Adil Qureishi

Prior to joining United Way Mumbai, Adil worked as a general practitioner in Mumbai, as a clinical assistant and as an Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support and a Basic Life Support Instructor in various states of India. He is a self motivated individual and enjoys working for community development projects.

Adil is a Public Health graduate from Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, I also holds BHMS and PGDEMS degrees.

Aditi Srivastava

Aditi is a graduate in Biotechnology and post graduate in Environmental Sciences. The major part of her work experience of two and a half years consisted of setting-up an environmental consultancy with a small team.

She is a strong believer in positive thinking. Other mood upliftment techniques that she uses are reading novels and dancing.

Aishwarya Iyer

Aishwarya has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. Passionate about improving the education of underprivileged children, she worked as a Teach for India Fellow in a government school in Mumbai, where she taught and mentored a class of elementary students for two years. She believes it is the responsibility of every citizen to contribute to the welfare of the society they live in. In her free time, Aishwarya enjoys reading, colouring and watching movies.

Ajay Govale

Ajay joined United Way in June 2007. He earned a Master's in Social Work from TISS, Mumbai, specializing in in Urban and Rural Community Development, after graduating from College of Social Work - Nirmala Niketan. His core areas of expertise include program development, multi-stakeholder partnership management and community participation. Ajay heads the Community Impact initiatives of UWM and has been actively associated with initiatives such as: Mission Mangroves, United for Road Safety, Youth for A Healthy Mumbai campaign, Third Party Audit of Clean-up Mumbai campaign of MCGM, etc.

He is keenly interested in community based disaster management, environment and civic issues. Ajay is also part of the Visiting Faculty for Emergency Response Management at NMIMS.

Akbar Shikalgar

Before joining United Way Mumbai, Akbar worked at GOV-Matters India as a political consultant. Akbar holds a graduates degree in Political Science and a Master's in Water Policy and Governance in addition to being a student of History and Marathi literature. A Gold Medalist at University of Mumbai, Akbar represented the University at a State Level Research Convention.

Akbar is passionate about working in the development sector, and looks forward to growing along with United Way Mumbai.

Amol Lad

Amol is a BCom graduate from Mumbai University who pursued a one-year program in Industrial Accounting at ICA Institute after graduation.

He has 4+ years of experience in Accounting & Finance and is currently enrolled in the MBA program at Welingkar Institute. Amol has a creative side and enjoys hosting shows and cooking.

Anil Parmar

Anil joined UWM in 2008 and has wide-ranging experience in programme designing, management, monitoring and evaluation, impact assessment and reporting. He has worked extensively with the government in public-private partnerships for projects on betterment of community health services, civic awareness and the environment. He has keen interest in demonstrating visible community impact through a multi-stakeholder approach — including government, NGOs, corporate partners and community stakeholders. Anil has an MBA in Social Entrepreneurship from NMIMS, Mumbai; is a post graduate from College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan and leads the Community Investment projects team at United Way Mumbai.

Anil has penned research papers on various community health issues. An avid development professional, he is passionate about implementing and scaling high impact projects and pragmatic public advocacy on health and education issues affecting communities.

Ankur Joshi

Ankur Joshi is a seasoned botanist specializing in plant taxonomy with over 12 years of experience in ecology and plant-based research.

He has a deep appreciation for the natural world and enjoys exploring various topics that relate to it, such as science, geography, and history. In addition to his love for nature, Ankur is also intrigued by psychology and ethology. He's an avid music lover and enjoys listening to various genres. He's also a big cricket fan, committed to exercising regularly, and enjoys watching Marvel movies in his downtime. Finally, Ankur is keenly interested in folklore and enjoys learning about the myths and legends that have shaped cultures throughout history.

Ashwini Sonar

Ashwini graduated in Social Work from Nirmala Niketan and is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Social Work from Open University. She has 3 years' experience in the Social Sector. She has intense experience in working with schools and stakeholders in coordinating, confirming, and ensuring smooth implementation of activities.

