Leadership in the Social Sector is a Practice, Not a Position

COO, India Leaders for Social Sector and Head, Centre of Excellence for Leadership

At the end of January, we celebrated a meaningful milestone – the Silver Jubilee of The ILSS Leadership Program. Over 500 Alumni of this Program have committed themselves to a learning journey to better understand India’s social sector and explore how they can engage meaningfully within it.

As I reconnected with many of them during the celebrations, one group that I met during this period stayed with me in particular: the alumni of Cohort 8.

Cohort 8 was the first cohort of crossover leaders I worked closely with at ILSS. I remember beginning that journey with cautious optimism. These were accomplished professionals choosing to step into a sector shaped by different incentives, constraints, and measures of success. I wondered how they would navigate this shift. How would they work alongside home-grown leaders? What would leadership look like in a space where authority is rarely linear and impact unfolds slowly? After all, in the social sector, change accumulates quietly. It builds through discipline, choices, and patience.

More than five years later, it has been deeply affirming to see the pathways they have taken.

Ishmeet Singh

Ishmeet Singh, now CEO of Central Square Foundation, began his sector journey with Piramal Swasthya. He deliberately chose a field-facing role, prioritising understanding the sector deeply as he makes the pivot in his career. That choice reflected humility and a willingness to learn while leading. Today, that grounding continues to shape his leadership.

Anjali Hegde

Barsha Banerjee

Anjali Hegde and Barsha Banerjee stepped into leadership roles within legacy institutions at Udayan Care and Perkins India, respectively, and have strengthened them further. Leading established organisations requires respect for history, thoughtful evolution of systems, and the discipline to build on what exists and innovate for today’s times.

Krishnakumar Sankaranarayanan’s

Krishnakumar Sankaranarayanan’s journey, from Sattva Consulting to Equalize Health and now as Senior Adviser in Public Health at E&Y, reflects another pathway. His work straddles advisory, implementation, and cross-sector engagement, demonstrating that impact is not confined to a single organisational identity.

These four leaders are only a subset of Cohort 8. Each member has followed a distinct trajectory. Some moved into full-time sector roles. Some operate in fractional leadership capacities across sectors. Some remain in corporate roles but now engage with the social sector with renewed clarity and commitment.

Their journeys have reinforced a conviction that has deepened over time. Leadership in the social sector is a practice, not a position.

Leadership Begins with the Self

At The ILSS Leadership Program, we do not begin with strategy decks. We begin with self-awareness.

Before discussing governance, fundraising, public systems, or digital transformation, we invite participants to examine their motivations, assumptions, and purpose for working in the social sector. Leadership in this sector demands clarity of intent. It requires individuals to ask why they are here, what service and nation-building mean to them, and how they respond when authority is questioned or when progress is layered, complex and slow.

For many professionals transitioning into development, this inward shift is transformative. Moving from performance metrics to community outcomes requires recalibration.

Anshu Gupta

When Anshu Gupta, Founder of Goonj, engages with our cohorts, he challenges conventional notions of charity through the lens of dignity. His leadership is rooted in proximity to communities and disciplined consistency. That indeed is leadership as practice.

Romonika D. Sharan

Romonika D. Sharan, in her leadership role at Central Square Foundation, works at the intersection of education policy reform and state system strengthening. Building on her former experiences as a bureaucrat, her leadership illustrates how systems change is built through sustained engagement rather than episodic intervention.

Seeing the System, Not Just the Organisation

India’s social challenges are deeply interconnected. Education intersects with nutrition and gender. Climate intersects with livelihoods. Public policy shapes outcomes in ways that ripple far beyond individual programs.

This is why systems thinking is central to the Program, and is a focus from both a technical perspective led by Mihir Mathur and a multidisciplinary practice-enabling perspective from sector leaders as described below.

When economist Dr A. K. Shivakumar engages with our cohorts, he situates development across both economic and human development indices to spark conversations about growth and progress. He nudges leaders to interrogate data responsibly and understand public systems from the ground up.

Similarly, when Rukmini Banerji, CEO of Pratham, reflects on decades of improving foundational learning, she demonstrates evidence in action. ASER reshaped national discourse through research and persistent field engagement that built credibility over time.

Our alumni embody this systems lens across their roles in the sector –

Arvind Agrawal

Arvind Agrawal in his role as Pro-Vice Chancellor at Plaksha University, is leveraging his experiences in building business across geographies in the space of higher education transformation. His leadership reflects how universities can shape future problem-solvers who are equipped to address complex societal challenges, with a focus on science and technology.

Vandita Batta

Vandita Batta, Chief of Operations at Saajha, works closely alongside Saransh, the Founder of Saajha, to lead organisational strategy, execution, and institutional effectiveness. Her leadership builds on her experiences as a former CFO to align programs with organisational strategy, build strategic partnerships, enable team performance, and ensure financial sustainability. Her role shows how operational leadership in the social sector is central to ensuring mission integrity and scale

Proteek Kundu

Proteek Kundu founded NeevJivan Foundation, a social purpose organisation working in the area of skill development in rural Maharashtra, creating opportunities for sustainable livelihood in villages. Building and sustaining a social organisation from the ground up demands deep local engagement, along with government and knowledge partnerships. His leadership reflects how impact often grows through creating solutions rooted in proximity to communities.

