Core Team - Young Leaders for Active Citizenship

Rohit Kumar – Co-founder

Rohit co-founded YLAC in 2016, and its sister concern TQH Consulting in 2017, to strengthen the governance ecosystem in India through public policy research, advocacy and citizen engagement. Rohit’s work in policy cuts across sectors, including regulation of new business models, emerging issues in tech policy, digital public infrastructure and payments. An alumnus of Harvard Kennedy School of Government and IIT Bombay, he previously served as the Head of Policy and Research at the office of Mr. Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, Member of Parliament (MP) in Lok Sabha.Read complete profile

Before working with Mr. Panda, Rohit spent several years at PRS Legislative Research, the Indian think-tank that supports MPs across party lines with research on legislative and policy issues. At PRS, he also developed ‘MP Track’, the tool that is widely used by the media and civil society to track engagement of MPs in Parliament. Previously, Rohit was a strategy consultant with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) at their Mumbai office. He is a 2013 IPRYLI (India-Pakistan Regional Young Leaders Initiative) fellow with the Asia Society.

Aparajita Bharti – Co-founder

Aparajita co-founded YLAC in 2016. She is also the Founding Partner at TQH – a public policy research and communications consulting firm that was set up in 2017. Before starting these two organisations, Aparajita was Manager, Corporate Affairs and Communications at Snapdeal where she was responsible for managing media messaging while engaging with policy and legislative issues that affect the digital commerce sector. Aparajita holds a MPP degree from Oxford University and her work cuts across the domains of gender, tech policy and integrity of India’s democratic institutions.Read complete profile

Aparajita started her career in public policy as a Legislative Assistant to Mr. N.K. Singh, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and was one of the four Indians selected for the Faiths Act Fellowship by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation in 2011. In her undergraduate years at the College of Business Studies, Delhi University, Aparajita was instrumental in starting ‘Manthan’ – an annual congregation of street theatre societies to spread social awareness. Manthan has now expanded to several towns and cities across India. She is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper from the New Delhi hub.

Deepro Guha – Senior Manager, Public Policy

A lawyer by training, Deepro graduated from NUJS, Kolkata in 2013. Over the last few years, he has led policy research and advocacy on several emerging themes in tech policy, especially digital public infrastructure, intermediary regulation and payments. Previously, he worked with the law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas and while at the firm, he was involved in a wide array of cases including criminal matters, arbitration matters and constitutional issues. He has also done a stint in litigation, practising mainly in the Delhi High Court.Read complete profile

Deepro is passionate about strengthening governance systems and improving policy design and implementation for effective service delivery. He is also an enthusiastic sportsman, and has played in the Bengal Hockey Association League 3^rd Division.

Shipra Baduni – Senior Manager, Citizen Engagement

Shipra is an alumna of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. With a Master’s degree in social work, her specialization is women-centred practices. She has extensive grassroot experience working with rural youth on education projects. Her interest areas lie within the intersection of gender and tech-education. Being a staunch feminist, she believes in bringing a gendered lens to any work she pursues.Read complete profile

During her previous experiences, she has worked with adolescent girls of the Bedia community, who were at risk of being forced into sex work. She worked on an education model to provide an alternative safe space for these girls to pursue their dreams. She has also worked with rural youth on a governance based education model where she has led and designed programs with the objective of involving youth in local governance. During her free time she thoroughly enjoys writing poetry and learning new forms of dance.

Sumeysh Srivastava – Senior Manager, Public Policy

Sumeysh is a lawyer by training and an alumnus of Symbiosis Law School Pune. He has previously worked at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and was part of the founding team for Nyaaya, India’s first free online resource for accessible legal information. He has also worked as a legal researcher for the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), where his research work contributed to two PILs filed for securing socio-economic rights of fishing communities, and headed Nyayika, a non-profit social enterprise established by CSJ to provide affordable legal services.Read complete profile

Sumeysh’s research interests are primarily in areas of access to technology, information, and rights in the digital space. He writes on issues that look at the intersection between technology, law, society, and access for both academic and non-academic platforms and has pursued certification courses on privacy, internet governance and social entrepreneurship.

Arun Sudarsan – Manager, Public Policy

Arun is an Economics graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and the National University of Singapore. At NITI Aayog, he played a key role in operationalising the Aspirational Districts Programme’s data collection and ranking systems. Later, at CivicDataLab, he led the expansion of the Open Budgets India platform, the largest repository of public finance information in India.Read complete profile

Arun’s key interests include, but not limited to, Indian public finance, social sector schemes, and development policy. He is a keen observer of the developments in India’s political economy, with interest across a wide gamut of areas such as law and justice, technology, and electoral politics. He’s also a passionate educator, a part-time amateur singer, and loves cooking. His favourite quote: “no man-made system is immune to human deceit”.