I am a dance lover and also love to play PUBG in my free time.

Avijit Chakrovorty

Avijit joined United Way Mumbai in 2015. He has a bachelors degree in Business Administration. At United Way Mumbai, he handles various projects in the campaigns department and oversees the communications department. Before joining the development sector, Avijit worked in the corporate industry for over seven years. He is a seasoned professional with experience in B2B and B2C Marketing and Communications. Much of his work has involved identifying and developing strategic alliances and partnerships as a core marketing strategy and holistic engagement in ATL/BTL activations, visual merchandising, corporate communication and media planning/public relations activities. He has helped develop unique dimensions and concept-synergistic brand campaigns and ample exposure to commendable tie-ups across verticals and with diverse brands ranging from FMCG to airlines, media, and more.

He is a travel enthusiast and a photo hobbyist. He loves trekking and running marathons and finds comfort in the company of animals.

Bikesh Singh

Bikesh is a post-graduate from Mumbai University. He also completed a diploma in tax and financial management from the Welingkar Institute of Management. Before joining UWM, Bikesh was working in Ambuja Cement Foundation for six years as an officer – finance and accounts. He has an experience of 10+ years in the areas of finance, accounts, audit, and compliance department.

Bikesh is innovative and one among those who keep looking something challenging to do. Apart from this he enjoys playing cricket, singing & travelling.

Chinmay Patil

Chinmay has a postgraduate degree in Rural Development and Governance and also has experience in public policy. His prior work includes positions in government offices of Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

His interests lie in literature and travelling.

Christiana Stephen

Christiana pursued her education in humanities from the College of Social Work Nirmala Niketan and Tata Institute of Social Sciences. She is a development practitioner who firmly commits to feminist livelihood strengthening and ecosystems of vulnerable groups. She previously worked at PRADAN, a grassroots rural development organization, where she focused on enhancing women's collectives and various livelihood portfolios in the tribal belt of Madhya Pradesh.

Her areas of interest include working on alternative livelihoods and repatriating institutionalized children. In her free time, Christiana enjoys reading the works of Enid Blyton, watching comedy-action movies and k-dramas, and taking leisure walks.

Christina Kinny

Christina believes in learning from various sectors, which led her to pursue a B.A. in Economics and Sociology and a Master's in Social Work from the College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan. She has been extensively associated with the development sector since 2012. Prior to joining UWM, she worked with Under The Mango Tree Society; a social enterprise that focused on building livelihood opportunities for marginal farmers through indigenous beekeeping. After a 3 year stint there, she went on to head CSR at Mastek Group's Mastek Foundation, where she contributed to their CSR policies, developed NGO incubation models and partnership strategies.

Christina is a gymnastics enthusiast and loves writing and studying regional cuisines.

Cyril Gaikwad

Cyril holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from Wilson College and a Master's in Social Work from Nirmala Niketan, where his research paper focused on the 'Katkari Tribe'. Alongside his Master's, he interned with Sarva Vikas Deep, which works for the betterment of the tribal community. His second internship was with Snehasadan, an NGO working with Street Children. He has also served with the Child Welfare Committee (pan Mumbai) and done research on Child Welfare Committees. Cyril's experience in the field of tribal welfare also includes a month long internship with the “Bodo” Community in Assam.

He enjoys working closely in communities and is good at mobilising them. He is also well versed in liaising and building a rapport with stakeholders and networking. Cyril's hobbies comprise photography and travel. He is also a keen sportsman and plays Cricket and practices mixed Martial Arts.

Daniel Raj

Daniel has a master's degree in Social Work - Community Development from Madras Christian College. With a career spanning over a decade, Daniel has gained rich experience in various sectors, including livelihoods, financial inclusion, social inclusion, and social empowerment. Daniel is an expert in designing and implementing small and micro-enterprise development projects for vulnerable families. He is a certified UPG model specialist by World Vision International Technical Academy. He has promoted over 50,000 small and micro-entrepreneurs and formed over 5 Farmer's Producer organizations nationwide in the last 10 years.

