Leading the movement!
When it comes to the pursuit of gender equality and girls’ empowerment, we understand the magnitude of the challenges we face.
That’s why we are immensely grateful to have an exceptional team of visionary and dedicated members guiding our organisation.
They embody innovation, passion, and unwavering commitment to driving positive change.
Leadership
Swaha Sahoo
"When an adolescent girl is educated, heard, and supported to lead, she becomes a powerful force for change, not just in her own life, but in her family and community. I am thrilled to join Milaan in advancing this mission, to stand with girls, amplify their voices, and ensure they have the knowledge, agency, and opportunities to thrive."Swaha Sahoo is the Country Director at Milaan, leading efforts to empower adolescent girls across India. With over 20 years of experience in education, equity, and philanthropy, she has designed and scaled programs reaching millions of children and educators.She has previously led national strategy at STiR Education, impacting 90 million children, and headed the Parag Initiative at Tata Trusts, building one of India’s foremost children’s reading programs. Beginning her career as a journalist on education and child rights, Swaha brings a deep commitment to equity and systemic change.At Milaan, she drives strategic leadership and partnerships to ensure every girl has the knowledge, agency, and opportunities to thrive.
Nitesh Misra
“As a passionate believer in the power of education and financial literacy to change lives, I found Milaan’s goals extremely relevant”.Nitesh is the Director of Operations and Technology at Milaan, leading Finance, Technology, Human Resources, and Administration. With two decades of experience in organizational transformation, he specializes in change management, strategy, and operations, helping institutions become stronger and more effective.As a certified coach, Nitesh is passionate about supporting people to grow in their careers and lives. He has also been a long-time mentor in initiatives in India and the US that work to increase the representation of women and underrepresented groups in the tech industry. Beyond Milaan, he advises and serves on the boards of several deep-tech startups across India and the US.He holds an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, coaching certifications from the University of California and the International Coaching Federation, and is an alumnus of the ILSS Leadership Program.
Javed Abbas
"I have come to believe that real change lasts only when young people get a say in the systems that shape their lives. At Milaan, my focus is simple: creating spaces where adolescents feel supported and included so they can grow, thrive, and bring positive change to their communities."Javed Abbas is the Associate Director - Systems Integration at Milaan, leading the organization’s systems-change strategy in partnership with government departments across Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. With over 18 years of experience in gender justice, youth leadership, education, and public health, he has designed and led large-scale programs that strengthen adolescent leadership, promote gender equity, and build resilient community systems.Javed is known for building high-performing teams and brings expertise in systems thinking, strategy, and evidence-based advocacy to influence policy and institutional practices. He holds a Master’s in Population, Education, and Rural Development and has completed leadership programs with institutions such as Dasra, Girls Not Brides, UNICEF ROSA, and ISST.A co-author of Leveraging Peer Influence for Positive Life Outcomes among Adolescents, Javed is committed to driving inclusive, scalable, and sustainable impact through strategic systems integration.
Board Members
Sairee Chahal
"Greater participation of young girls from underserved communities paves the way for building a progressive, equitable economy. Milaan's Girl Icon initiative offers young girls the support and safe spaces they need, values that resonate deeply with the design and spirit of the SHEROES platform. "Sairee Chahal is the Founder and CEO of SHEROES – the world’s largest online ecosystem for women. The SHEROES Network is home to the SHEROES app; Babygogo, a platform to support young mothers; Maya, a global reproductive health platform and remote work product MARS. The network has a global footprint of 16 million women. Sairee is armed with an M. Phil from JNU and a PGDBM from IMT Ghaziabad. She is a Fellow of the Ananta Aspen’s Kamalnayan Bajaj Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She is also on the Board of Directors of Paytm Payments Bank. She is a recipient of the Devi Award, Femina Achievers Award, Editor's Choice for LOreal, Femina Women Award and Business Today, Most Powerful Women in Indian Business, and a Cartier Award Alumni. In 2018, SHEROES had been awarded in the ‘Social and Economic Empowerment’ category at the IAMAI Digital Awards.
Tanya Singhal
“Women are born empowered - we need a community of people who believe this and are willing to put the required resources and positive reinforcement behind it. Milaan’s Girl Icon Program reinforces this philosophy to help adolescent girls thrive and get to their true potential and be an example for other girls!”Tanya Singhal is the Founder and Director of SolarArise, which is an Independent Power Producer that owns and operates 7 grid-connected solar projects in India at 450 MWp. She is an entrepreneur and industry leader in the renewable energy sector with over 15+ years of sector experience. In 2010, after spending 4 years in strategy consulting at the Boston Consulting Group and working across sectors, she decided something needed to be done to make clean solar energy an affordable reality in India. She then started her entrepreneurial journey and SolarArise was born. Tanya has raised over INR 450 crores of equity capital from global marquee investors along with INR 1500 crores of project debt capital. She has built and led teams to develop, execute and operate solar projects across India. She is an active member of the industry body advising the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) on short-term and long-term policies. Tanya was awarded the Woman of the Year in Solar, India in 2019, Asia's Most Influential Women in Renewable Energy in 2020, India's Most Powerful & Influential Solar Industry Business Leaders in 2021, and Entrepreneur of the Year in 2022. Her goal is to move India to a low-carbon development path and looks forward to the day when each light in every home is powered by clean energy from her solar plants. Tanya holds a Bachelor’s in Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.