Piyush Singhania

Piyush Singhania, in his work with CSR for KPMG Global Services, bridges corporate capital and social impact by shaping CSR strategy, partnerships, and programme investments. His leadership lies in ensuring that corporate resources are deployed thoughtfully, aligned to genuine community needs, and measured for sustainable outcomes.

Urmila Sampath

Kavita Gunderia

Urmila Sampath and Kavita Gunderia, run their own organisation, ‘Let’s Talk Money’, while also serving as Senior Finance Advisers at Antarang Foundation, operating at the intersection of financial literacy and nonprofit financial stewardship. Through Let’s Talk Money, they work to democratise financial understanding, while at Antarang, they strengthen institutional finance and long-term sustainability. Their journey demonstrates how one’s strengths and experiences can be leveraged to serve the sector at large, beyond deep work with a specific institution.

They represent diversity across Sustainable Development Goals, across large and small organisations, across implementation and advocacy roles, and across full-time roles, portfolio careers, and entrepreneurship. The point of convergence is around listening deeply to what the sector needs, and adapting one’s capabilities and leadership to lead and serve in the most impactful manner. It is evident that the sector’s resilience depends on leadership being distributed across all these spaces and channels of building India, while showing up as leaders rooted in the context of their work.

Practising Leadership within ILSS

Leadership practice is also embodied beautifully by the various alumni who work at ILSS.

Lt. Gen. Ravin Khosla Retd

Lt. Gen. Ravin Khosla Retd. (Alum, Cohort 19) anchors admissions for The ILSS Leadership Program. After decades in the armed forces, where leadership is shaped by command and responsibility, his leadership today lies in discernment and spotting talent for the sector. He listens for humility, intent, and readiness to serve. Admissions, as a function, becomes stewardship, shaping not just who joins a cohort but also the quality of dialogue within it.

Meghna Jaishankar

Meghna Jaishankar (Alum, Cohort 20) brings nearly two decades of leadership hiring experience at McKinsey & Company and Spencer Stuart. Today, she is building the Alumni Movement at India Leaders for Social Sector, where she brings her rich experiences and capabilities in partnerships and stakeholder management to strengthen alumni engagement and sector collaboration. Her work reflects a crucial insight: Leadership development does not end at transition. It requires sustained networks, peer learning, and community.

Anirban Chaudhury

Anirban Chaudhury (Alum, Cohort 17), who leads the Koita Centre of Excellence for Digital Transformation at India Leaders for Social Sector, brings over two decades of leadership experience in technology and consulting. As an alum, his shift into development required translating advanced technology frameworks into mission-sensitive solutions. His leadership practice lies in ensuring that digital transformation strengthens impact organisations responsibly and equitably

Samina Alam

Samina Alam (Alum, Cohort 18), who leads the ILSS Centre for Board and Governance, brings over two decades of experience in education and skills, including leading large-scale, multi-stakeholder engagements and systemic interventions across states. Her leadership lies in helping organisations and boards move beyond compliance to stewardship by ensuring that governance becomes a continuous practice that supports institutional credibility and long-term sustainability.

Viswanathan S

Viswanathan S (Alum, Cohort 19), in his role as Adviser – HR at ILSS, works closely with the CEO on the key strategic priorities in the organisation’s people practices. His leadership lies in contextualising his rich experience in organisational transformation and people development to the context and stage of ILSS as an institution that has people at the heart of its mission.

Different backgrounds. Different prior positions. A shared commitment to disciplined practice and adapting one’s leadership to create meaningful impact in India’s social sector.

What the Future Demands

Watching Cohort 8 mature over five years has reminded me that leadership development cannot be measured at the moment of transition. It must be observed over time.

The defining moments are rarely dramatic. They occur when a leader chooses to begin in the field and listen deeply to the stakeholders as much as analysing existing data. They come alive when someone strengthens a legacy institution with respect for the journey that brought us here. They occur when data, looked at in a different way, prompts a strategic pivot. When power is shared with various key stakeholders rather than with a consolidated few with titles of power.

I have seen alumni step into senior roles and remain grounded. I have seen leaders in small organisations demonstrate extraordinary systems awareness. I have seen colleagues within ILSS evolve from participants to institutional stewards.

These experiences reinforce my belief that while positions may change and titles may evolve, what endures is the discipline in practice of leadership.

The coming decade will test India’s social sector deeply. Climate volatility, technological disruption, demographic shifts, geopolitical complexities, and funding realignments.

We will need leaders across the Sustainable Development Goals. Across large and small organisations. Across implementation and advocacy spaces. Across philanthropy, technology, and public systems.

After all, leadership in the social sector is not something one arrives at. It is something one commits to daily through reflection, systems awareness, collaboration, and accountability to communities.

While a position may grant authority, it is the practice that determines impact. And in our sector, sustained impact is the only leadership that truly matters.

About the Author

Archana Ramachandran
Chief Operating Officer

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 Alumna 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.”