In his free time, Daniel loves to travel to remote places to meet people and explore their ways of living. This passion for travel takes him out of his comfort zones, inspires him to try new things, and gives him the confidence to explore the world.

Debopama Bandyopadhyay

With an educational background in Political Science, South and South East Asian Studies and Social Work, Debopama has almost four years of work experience in the development sector working with various NGOs. She is meticulous about her work and is eager to gain new experiences, while keeping a positive attitude. Debopama is passionate about bringing a positive and impactful contribution to any organisation she is associated with.

Debopama is passionate about bringing a positive and impactful contribution to any organisation she is associated with.

Debpriya Adhikary

Debpriya pursued MA in Sociology from Jadavpur University. She is a driven and enthusiastic analyst, originally from Kolkata but currently working in Mumbai. She spent the last four years working in the humanitarian sector, focusing on monitoring and evaluation. Before joining UWM, she consulted for both Seefar and Aangan Trust.

Besides her work, Debpriya finds inspiration in food, travel, and good books. Debpriya has already published a few pieces of work and is working on a book chapter for Palgrave Macmillan on the topic of 'Indian migrants in South Asia.'

Diana Frenchman

Diana has operated successfully in diverse geographies and socio-economic conditions, with substantial experience in project management, a strong literary base and command over a vast set of languages. She has exceptional interpersonal skills and has been working in the development sector with a focus on project coordination and business development bringing about seminal changes in the craft sector by nurturing artisan led micro-enterprises.

Dr. Kavita Puranik

Kavita is a certified healthcare professional. After completing her graduation in Dentistry, she practised for four years. With a strong interest in planning and designing healthcare programs to achieve high impact, she obtained her Master's degree in Health Administration from TISS, Mumbai.

Before joining UWM, Kavita worked on projects to strengthen primary healthcare services and implement telemedicine programs in rural areas. It was in collaboration with government and NGO partners. Her hobbies include travelling, reading and trying out new cuisines.

Ganeshri Khare

Ganeshri completed her Bachelor's in Science from St. Xavier's and recently earned her PGDHRM degree from NMIMS. She started her career as a medical coder before HR as a profession. Previously, she was a part of Antarang Foundation as their HR professional.

Ganeshri enjoys listening to audiobooks, crafting, and trying home remedies or DIYs. She's passionate about working with people!

Gayatri Karekar

Gayatri has a BCom degree from Mumbai University and a Post Graduation Diploma in Tax Management from Welingkar Institute. With over 8 years of experience in the social sector, Gayatri has worked as an accountant for Meljol and Aangan Trust.

She is passionate about food and enjoys trying out new dishes.

George J Aikara

George joined United Way Mumbai In April 2011. He has a management degree from SIBM, Pune and has previously worked in sales and marketing positions in India and supply chain operations internationally.

Prior to joining UWM he was based in Africa handling among other functions, CSR initiatives, forming strategic developmental alliances with international stakeholders, and forming self-help groups among agri communities. He has a strong interest and inclination towards furthering philanthropy, sustainable community initiatives and organizations supporting the development of social enterprises. George is also a United Way Worldwide global fellow.

Jagruti Sharma

Prior to United Way Mumbai, Jagruti worked in Mahindra & Mahindra for a year in sustainability. Something she enjoys immensely, however is helping people, which is why she finally decided to make a career in the development sector after a brief stint in preparing for the civil services. She has been working in the development sector since 2021, with youth in the field of gender and gender equality. Now at United Way Mumbai, Jagruti works with the Corporate Partnerships team.

Jagruti is an engineer by education and I has a BE in Mechanical Engineering.

Janhvi Iyer

Janhvi is a public policy and governance graduate from Azim Premji University with a keen interest in communications and stakeholder management. She has interned with organizations like the Delhi Commission for Women and has been a marketing communications head for She For Change.

She is a classically trained singer and dancer and is excited by social media algorithms.