Mahwash Fatima – Manager, Public Policy

A law graduate from Symbiosis Law School Pune, Mahwash has previously worked as an attorney at the law firm Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan. During her tenure there, her experience ranged from litigation, advisory and advocacy on issues of indirect taxation and constitutional law. With a keen interest in the intersection of law, policy and governance she took up the Policy in Action Program in April, 2021. Thrilled by that experience and knowledge, she went on to complete the Graduate Certificate Program in Public Policy from Takshashila Institute.Read complete profile

Mahwash is passionate about working towards the goal of making the legal framework work for every strata through effective policies, strategic governance and impact litigation. During her free time, she engages herself in art & craft, reading and baking.

Sidharth Deb – Manager, Public Policy

Sidharth studied law and graduated from the National University of Juridical Sciences. Since then he has worked in various roles at the intersection of policymaking and regulation of telecommunications, broadcasting, hardware and digital technology markets. Sidharth has previously worked at Koan Advisory Group, the Internet Freedom Foundation, the Esya Centre and the Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University Delhi. Through this he has accrued experience across commercial research and advisory, digital rights advocacy and academic policy research.Read complete profile

Sidharth has a deep interest in the governance and regulation of new technologies and has worked with a wide array of stakeholders spanning industry, civil society, academia, government, regulatory authorities and other special interest groups.

Sonakshi Chaudhry – Manager, Strategic Partnerships & Communications

Sonakshi is a communications and gender policy specialist with over 8 years of experience building partnerships and working across the spectrum of think tanks, NGOs, publications, and government. As a Chevening scholar, Sonakshi pursued an MA in Gender, Violence and Conflict at the University of Sussex, and she also holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St. Stephen’s College.Read complete profile

With a particular focus on women’s economic empowerment through her work, Sonakshi has advised several organisations on issues such as preventing sexual harassment and encouraging gender equity in workplaces. She was previously Research and Editorial Lead for ‘Women in Labour’ —a podcast examining India’s declining female labour force participation rate, and a Consultant in the Economic Adviser’s Bureau at the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development where she worked on the implementation of a national scheme for women in distress. Sonakshi is also a Trustee at the Woman of the Elements Trust, which provides free legal aid to women and child victims of domestic violence. She has previously been a Global Shaper with the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Hub New Delhi and a delegate at the 2020 edition of the Australia India Youth Dialogue— a leading track II dialogue.

Venika Menon – Lead, Civic Policy & Partnerships

Venika is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where she served as the Senior Class President on the Board of Trustees, and has worked internationally in various capacities. Starting her career in New York at Perry Davis Associates, a fundraising consultancy, she later evaluated a Madhya Pradesh-based project for the World Bank and led donor communications at Challenging Heights, an anti-child trafficking organisation, in Ghana. Most recently, she worked with Teach For India – Mumbai, leading collaborations with the government, TFI alumni, and ecosystem partners.Read complete profile

Through this work, she has developed a versatile skill set in project implementation, account management, research, fundraising, and communications. Her thematic areas of interest are gender, education, inclusion and sustainable cities. You can always come to her to find out about the best restaurants in town.

Priyank Badola – Consultant, Programs

Priyank completed his MSc in Outdoor Education from the Moray House School of Education at the University of Edinburgh. After working in the consumer banking group with DBS Bank, he followed his passion to work as an outdoor educator and a mountain guide in India, Nepal, U.S., and Scotland. He worked with school and college students in the non-formal education sector by leading multiday backpacking trips and teaching them about landscape, ecology, and environmental education while supporting their personal-social development.Read complete profile

Priyank is also associated with Seeds of Peace, a peace-building and leadership development organization in the U.S., where he works on interfaith dialogue programs in the South Asian region. He is a wilderness-first responder, a geek about mountains, and a nature lover.

Himani Chouhan – Senior Officer, Programs

Himani is an alumna of the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. With a Masters degree in Public Policy, her core focus of work has been around education and child rights. During her tenure as a Teach For India Fellow, she taught forty elementary school students in a government school in Delhi and worked extensively on community participation in education as well as social and emotional learning of children.Read complete profile

Through her internships with a diverse range of organizations like the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Government of Odisha, KPMG India, and Centre for Civil Society, she learnt the ropes of various facets of policymaking, program designing, and implementation. Having widely explored various forms of theatre, she wishes to combine her love for art and academia to innovate solutions for real world problems.

