Lead India, Reform India

Archana’s work experiences have focused on leading projects and teams in Learning and Leadership across the Corporate, Government and Social sectors. Prior to ILSS, she worked as the city director at Teach for India (TFI) where she led the strategy and operations for the TFI Fellowship and Alumni Movement to create a movement for educational equity. Prior to Teach for India, Archana worked with Infosys Leadership Institute and Boston Public Schools in the areas of human capital, competency development, change management, and Diversity and Inclusion.

Archana is an alum of the master’s program in education (M.Ed.) at Harvard Graduate School of Education at Massachusetts, master’s program in management (MBA) at T.A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal and the bachelor’s program in commerce (B.Com) at Stella Maris College, Chennai. Across all roles and teams, being a learner and an educator is the core of her work.

Jesleen Lalmuanawmi has over 25 years of work experience focused on leadership and management roles across fellowship programs, higher education and capacity building in the development sector. As the founding director of the Naropa Fellowship in Ladakh, she mentored over 300 Fellows and supported more than 150 sustainable ventures for Himalayan youth. She was part of the founding teams of the Young India Fellowship, Ashoka University, the Vedica Scholars Programme for Women, the Indian School of Development Management, the Harappa School of Leadership at Harappa Education, and Shakti Super 50, a leadership program for women in Odisha. Jesleen also led marketing efforts for the University of Boras, Sweden, India Office.

Jesleen holds a master’s degree in history from NEHU, Shillong, Meghalaya, and taught in a government college in Mizoram before transitioning to management and the development sector. Originally from Mizoram, she has extensive grassroots experience across Bihar, Ladakh, and Odisha. Passionate about community work, hiking, and gardening, Jesleen lives in Delhi and is currently Lead – Centre of Excellence for Leadership at ILSS.

Dr Shradha has a career spanning around 10 years covering diversified sectors including R&D, technology development, and social impact. With expertise in program management and leadership and acumen for strategic thinking and decision making, she has been able to show excellent results working in high-pressure and fast-paced situations with stakeholders including government, corporations, nonprofits and global organisations. Awarded with the MEXT Govt. of Japan Fellowship for her PhD nominated by MHRD, Govt. of India, she is an alum of the University of Tokyo, and has done her doctorate in the field of Plant Molecular Genetics. Positive and passionate Shradha enjoys music and mingling across cultures.

Sagar has over 3.5 years of experience in the development sector and he is interested in the areas of leadership development, social impact and improving access to opportunities for youth. He has previously worked at the Indian School of Democracy, a non-partisan organisation which works on strengthening principled political leadership.

He attended the Young India Fellowship from Ashoka University. He enjoys discussing books, music, people, and cinema.

Kavya Kathpalia is a development sector professional with over 6-7 years of experience across education, child welfare, public health, and disability inclusion. She holds a Master of Social Work from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and a BA LL.B. from Hidayatullah National Law University.

Her previous roles include leading accessibility initiatives, strategic outreach & budget management at Ashoka University, and designing large-scale capacity-building and fellowship programs at Pratham Education Foundation.

Her work integrates program design, capacity building, qualitative research, and systems thinking. She has contributed to research and policy efforts focused on child welfare, mental health, and inclusive education.

Kavya is committed to building equitable and responsive social systems, and brings a multidisciplinary lens to leadership, program strategy, and organisational development.
She currently works as a Program Manager with the Emerging Women’s Leadership Program team.

Simran Gupta is a Senior Program Manager at ILSS. Simran’s career has spanned across research, teaching, program management, business development, and career services. She has worked with think tanks and educational organisations, in both the social and corporate space.

Prior to ILSS, Simran has served as a Senior Program Manager – Career Services at Masters’ Union where she worked with the founding team building the brand of Masters’ Union, making it India’s unique B-School offering industry immersive business education. She has also worked at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences managing end-to-end academic engagement of Customized Short-term Study in India Programmes for foreign universities and at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements in the resource development domain creating more visibility and fundraise for the institute.

Simran holds a M.Phil. in Development Studies from the TISS, Mumbai, M.Sc. in economics (Development Studies) from the Symbiosis School of Economics, Pune and a BA economics (H) from St. Xavier’s College, Ranchi.