Joslin Antony

Joslin has a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from Wilson College and a Masters in Social Work (2016) from Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work. Thereafter, she joined Navnirmiti Eduquality Foundation (NEF) for a year as an Operational Manager for Educational Services & Community Development.

Joslin has interned in organizations like Praja Foundation and Majlis for a year each, while pursing her MSW. Apart from this she enjoys dancing and travelling and loves to binge watch her favourite shows as often as she can.

Karan Desai

Karan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Automobile Engineering from Pillai’s College of Engineering. After completing his BE, Karan joined Green Earth Translogistics Pvt. Ltd. a company focused on road safety, where he worked for 2 years and developed a passion for making people’s life happier by making roads safer.

His hobbies include travelling, bodybuilding and riding motorcycles. He is also a keen sportsperson and has played for the Thane city cricket team.

Kashish Warikoo

Kashish holds a Bachelor's Degree in Banking and Insurance from H.R. College of Commerce and Economics and a Masters in Social Work from Nirmala Niketan. Before joining UWM, she interned with us for a while on different projects across departments. Kashish has interned at various non-profits such as Make A Wish Foundation, AIESEC in Kielce, Poland, Impact India Foundation and the LifeLine Express.

Her interests include dancing, reading books of various genres and binge-watching shows and movies in her free time.

Krutika Wadhwani

Krutika comes from a paramedical field, having completed her Bachelor's and Master's in Nutrition and Dietetics. Her recent clinical work experience was in KEM hospital. Krutika has also interned as a nutritionist for 2 start-ups during her Master's.

This is her first stint in public health nutrition.

Manali Bhavsar

Manali holds a Masters's degree in Extension Education from SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai. She has 10 years of experience in the development sector, working in the fields of hunger, land rights, leadership, gender, education, governance, livelihood, life skills for adolescents, and value education. Manali’s core areas of experience are in program management, planning, preparing training modules, budgets, reports, newsletters, case studies, grant proposals, managing relationships with stakeholders in government as well as the private sector.

Prior to joining UWM, Manali worked with organizations like UNICEF, ISRO, and Rise Against Hunger India. She loves interacting with people and outside work she enjoys singing, watching movies, and cooking.

Manashree Mantri

Manashree is a Home-Science graduate with specialisation in Early Childhood Development, from SNDT University. She completed her Master's in Social work from the College Of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan.

Her years of experience in Project Implementation include training several frontline health workers on maternal and newborn health. Her pastimes include reading and spending time with her family.

Manish Parmar

Manish is a post graduate in Social Work from College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan. He has 14 years of professional experience in the social development sector. He has worked with organizations like Haqdarshak Empower Solution, Safe Kids Foundation, Don Bosco and SNEHA. Furthermore, he has managed multistate, impactful projects around child safety, livelihood and skill development, education and public health. Manish is a state-level basketball player. He enjoys singing Hindi songs, reading fiction books and articles on current affairs. He also loves travelling to hill stations.

Marian Sequeira

Marian has three years' experience in connecting children and young adults with volunteers to help them develop life, social skills and values through activities. Currently, she looks forward to working with United Way Mumbai in the Campaigns team.

Marian graduated from the College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan with a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work, and Diploma in Therapeutic Counseling.

Melvyn Castelino

Melvyn completed his BCom from Ruparel College, Matunga, and later pursued an Executive MBA in Development Studies from S. P. Jain Institute of Management & Research, Andheri. He has over two decades of experience in retail and non-profit sectors. In his previous role at 'Save the Children India', he worked on a skilling project to provide vocational training to underprivileged youth. In the development sector, he worked on various livelihood, social enterprises, and climate change projects.

In addition to his professional work, Melvyn also has a passion for adventure sports. He loves to go paragliding and is an experienced high-altitude driver. These activities allow him to push his boundaries and challenge himself both physically and mentally.

Mitali Mutta

Mitali hails from Vadodara, Gujarat. She completed her education from M.S.University. She is a very hopeful person and absolutely fond of travelling amidst nature. In her free time, she like taking a stroll along with mild music.