Jayashankar Vengathattil – Senior Officer, Strategy & New Initiatives

Jayashankar graduated with an MA in Development Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and a BCom from Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru before that. Most recently, he was at the Central Office of Samagra, a governance consultancy firm, assisting in organisation building and designing programs. At Samagra, he was also part of the team that worked to improve the public education system in Himachal Pradesh. Previously, Jayashankar has had professional stints at the municipal finance vertical at Janaagraha and the Assurance department of EY.Read complete profile

True to his diverse academic and professional experiences, he strives to be a jack of all trades and bring a multidisciplinary lens to his work. Outside of work, you may find him obsessing over random articles on the internet, reading and trying to write, improving his chess ratings, watching and dreaming about cinema, and talking about mental health.

Nidhi Punetha – Senior Analyst, Public Policy

Nidhi has previously worked on crafting export-oriented policies as a consultant to the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). Prior to that, she spent nearly three years in Gaya (Bihar) working alongside the district administration to grasp the nitty-gritty of policy execution at the community level, as a fellow of the Ministry of Home Affairs for Aspirational districts. She has also worked with Delhi government schools to train teachers and students on issues like substance abuse, sex education, and various other topics.Read complete profile

Nidhi holds a Masters in Social Work from the Department of Social Work (University of Delhi) and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kirori Mal College (also University of Delhi).

Shubhra Jha – Senior Officer, Programs

Shubhra is a social worker by training and has worked with and for children for the past decade. Their journey in the development space began as a volunteer with Make a Difference, and they later worked in the space of intellectual disability with Jai Vakeel Foundation. They were previously associated with Pratham Education Foundation where they supported teams implementing school and community-based learning programs and scaling them through government partnerships.Read complete profile

Creating experiences that allow individuals to connect, reflect and engage as a group is what Shubhra hopes to do more of.

Sohinee Thakurta – Senior Analyst, Public Policy

Sohinee holds a Bachelor’s in Statistics from Calcutta University. Previously, she has worked as a development consultant with organisations such as India Health Fund, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and NITI Aayog on projects spanning health, gender, education and social norms within urban and rural communities. In her last stint, she was working closely with the District Administration office in Madhya Pradesh as a part of the Aspirational District Programme.Read complete profile

Early in her career, Sohinee joined the Teach For India fellowship to better understand grassroots realities within classrooms. The fellowship was a transformative experience which got her interested in the larger educational ecosystem. Her subsequent work with teachers and school leaders helped her gauge how different developmental themes interacted with one another to impact the well-being of individuals, and the large role the government played in it.

Swathi Ramesh Rao – Senior Analyst, Public Policy

Swathi is a chemical engineer by education. After her graduate studies at Cornell University, she worked as a scientist at enerG2 – a battery materials company in Seattle where she also supported large battery manufacturers in India with R&D and materials testing. Her interest in policy stems from her keen interest in renewable energy, education and women’s representation in STEM.Read complete profile

After returning to India, her first stint was with YLAC’s Policy in Action Program in 2021. While in India, she has also worked at an early stage ed-tech startup that works to make tech education accessible to everyone.

Ujval Mohan – Senior Analyst, Public Policy

Ujval is a lawyer by training, with a degree in arts and law from Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar. During his time at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, New Delhi, Ujval worked with various law practices spanning technology litigation, defence and aerospace advisory, and commercial arbitration. His time in a commercial law practice has helped develop insights into matters of technology policy, public procurement and dispute management.Read complete profile

Ujval is passionate about developing a deeper understanding of regulatory / legislative design, and has a keen interest in the themes of public law, environmental heritage regulation, and economic analysis of law. In his free time, he likes to read, follow the news, cycle, or pursue his long-held interest in aviation.

Vishakha Singh Deshwal – Senior Analyst, Public Policy

Vishakha pursued her B.A. LL.B. from National Law Institute University, Bhopal and her post-graduation in law from National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. While at NUJS, she was awarded the Saroja Gopalkrishnan Scholarship for academic performance. Previously, she has worked at the Ministry of Electronics and IT, Government of India as a Young Professional where she focused on emerging issues in tech policy and law.Read complete profile

She has also worked as an in-house counsel at Wipro Ltd. where she handled statutory and ethics compliance and as a Research Assistant at National Law University, Delhi on a research project on Legal Education Systems in India and China.

