Our Team

Throw her a curve ball and see her ideas thrive in action. Mrinalini is unrelenting in breaking down complex issues to their last thread. She brings an interdisciplinary approach to the table using various art-forms to engage with communities, applying an anthropological lens to examine adolescent issues, and bringing her theatrical background into play when exploring gender norms. Her work on understanding the hijra community in India is something to follow. Her observations on unboxing identities helps Nil discover new ways to design better strategies. She is a dog lover and an experimental cook, and we love the lunch boxes she gets to the office from time to time.

A philosopher at heart, a researcher in action.
Animesh “zen” Sharma has an innate ability to connect with the community at a very deep level. Whether it is discussions around sexual health of commercial sex workers, conversations with rural youth about their connect with available livelihood options, or observations of a social setting of a school, Animesh’s insights are deep rooted in the community context. He is intrigued by the use of behavioural science in human-centric design to create powerful solutions that build a better tomorrow. He is currently exploring youth’s interaction with their natural and social environment as part of designing a communication strategy around commons. He is an ardent cricket lover, allegedly a left-arm fast bowler, and has world cricket history on his finger-tips.

The thread that ties us all together.
A powerhouse of energy and ideas, Ankita never fails to create a learning environment for herself and her peers. A fervent proponent of sports for development, she plays around with complex data to get deeper insights into communities and their context. With an inherent ability to draw out the strengths of people to co-create impactful solutions, Ankita fosters a sense of unity that promotes the growth of systems built around individuals. Her diverse areas of interest include but are not limited to agriculture, adolescents’ issues, organizational development, and the use of space to design solutions. When not working, you will find Ankita running marathons across the globe to push her own limits and crush her previous records. Watch out for her doodles on walls and cupboards, you might just stumble upon her next ‘big idea’.

Jayesh Bhatia is Founder and Director of NRMC. Jayesh is a strategic thinker, problem solver and a leading voice in the social development sector especially in augmenting livelihoods for the underserved communities. His experience of over 24 years has enabled him to become a catalyst for social impact. He strongly believes in people’s participation in framing policies and has worked on promoting and communicating policy change by working closely with governments, international organizations, donors, NGOs and communities. He has led and co-ordinated multicultural and multi-agency teams in delivering complex assignments for various donors in India, South-East and South Asia, and Africa. Mr. Bhatia has also directed livelihood and learning initiatives for DFID, IFAD, and JICA.

Rahul Agrawal is the Director of NRMC. Leading on projects worth over a billion dollars, Rahul is paving the way for innovative and adaptable solutions to the emerging rural markets, and champion the role of businesses to enhance the quality of basic services in rural areas. His entrepreneurial zeal at NRMC is guided by the belief that creative disruption through constant innovation is the key to create large scale impact. He is also the Lead Advisor to the Centre for Land Governance (CLG) at NRMC directed towards catalysing a system wide change to create enabling eco-systems for the underserved communities. Rahul’s expertise lies in redefining development narratives that drive the next phase of development beyond addressing marginalisation. Rahul is a member of CII Committee on healthcare and education and has professional degrees in Engineering and Management.