Mukesh Dev

Mukesh completed his M.Tech in 2012, having specialized in Soil and Water conservation Engineering. He was soon recruited for the Madhya Pradesh government's IWMP (Integrated Watershed Management Programme). His scope of work involved executing technical planning, coordinating with various stakeholders and supervising the construction of various structures, like stop dams, gabion, pond, percolation tanks etc. His project was placed 3rd in the Government of India "River Revival Project".

Mukesh enjoys reading and writing poetry.

Nandita Narvekar

Nandita started her journey at United Way of Mumbai in April 2013 after finishing her MA in Human Resource Management from University of Westminster, London. Prior to that, she worked in an executive search firm for eighteen months in Mumbai. She has completed her Bachelor's in Management Studies from H. R. College of Commerce and Economics.

During her under graduate years, she realized her inclination towards the social causes, and consequently worked on several projects addressing the issues related to women and youth empowerment, education for underprivileged and lack of electricity in rural India. At United Way of Mumbai, Nandita works for Corporate Partnerships, specifically focusing on Workplace Campaigns. Nandita's areas of interest lie in employee engagement through skill development initiative in education, livelihood and woman empowerment as she believes a professional can always impart skills and knowledge that they possess.

Natasha Albuquerque

Natasha holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and a Post Graduate Certificate in Development Management from the S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research. She has worked for 11 years with a child rights non-profit organization, which provided education to children from urban and tribal marginalized communities, handling Donor Relations, Finance and Administration.

Natasha's key focus has been conceptualizing and implementing strategies for resource mobilization and communications. She has handled all aspects of fundraising – identification, cultivation, solicitation, acknowledgement and engagement. Natasha is a librocubicularist and is keenly interested in Art and Craft.

Nikhil Tambe

Nikhil has been with United Way since November 2015, in the capacity of Office Assistant. Nikhil is currently pursuing his Bachelor's degree in Commerce from Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University. His main interest lies in photography.

Pooja Rawat

Pooja recently finished her Master's in Education from Azim Premji University and has graduated from Nirmala Niketan with a Bachelor's degree in Social Work. She joins the Community Relations team in Operations as an executive.

Taking forward her love for teaching Pooja runs a remedial class for children staying in slums, in her free time.

Pooja Shinde

Pooja holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Science & Technology and is experienced in strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, community-based surveys, data analysis, report writing, and building collaborative networks. She is passionate about community empowerment and conservation, having worked with frontline forest staff deployed in Protected Areas around Central India for their preventive healthcare project to address on-field health issues and emergency trauma management training for the frontline forest staff. Pooja has also worked with scheduled tribe and nomadic pastoral communities of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, on a community-based renewable energy management project.

When she's not at work, she likes to spend her time writing poetry and exploring the city or can be found captivated in the cinematic universe and obsessing over the latest film she watched.

Poonam Wadke

Poonam graduated from Mumbai University. She also studied GIC and GDCA. Poonam has worked in the accounts department for over fifteen years. She joined UWM in October 2009 as the accounts manager. In her free time, she enjoys coaching her daughter's little league games & cooking.

Prachi Nautiyal

Prachi Nautiyal joined United Way in 2013. She heads the Corporate Partnerships department. She comes with experience in the development sector in the key areas of program planning and implementation, resource mobilisation, grant management in CSR. Over the years, her key focus has been in the areas of women's studies, geriatrics, early child development and education, and developing and testing modules in the area of sustainable livelihoods through cluster based approaches & self-help groups in non-agricultural livelihood in India.

Prachi has worked extensively with the government in public- private partnerships, with multilateral funding organisations in the areas of fund raising, Research, program planning & implementation, monitoring and review of field programs and has written research papers in gender studies. Prachi holds a Master's degree in Linguistics from Delhi University & is a Post Graduate in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

Priya Kale

Priya has a post-graduation in Social Work, specializing in Dalit and Tribal Studies and Action, and an MPhil in Women's Studies. She has extensive experience working in the areas of women and child development, education, nutrition, and health.