Akanksha Ghosh – Analyst, Public Policy

Akanksha is a lawyer by training, and was previously engaged as a Judicial Researcher at the Delhi High Court, where she was involved in several key tech regulatory and policy matters. In this role, she had the opportunity to analyse the impact of laws and policies on the industry and civil society, while also assisting in the drafting of judgments. During her time at the National Law University Delhi, Akanksha was engaged in several research projects, focusing on human rights, legislative reforms, and social justice issues.Read complete profile

Akanksha has contributed to drafting reports for India’s Universal Periodic Review, conducted field interviews and contributed reports on issues such as the death penalty and socio-economic disparities within the criminal justice system. She has also done a short stint as a legislative intern, working closely with a Member of Parliament on drafting private member bills concerning transparency, criminal law and electoral reforms. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring parks, reading and fostering cats.

Gunjan Periwal – Officer, Programs

Gunjan (she/her) graduated from the Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts with a major in International Relations and a minor in History. With an undergraduate degree in Liberal Arts, she takes an interdisciplinary approach to research and design thinking. While in college, she published a journal article on textual analysis of Mughal literature from a gendered lens and was Chief Editor of Intersectus, an International Relations journal. Gunjan has previously interned with organisations such as U&I and Citizens for Public Leadership which strengthened her interest in civic engagement and advocacy.Read complete profile

She aims to work towards sustainability through responsible production and consumption, sustainable city planning, and climate justice. Her areas of interest include qualitative research, historiography, and South Asian socio-cultural history.

Ishita Bagchi – Officer, Programs

A public policy professional by training, Ishita graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi in 2021. Earlier, she was working as a Research Associate at PROAct. She is a Gender Rights Advocate and a published writer with a keen interest in Economics and Literature. She runs a weekly newsletter and blog called “The Wannabe Economist”. The newsletter and blog focus on policy, politics, economics, gender, and academia. Her aim is to simplify and decode complex academic jargon and issues around gender.Read complete profile

Ishita has been a young speaker on multiple platforms including the South Asian Youth Summit organised by Youth Advocacy Nepal and ActionAid Nepal. She is also a NSDC certified community service facilitator.

Manan Katyal – Analyst, Public Policy

Manan is a policy professional and TMT lawyer with a passion for tech advocacy, coalition building and social impact. With a background in technology law, he has experience working as a policy counsel at the Software Freedom Law Centre, India (SFLC.in) where he consulted parliamentarians, drafted petitions for public interest causes and conducted empirical research to defend digital rights.Read complete profile

In addition to this, Manan has assisted several OTT platforms and broadcasting companies (such as Amazon Prime Video, Star India, etc.) with regulatory & legal compliance and content moderation at Sai Krishna & Associates. His work is driven by his interests in platform governance, artificial intelligence and FOSS solutionism.

Nidhi Kinhal – Officer, Programs

Nidhi holds an MA in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, with prior academic training in anthropology, sociology and philosophy from Ashoka University. She has previously worked in communications, network building, qualitative research, writing, and event organising roles, with independent feminist consultants and organisations like Solidarity Foundation, Maraa – a media and arts collective, and Menstrupedia. She was also a part of the organising team for PhilCon 2019, the second edition of India’s only undergraduate philosophy conference.Read complete profile

She currently volunteers with Aaina, a social media initiative that encourages reflection on education and the inequalities within it. Most recently, her work on gender and sexuality has involved developing a toolkit and researching on the experience(s) of, and issues relating to, adolescence.

Paavi Kulshreshth – Analyst, Public Policy

Paavi is a policy professional with specialisations in policy research and strategic communication. She completed her undergrad in Journalism from Delhi University and postgrad in Policy, Design and Management from the Indian School of Public Policy. She has previously worked with Centre for Civil Society (CCS), where she led multiple outreach projects and co-authored a research study that evaluated India’s digital health landscape (pre and post pandemic).Read complete profile

She has also worked with Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) as a strategic researcher, primarily turning data and research insights into effective political strategy and communication. As a researcher, Paavi is interested in health policy, political economy of development, and state-market partnerships. She also conducts workshops on critical writing for public policy.

