Board of Directors

Manisha Gupte: President/ Chairperson

Co-founder, MASUM, Pune

She has been part of the women’s and health rights movements in India since the mid 1970s. She has studied Microbiology (MSc) and Sociology. Her PhD thesis was on the concept and practices of patriarchal honour, and how it intersects with caste, sexuality, violence and the agency of subordinated women. She co-founded MASUM, a rural women’s organisation in 1987, after living in a drought prone rural area for five years, and has been its co-convenor since then. She spent one year (1997-98) in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore as a Visiting Fellow. She is associated with progressive organisations nationally, regionally and internationally as an advisor, board member or trainer. She has participated in and has promoted campaigns related to reproductive, sexual and minority rights, and violence against women. She has worked on policy issues with the state and central governments in India over the past three decades. She was the coordinator of the ‘10th International Women and Health Meeting (IWHM)’, held in New Delhi in September 2005. Her co-edited book (2012) titled ‘Honour’ and Women’s Rights: South Asian Perspectives includes 15 papers, highlighting complementary feminist positions from seven countries.

Gagan Sethi: Director

Founding Trustee, and Chair Janvikas Trust, Ahmedabad

Mr Sethi is a Development educator and practicing Organizational Development expert and a Gender trainer. As founder of Janvikas, he has helped set up several strategic organizations in the country,  Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, Sahjeevan, Drishti, Centre for Social Justice, HID forum, Econet, to name a few. He was appointed as member of monitoring group by NHRC to monitor human right violations during the Gujarat Earthquake & Communal Violence. His professional expertise lies in Human and Institutional development, training, designing organizational development interventions, moderation and strategic planning. He has done several assignments  for SDC. GIZ, Christian Aid and other INGO’s.

Abhijit Das: Director

Director, Centre for Health and Social Justice

Abhijit Das is Director of Centre for Health and Social Justice (CHSJ), a policy research and advocacy institution around health and human rights and men and gender equality in India. He is also a Clinical Associate Professor at the Department of Global Health, at the University of Washington in Seattle USA. He has worked for over fifteen years as a community based clinician and manager of community based health and development programs in North India. Over the last decade he has been working on health policy especially in the area of gender, health rights and accountability. He works in an advisory capacity with the ministry of health at the Central level and in different states in India. He has been involved in setting up MASVAW ( Men’s Action for Stopping Violence Against Women) a network of men working on gender equality and responding to the issue of violence against women which is now active in five states across India. Abhijit is also founder member of ‘Health watch Forum’ a national network working on sexual reproductive health issues, and Men Engage a global alliance on men and gender equality. He was awarded the Fellowship in Population Innovations by MacArthur Foundation in 1995 and the Packard – Gates Fellowship by the University of Washington in 2002.

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