Along with social work, she has a keen interest in photography, which allows her to capture and convey stories through her lens. She also enjoys reading, playing badminton, travelling, and dancing.

Puja Roongta

Puja was born and brought up in Kolkata and has been staying in Mumbai since 2006. She completed her professional education from Kolkata with an MSc (Economics) and MBA in Finance. She began her career in the financial sector where she has worked with companies such as Shriram City Union Finance, Apeejay Securities and B&K Securities. Simultaneously, she also volunteered with The Akanksha Foundation and Rang De and became aware of her passion for community service and made a shift to the development sector. Puja joined The Akanksha Foundation as a manager heading their program, Beyond Academics.

On the personal front, Puja loves to travel and explore new places, interacting with people.

Rahul Koyalkar

Rahul has a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Studies (specialisation in Finance) from Siddharth College of Commerce & Economics. Alongside pursuing his graduation, he interned at The Akanksha Foundation with their Finance team. He enjoyed the work as he likes the environment of the development sector.

In his spare time, Rahul listens to music and is a huge fan of Netflix.

Rahul Patil

Rahul has a Bachelor's degree in Management Studies and also pursued a 3-year course in Graphic and Visual Effects from Arena Animation. His areas of expertise include branding, typography, illustration, and animation. Rahul's passion for design started early, and he has spent countless hours learning and perfecting his craft.

Rahul is also passionate about photography and sketching.

Rakesh Gamare

Rakesh has a Master's degree in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, specialising in Children and Family. Prior to this,he had experienced working with tribal children on the issue of education; the happiness which it gave him led to his decision to pursue a degree in Social Work.

His fieldwork also includes working with the 'Gorai Macchimar Sahakari Sanstha' where he worked as a community developer in a team organising health camps and creating awareness about the Tribal Scheme. His past work with YUVA saw him take up work that was community based as well as concerned with child rights. For rural practicum Rakesh worked with Society for Participatory Action and Reflection (SPAR), Jharkhand, to understand rural poverty and inequality. His thesis was on 'Success Stories of Street Living Children'. His aim is to be a part of the Social Work process to contribute to community well-being.

Ravindra Arwel

Ravindra holds a Post Graduate's degree from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has over a decade's experience in the development sector, with managerial positions in CRY, Naandi Foundation and Tata Power Community Development Trust. Ravindra's core areas of experience are in project management, intervention design and implementation, working with various Government Departments, team management, etc. His work involved helping define strategies for programme effectiveness at both individual and group levels, for maximum impact.

Ravindra enjoys travel, reading and photography.

Renuka Birgodiya

Renuka hails from Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. She has an M.Sc. in Chemistry from DAVV, Indore and a B.Sc. in Biotechnology. She also holds a Diploma in Nutrition and Health Education from IGNOU. Additionally she has completed the Avantha Nutrition fellowship program of Avantha Foundation in Melghat, Maharashtra. She has been an SBI Youth For India Fellow, for which she was associated with Aga Khan Rural Support Program India (AKRSPI), in Bihar.

Renuka enjoys reading fiction, travelling and watching movies in her spare time

Rhea Keny

Rhea has been working in the education space for about 5 years and recently completed her Master's in Public Policy from St. Xavier's College.

I really love cats and dogs, being amidst mountains and nature, and art. I believe everyone you meet has a story and learning to share, so I enjoy meeting new people.

Rohit Dalvi

Rohit has a Bachelor’s degree in Automobile Engineering from Pillai College of Engineering, Mumbai. After completing B.E. Rohit was working with the road safety department in Green Earth Translogistics Pvt. Ltd. for nearly three years. During this, he recognised his ability to help people has increased.

Rohit is a self-motivated individual and believes in never giving up on anything. In his free time, Rohit enjoys gymming, reading books, weekend-long motorcycle rides, and recently developed a new hobby of trekking.