Rhydhi Gupta – Analyst, Public Policy

Rhydhi is a Spanish-speaking Lawyer who pursued B.Com(H) and LLB from Ramjas College and Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, respectively. After working as a Legal Researcher at Parichay (a legal aid clinic helping disenfranchised people in Assam with their citizenship), she went on to work with Member of Parliament Mr. Derek O’Brien as his Legislative Assistant. Here, she worked on Parliamentary interventions including bills, notices and questions, and also non-Parliamentary engagements such as stakeholder management and research for books and opinion pieces.Read complete profile

The transition from the litigation end of the spectrum to the legislative realm has given her a well-rounded perspective on the feedback loop of marginalisation, gender discrimination, lack of education, healthcare and basic amenities. Her passion for tech-policy is informed by her diverse experience and she hopes to contribute to a safe and equitable digital society.

Salil Ahuja – Analyst, Public Policy

Salil is a journalism graduate from Delhi University with a penchant for public policy and research. Prior to joining YLAC, Salil led the research team at Newslaundry where he worked to analyse government schemes and policies. He was the researcher and writer for Newslaundry’s flagship policy explainer show, Sansad Watch, India’s first news show on Parliament and civic affairs, hosted on Youtube.Read complete profile

Salil also did a short stint with the Maadhyam Foundation, where he was involved in parliamentary research and helped prepare a budget brief for the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways. He has previously worked in the communications sector and helped devise communication strategies for brands like Maruti Suzuki, Roca, and Bajaj Finserv. During his free time, Salil likes to cycle and trek.

Shivangi Tyagi – Officer, Programs & Policy Communications

Shivangi holds a Bachelor’s degree in English (Honors) from Delhi University. Driven by her passion for literary theory, she pursued her Master’s in Gender Studies at Ambedkar University, culminating in a dissertation that examined the genesis of superhero comics through a feminist perspective. Previously, she served as a CSR Gender Consultant at DS Group, where she spearheaded the development of a program aimed at cultivating gender-equitable attitudes among young boys and men.Read complete profile

Shivangi has also gained valuable experience through internships at CPR’s Accountability Initiative and IHD Delhi. In addition to her work in the development sector, Shivangi has worked with advertising agencies and run campaigns for clients in the tech, hospitality, and education industries. Outside of her professional endeavors, she can be found either hitting the gym, enjoying quality time with her cats, or exploring new places to eat!

Shubham Mudgil – Analyst, Public Policy

Shubham is an ex-LAMP Fellow with an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Delhi. As a LAMP Fellow, he provided legislative and policy research support to Lok Sabha MP Mr. Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu. Previously, he has worked on grassroots-level projects in the fields of education, food security, and capacity development across Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Delhi.Read complete profile

Shubham was awarded the Millennium Fellowship by the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and the global non-profit Millennium Campus Network (MCN) in 2021 for his project on SDG 1. His current interests focus on understanding the role of diverse institutions and their interactions in shaping and sustaining policy outcomes. He enjoys running, cycling and interdisciplinary reading.

Srishti Kapil – Officer, Programs & Policy Communications

Srishti is a marketing and communications professional. After starting her career in corporate operations and advertising, she transitioned to the impact sector, aiming to use her skills to drive positive change. Her work has been diverse, encompassing roles at both an ad agency and a law firm, assistance on research projects as well as a teaching fellowship. She holds a Bachelor’s in English Literature from Sri Venkateswara College, and a Master’s degree in Media and Cultural Studies from TISS, Mumbai.Read complete profile

A film and literature nerd, her pop culture essays grace various national and international publications. Srishti’s research interests include gender justice, arts for social change, and urban mobility. A spoken word poet, she is equally passionate about combat sports and performance poetry.

Teesta Shukla – Analyst, Public Policy

Teesta is an economist by training and holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from Ambedkar University, Delhi. Prior to her current role, she worked at XKDR Forum in Mumbai on women’s land rights in Maharashtra. There, she co-developed a scalable methodology and survey instrument for measuring women landowners’ agency with respect to land, and supervised data collection with approximately 200 women in Pune and Nashik districts.Read complete profile

With a curiosity to understand people’s lived realities and the impact of policies on them, Teesta is drawn to field research. Notable among her endeavors is her research on permanent industrial workforce in Sahibabad industrial area. While passionate about dissecting the socio-cultural milieu, she also enjoys reading non-fiction books, hula hooping and baking.

Vedriti Yadav – Officer, Programs

Vedriti is an alumna of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. With a Master’s degree in education, she is passionate about changing the educational landscape for the better. In the past, she has worked with students and stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds and context. Her focus has been around the psychology and sociology of education. Although she has gained experience and knowledge in the Indian context, she hopes to learn and apply her skills and acumen to the global context.Read complete profile

Vedriti was a Teach for India Fellow from 2019-21. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Delhi.

