advancing women-led climate resilience, sustainable farming and community development. She is also a leader with the Huairou Commission, strengthening global grassroots networks.

Mr. Baby T Varghese

Director – Finance and Admin
Baby T Varghese has been associated with Swayam Shikshan Prayog for over three decades. He leads the finance function, ensuring that the organization meets all statutory requirements related to accounting, HR and legal compliance in a timely and cost effective manner. He has played a key role in strengthening and refining systems and processes in line with SSP’s evolving needs, while also providing strategic guidance on financial planning and management.

Ms. Jiji Sebastian

Director – Partnerships, Documentation and Communications
Jiji Sebastian has strong leadership experience in strategy, program implementation, branding, partnerships and stakeholder engagement, HR and governance. She has been instrumental in steering SSP’s growth, from its early community engagement work following the Latur earthquake in 1993 to its emergence as a nationally recognized organization, empowering more than seven lakh rural women across multiple sectors.

Mr. Laxmikant Malvadkar

Director – IT and Knowledge Management
Laxmikant Malvadkar is an innovative socio-technical development professional with IT and management experience. He oversees a range of basic business, vocational and entrepreneurship training programs for rural women and youth in SSP’s operational areas. He also leads the development of training material and liaises with government and technical institutions. He has worked for over three decades with underserved communities to enable access to basic services and livelihood opportunities.
Devkanya Jagdale

Ms. Devkanya Jagdale

Director – Women’s Initiative to learn and lead (WILL)
Devkanya Jagdale leads and strengthen SSP’s Women’s Initiative to learn and lead (WILL) programme by providing strategic and programmatic leadership across all intervention areas. She guides the grassroots women leaders on designing and implementation of women-led development programmes focused on climate resilience, livelihoods, entrepreneurship, and WASH.