Sahej Mantri

Sahej has worked as a journalist for two years before starting his development journey through a volunteering assignment in Cambodia. Upon returning to India, Sahej took up an opportunity to work for Gram Vikas, a rural development NGO working in Odisha, coordinating the monitoring and evaluation of sanitation projects. After a short stint with a crowdfunding website, in January 2015, Sahej started a nonprofit called Agasti to work in urban sanitation space. There he designed, built or renovated over 30 public toilets for four urban local bodies and the Indian Railways. Agasti has won a few prestigious national awards for design, making an environmentally conscious structure, and innovations in public washrooms. At United Way Mumbai, Sahej leads the Campaigns team that manages digital fundraising platforms like the Tata Mumbai Marathon and Monthly Giving.

Sahej has a bachelor's degree from Mumbai University in Mass Media and an MBA from the Indian School of Business.

Sanaa Shaikh

Sanaa joined United Way of Mumbai in 2015. She has a postgraduate degree in Human Development, a diploma in Youth Development Work, and a certificate in Guidance and Counselling. At United Way Mumbai, she leads Operations, HR, Admin, Communications, CSR advisory, Investor Relations, Resource Mobilization, and Community Relations.

Prior to joining United Way, Sanaa was the Chief Operating Officer of a Mumbai based non-profit organization working with children from marginalized communities. She has led a team of 200 staff and worked across a wide range of functions including Donor Relations, HR, Education, and Community Work. She has designed and led projects in school adoption, public-private partnership, remedial education, counseling, early childhood education, and teacher training. Her experience includes grassroots level work in municipal schools of Mumbai and tribal communities in Maharashtra. She has a keen interest in child rights and has co-authored a book on Understanding Children’s Rights through the lens of the UN Convention on Rights of the Child.

Sancho Fernandes

Sancho is a post graduate from Mumbai and has been involved in community based initiatives for 5 years. He enjoys serving the community and empowering youth to build their lives and finds it a joy to partner in changing lives.

Prior to joining United Way Mumbai, Sancho worked for HOPE Foundation as a Program Manager, primarily responsible for implementing a health and education program. He enjoys reading and playing football, occasionally

Sandesh Pawar

Sandesh is a Commerce graduate and also holds an MBA in Human Resources. He has 12 years of experience in the training and development field. Before joining UWM, Sandesh worked for non-profit organizations like Future Sharp Skill Ltd, Yuva Parivartan, CAP Foundation, NIS Sparta.

Sandesh loves to read, travel, and learn new things during his spare time.

Sarah Thomas

Sarah holds a Bachelor's degree in History and a Master's degree in Public Policy, both from St Xavier's College, Mumbai. Before joining United Way Mumbai, she worked at a Mumbai based grassroots organization working in the space of providing education to marginalized communities. Previously, she was a part of the Donor Relations team and looked into fundraising and communications.

Sarah started her journey in the social sector as a volunteer teaching children from slum communities in Mumbai. The sheer magnitude of opportunities and resources that organizations leverage to mitigate socio-economic gaps is what fuels me into action each day.

Sayali Mule

Sayali is part of the Corporate Partnerships team at UWM. She has a Bachelor's degree in Social Work from the College of Social Work Nirmala Niketan in 2019. Her prior work experience includes work as a Program Coordinator for The Lighthouse Project, where she managed and monitored Mentor-Mentee relationships. She has also interned with various organizations during my college during her college days.

She loves to read and travel in my free time.

Sayoni Shaoo

Sayoni hails from Kolkata and moved to Mumbai recently. She is a development professional with over 5 years of experience working as Project Coordinator and Manager at distinguished NGOs in West Bengal. She earned a graduate's degree in English Literature, after which she decided to focus on working to benefit society and completed her Master's in Social Work. Sayoni is no stranger to working at the grass-root level for better implementation of determined programmes. She is an advocate of team work and thrives in a fast paced environment. Her last engagement was with Magic Bus India Foundation as a Cluster Manager in Kolkata. Sayoni is passionate about travelling, music and films.