Jaanvi Saraf – Associate, Programs

Jaanvi has previously worked as a LAMP Fellow in the Office of Smt. Diya Kumari where she provided legislative research assistance. She holds a Bachelor’s in Sociology from Ambedkar University, Delhi. She has previously worked with the Govt. of West Bengal in the Office of Shri Vivek Gupta, where she oversaw Policy Research and Strategic Communications. At this office, she conceptualised grassroots initiatives on menstrual health awareness, skill development for women, and improving dialogue between constituents and their elected representatives.Read complete profile

Jaanvi is especially interested in the intersection of policy, advocacy, education and minority affairs. In her leisure time, she enjoys cooking.

Urvashi Dinkar – Associate, Programs

An avid seeker of intersectional justice and change, Urvashi graduated with a Master’s in International History and Politics from the Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID) and received her Bachelor’s in History from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi. Previously, she worked with CREA as a Program Assistant under their Emerging Leaders Initiative to advance feminist human rights. She has also worked with the International Telecommunication Union, Geneva, with the aim of closing the digital gender divide.Read complete profile

Urvashi has extensive professional research experience in reproductive and fertility rights, and culture and heritage conservation. She loves to crochet and knit while spending time with her four-legged friends.

Prakriti Singh – Associate, Public Policy

Prakriti pursued her B.A. in Political Science and International Law from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver and her MSc. in Security and Resilience studies from Northeastern University, Boston. At Northeastern her thesis involved the study of the Indo-Pacific policies of the Quad as well as AI ethics with regards to autonomous weapons systems. She also writes for London Politica’s Geopolitics on the Periphery (GPP) team on the subjects of Outer-space, Arctic Policy, Antarctica and International Seabed related issues.Read complete profile

Previously, Prakriti has worked with Boston Public Schools, Newslaundry, Ministry of IT and Electronics, and as a Teaching Assistant to undergrads at Northeastern University.

Srijan Rai – Associate, Public Policy

Srijan completed his Bachelors in Political Science from Hindu College, University of Delhi and worked as a Legislative Assistant to a Member of Parliament (LAMP) fellow. Prior to his current role, he worked with an impact consulting firm to implement a Digital Education project in Rajasthan that was aimed at improving learning outcomes for 10 lakh girl students enrolled in different schools across the state. His interest areas include tech policy, social movements and participatory policymaking.Read complete profile

While working as a LAMP fellow, Srijan drafted legislative interventions in the diverse sectors of health, education and tech policy and also worked to create a monitoring mechanism for tracking government schemes at the constituency level in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. In his free time, he likes listening to rap songs and reading books.

Natasha Singh – Associate, Public Policy

Natasha is a political science graduate from Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi. She has previously worked with Dr. Amar Patnaik, Member of Parliament in the capacity of Lead – Governance & Policy Affairs, focusing on areas such as public health and tech policy. Through the course of her work, she has dealt with diverse policy issues, including women’s empowerment, climate change, and the complex landscape of multi-dimensional poverty. She is also an ex-LAMP fellow.Read complete profile

With a particular focus on women empowerment, Nastaha has also worked as a Researcher with the Centre for Gender and Politics for over 2 years now, navigating issues around gender and politics in South Asia. With past internship experiences in organizations such as Development Alternatives, SPRF, etc. she has developed a cohesive understanding of the field of public policy. She enjoys photography, listening to bollywood songs, and painting in her free time.

Supriya Shekher – Associate, Public Policy

Supriya is a lawyer by training and graduated from NLU Delhi with three gold medals in criminal law and jurisprudence. She worked as an associate at a law firm prior to YLAC. Previously, she was also selected by Facebook India to work on a nine-month long fellowship program on the theme of data governance. As part of the fellowship program, she extensively worked on the privatisation of privacy governance and its antitrust implications. Read complete profile

Supriya takes a deep interest in everything tech and literature, and is passionate about the ways in which the internet is impacting our socio-legal order, culture, and relationship with language. In her spare time, she likes reading speculative fiction and taking long walks.

Karishma Kapoor – Admin Manager

Karishma is a B.Com. graduate from Delhi University. Prior to joining YLAC, she was associated with Fareportal India Pvt. Ltd. as a Team Lead in their Finance-Payroll department. Over the last few years, she has worked with various companies and managed their payroll processing, statutory compliance, settlements, validation of investment proofs and other activities related to TDS and payments. Read complete profile

At YLAC, her focus areas include establishing and maintaining finance and administrative systems. She also looks after logistics for program implementation.