Our Team

Ruchi Kashyap: Executive Trustee

With over 24 exhilarating years in the development sector, Ruchi has led Atmashakti since 2008, following her tenure at SRUTI (Society for Rural Urban and Tribal Initiative).

Since embarking on her journey in the development sector in 1998, Ruchi has gained extensive experience working at the grassroots level. Her dynamic personality, strategic thinking, passion, dedication, and innovative creativity have propelled the organization to new heights. She bravely ventured into large-scale risk-taking and experimentation to foster sustainable collective action in the tribal and marginalized communities of Odisha.

As a woman leader, Ruchi has carved out her place in a decidedly patriarchal mindset while creating opportunities for others. She promotes diversity and the integration of various skill sets within the workforce, empowering her team to grow and excel. Today, she is a mentor and guide to a formidable team of approximately 400 individuals working to empower tribal and marginalized communities.

In May 2023, Ruchi achieved another milestone by completing the Master of Science in Nonprofit Leadership (NPL) program at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. She looks forward to applying her knowledge, ideas, and innovation to drive the organization’s growth.

Sandhya Singh: Chief Finance Officer

Sandhya has been working with Atmashakti for the last 10 years. She has a total of 15 years’ experience in Audit and Finance work. Prior to Atmashakti Trust she worked with ‘The Other Media’ and ‘PANOS South Asia’ in the development sector.  Currently she is leading the Finance, HR and Admin portfolio’s in Atmashakti both in Delhi, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.

Santosh Kumar: Program Lead – Noida Slum, National Consortium, People’s Collectives (Sonbhadra and Chhattisgarh)

Santosh joined Atmashakti in July 2015.  He is a postgraduate in Sociology from Shobhit University, Meerut, and interned for 18 months with National Centre for Advocacy Studies, Pune.  He has over 18 years of experience with the People’s Organization and Social movement. He comes with a wide range of expertise, such as community mobilization, advocacy and policy level intervention, networking with Civil Society organizations, building and working with alliances, and people’s forum.  Before joining Atmashakti, he worked with Jan Adhikar Kendra, Jeewan Mashal Samiti and Programme for Social Action. He also did consultancy and fellowship in many rights-based people’s forums and organizations. He is also a recipient of ‘UNV Karamveer Chakra Award’ for his contributions to the people movement. Santosh is also a Co-Founder of Dalit Shakti Sangathan in Bihar.

Santosh is a team player and a quick learner with a positive attitude.

Neha: Sr. Program Manager – Agriculture & Health

Neha is a postgraduate in Computer Science and joined Atmashakti in 2016.  She has over 11 years of experience working for the rights of migrant workers/women and industrial workers in Delhi-NCR. Before joining Atmashakti, Neha worked in varied roles – Field Researcher, Labour Organizer, and Field Investigator with different social organizations and did a study and research on migrant workers with ILO. She was also a team member of the Katkatha Puppets Art Trust.

Neha is a go-getter with a contagious and positive energy to rally people.

Manoj Kumar Samantray – Senior Manager – Research & Impact and DBMS (Database Management System)

Manoj holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from Utkal University and joined Atmashakti in 2016. He has 15 years of experience in the Development sector, managing full project developments and leading & managing multiple disciplines such as Disaster Risk Management, Monitoring, Evaluation and Convergence, networking and Liasioning with various government and international funding projects, etc. Before joining Atmashakti, Manoj worked with IPE Global Ltd, CENDERT, XIMB, Seba Dharitree, and SRISTI. During his tenure with IPE Global, he has ensured ongoing operational support and Technical Assistance to PR Dept. and Dept. of FS & CW in the district and state on various reformative measures, especially in two schemes, namely MGNREGA and Targeted Public Distribution System.

His career goal is to be a Rural & Urban Development Expert in the development sector, having multi-disciplinary learning potential and growth.

Henarani Nayak: Sr. Program Manager – Women Centric & Gender Awareness

Hena is responsible for promoting women’s leadership at the global level. She plays a significant role in shaping the strategic direction and guidelines to work in a conducive environment for the organization’s employees. Before joining Atmashakti Trust, Hena served as a Program Manager for the “Prevention of trafficking of women and girls in India” project for the NAWO-Odisha Chapter. Before that, she worked for various NGOs and INGOs, supporting the state programs and diversified teams in Punjab and different parts of Odisha.

Hena brings 20 years of experience in gender equality and multi-sectoral interventions, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, maternal and child health, gender-based violence, agriculture, food security, migration, and trafficking. Heena holds a Master’s in Social Work from Allahabad Agriculture University-Bhubaneswar Odisha. The US Department of State selected her as a Professional Fellow in 2018.

Nityananda Thanapati: Sr. Program Manager – e-Sangathan & 12B12M

Nityananda holds a Master’s in Social Work from ITMS – Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He has worked as a Trainer of PHFI, NACO and OSACS on HIV/AIDS and Sexual Reproductive Health. In his 20 years in the Development Sector, he has worked in the state of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha with National and International NGOs managing different projects related to school and mass education, projects on accountability and governance vis-à-vis MGNREGA, community mobilization to name a few.

Nitya joined Atmashakti in 2017 as a Program Manager for Special Projects. He handles E- Sangathan and 12 Baje 12 Minute (Twitter Platform).

Nitya is an energetic person who looks forward to taking on new assignments from time to time and bringing them to their logical conclusion in a mature and responsible manner.

Prasanna Pradhan: Sr. Program Manager – MSMO

Prasanna joined Atmashakti in November 2015 as part of the Malkangiri District Team.  He has a Master’s degree in Social Work and 22 years of experience in grass root organizations with expertise in rural water and sanitation. He worked for 8 years with Gram Vikas on water and sanitation issues at the grassroots level doing Monitoring and Evaluation, Planning, Documentation etc.

He is the Sr. Program Manager- MSMO of Balangir, Nuapada, Mayurbhanj Districts and Western Odisha.

Jaya Bharti: Program Lead – Volunteer Engagement, M&E and People’s Collectives (OSM/MSMO/BBSR Slum)

Jaya is a solutions-oriented leader who believes in innovation for development. She has over 20 years of diverse experience in the development sector working with the rural community from both the perspective of grassroots and international development organizations. Her expertise is Programme Management, Organization Development, Consortium Management, and Resource Mobilization.

She has a mission to create an enabling environment for children and youth and empower them to use their potential constructively for socio-economic and political development. Working towards the mission in 2012, she founded Ayaad Foundation and ran Dimagshala learning center for underprivileged children in Rural Rajasthan.

With interest in learning about self-sustainable replicable models working at scale for the socio-economic and political empowerment of tribal and Dalit communities, she joined Atmashakti in 2021. She works with our collaborative networks in Odisha for cadre building and Sangathan sustainability.