Shailesh Bhutka

Shailesh holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from P. D. Lions College; a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Rights from Indian Institute of Human Rights, Delhi and Masters in Social Work from the College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan. His Master's thesis focused on 'Role of Support Group among Gays Living with HIV/AIDS', for which he was awarded an INDAL (Social Science) Junior Research Fellowship from the Asiatic Society of Mumbai. Prior to joining United Way, Shailesh worked with The Humsafar Trust, Child Help Foundation and Tata Consultancy Services. His interests include, starting and running various programs at community level. Outside of work, Shailesh enjoys travel and cooking.

Shailesh Wagle

Dr. Shailesh joined United Way of Mumbai in July 2015. He completed his graduation in Ayurveda, and has a master's degree in public health from Manipal University, specializing in environmental and occupational health. He also has a Certificate in Global Health from Maastricht University, Netherlands.

He began his career as a public health consultant focusing on urban health and climate change. At United Way of Mumbai he is a part of the community investment team and manages community health related projects. The first and only doctor of the United Way of Mumbai office, Shailesh has a keen interest in environmental health, climate change and the effect of physical environment on children and elderly. He also enjoys travelling and photography.

Shraddha Naik

Shraddha is a graduate in Psychology and holds a Master's in Industrial Organizational Psychology. She is the recipient of several Best Student awards in college and was an active participant in the college's NSS activities. Here, she was exposed to various social causes and regularly volunteered for NGOs Akshara and Samaritans Mumbai. After securing her Master's Degree, Shraddha worked as an HR Executive for iCastx technologies, a media company. But her passion for working in the social sector led her to join UWM.

Shraddha is an avid Martial Artist, and has practiced traditional Karate for over 15 years. She is a certified official for Mixed Martial Arts Association of India and enjoys training, dancing and travelling alone. Being a keen sportsperson, she also counsels students who interested in sports.

Sreya Abraham

Sreya has completed my Master's in Public Health from Manipal University. She joined the community investment team on the IPC project. She is curious to work on health, education, and environment related projects. Sreya is passionate about public health and hopes to make a difference in the lives of people.

Sreya enjoys travelling, photography, and writing.

Sudin Patyane

Sudin completed his bachelor's in 2004 from Mumbai University. He started working with BPL Mobile Communications Ltd while pursuing his graduation. Sudin has worked in various capacities with different brands across sectors in the past 20 years.

He identifies himself as a people person and enjoys making friends and connecting well with people. Sudin's passions include playing cricket and trying new food.

Sumathi Shriram

Sumathi is a commerce graduate and has earned LLB (Gen) and C.A. Inter degrees as well. Her past work experience includes employment with Chartered Accountant firms and Non Government Organisations. She was motivated to join the United Way Mumbai team in order to enhance her professional skills and personal values, by being part of a change making organisation.

Suresh Mohite

Suresh is one of the oldest serving employees at UWM having been a part since the past 11 years and handles various backend chores. He is an avid fan of cricket and follows matches during his free time.

Swanand Gawde

Swanand holds a bachelor's in Zoology and a Master's in Environmental Sciences. He has hands-on experience working with different age groups. Before joining United Way Mumbai, he worked with World Wide Fund for Nature India in the Environment Education Division.

Swanand loves wildlife photography and visiting forests across India. He also enjoys reading books and watching movies in his free time.

Tushar Warang

Tushar holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management Studies from Sant Gadge Maharaj College and a Master's in Social Work from Nirmala Niketan. At the time of his Master's, he interned with YUVA, working for community developement. He has also interned with Sadbhavana Sangh, which works in the area of citizens' rights. Tusgar has prepared the BMC Health Budget from the community of Shanti Nagar, Wadala and recorded a documentary on the understanding of the 74th Amendement Act. He is also experienced in working with the tribal community in Nandurbar.

Tushar is deeply interested in environment and civic issues. He enjoys travel and sports, especially Volleyball and Rocket Ball