Shubha Bahl
"With education and opportunities, girls have time and again proven that they smoothly slip into leadership positions. Milaan's facilitating role is praiseworthy."Shubha Bahl works closely with Milaan as a board member and brings with her a commendable experience of many years. An Undergraduate in Economics and a Master’s in Business Economics from Delhi University. After a short stint at a lectureship at Delhi University, she started a business in 1985 in the export of handicrafts. In 2002, she took voluntary retirement from the business and started spending most of her time on social projects. Besides teaching children from low-income backgrounds, she started a social initiative by publishing a Hindi magazine for young children. Shubha is currently working at the Community Library Project as a trustee after volunteering in the library for three years.
Harish Doraiswamy
As the proud father of twin daughters, the vision and mission of Milaan resonate deeply with Harish. “The passion and imagination with which the team at Milaan goes about its work and the impact made have been truly inspiring. This is only the beginning, and I am certain that Milaan, with the support of donors and well-wishers, will transform the lives of millions of girls in India and help unleash the potential of our country.”Harish Doraiswamy is a former corporate sector professional with over 30 years of experience across multiple industries and functions. Harish has been associated with the Education Sector for more than a decade. He is an alumnus of IIT Madras and IIM Calcutta. His last assignment was as Vice-President at Pearson India, where he had been responsible for a few verticals across South Asia. He has led several pioneering initiatives in his corporate career and would now like to do the same in the social sector.
Rati Misra
"Milaan is playing a crucial role in addressing gender equality and empowerment for adolescent girls in India. They are helping girls to lead, not only on the field but also in all aspects of life".Rati Misra has over two decades of experience championing the rights of persons with disabilities and advancing gender equality. She has led successful initiatives in fundraising, advocacy, and communications with organizations including the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, and Special Olympics Bharat.Rati is a passionate advocate for women’s leadership, gender, and disability rights, working to create meaningful opportunities for women and girls in underserved communities. She has also shared her expertise as a speaker at international forums, including the United Nations Commission in Geneva.
Bindu Singh
“Educating, enabling and empowering youth in rural India is broadly what Milaan envisions. As a board member, I strongly feel we are weaving a million dreams and translating them into reality slowly but surely.”Bindu Singh brings 30 years of experience in the education sector to the Milaan Board. Having worked as the Project Lead of SLRC Milaan, she has been an invaluable asset in the creation and nurturing of Swarachna School. In addition to her work with Milaan, she is also the Principal of the prestigious Navayuga Radiance School in Lucknow and a member of the CBSE Subject Expert Panel for class XII.
Sharadindu Goswami
"Educating and empowering girls is going to be the single biggest factor in determining India's growth story over the next two decades. Milaan plans to be the spearhead in the process of empowering adolescent girls to play a larger role in society."The co-founder of the organisation, Sharadindu serves as its General Secretary. His commitment to quality sets the benchmark for the organisation, driving its culture and work ethic. He is a voracious reader and strongly believes that given the right instructions, anyone can achieve greatness, irrespective of their background, which drove him to pursue this line of work.
Dhirendra Pratap Singh
"It bothers me to see how we are contained in boxes made of social walls and then labelled, which challenges the very concept of exploring one’s identity and the chance to explore one’s full potential. I co-relate empowerment to freedom and thus am passionate about working towards building a free and equal world."Dhirendra Pratap Singh is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Milaan. Under his leadership, Milaan launched the Girl Icon Program to inspire, nurture and amplify the voices of girl leaders as empowered agents of change in their communities and the world. He actively advocates for equal rights for girls both nationally and globally. With a Master's degree in Development Studies and BSc (Honors) in Mathematics, he has also been a recipient of the Karamveer Puruskar (2009) and Youth Ambassador for Peace Award by the Universal Peace Federation (2007). In 2017, Dhirendra was a part of the Indian delegation to the South Asian Youth Summit in Afghanistan. He is also a graduate of the Artira - Leadership Accelerator Program by Phicus Social Solutions at IIM Bangalore and was a Gratitude Network Fellow in 2020 cohort. In the past, Dhirendra has worked with many international and national development organisations like Vidya Grants India, United Way of Delhi, ASER, etc. He is a board member of Community - The Youth Collective. He was also the CEO and co-founder of Azadi, a US-based impact venture committed to making menstruation a non-issue in India.
Advisory Council
Sonali Khan
“In today’s context, as inequalities become wider, what Milaan does is even more important. Ensuring that girls can follow their dreams, take decisions, and lead will not only define their future but also that of the country.”Sonali Khan leads Sesame Workshop’s educational mission in India to create innovative and engaging content that maximises the educational power of all media to help kids grow smarter, stronger and kinder. As Managing Director of Sesame Workshop - India, Sonali spearheads the organisation that combines the power of mass media with educational outreach to prepare children for school and life. Under her leadership, the organisation develops and implements ground-breaking programs to reach children everywhere – especially those who need it the most. Sonali is a global advocate for human rights and ending violence against marginalised communities, with an emphasis on girls and women. Her work has focused on promoting gender equity in education, empowering adolescent girls, and ending domestic violence, sexual harassment and early marriage. She began her career as a television journalist covering politics and business and has since worked for myriad organisations that harness the power of media for social change. Before Sesame Workshop - India, she was the Director of Knowledge Creation and Dissemination at Dasra, a leading strategic philanthropy foundation where her work covered areas including urban sanitation, adolescent girls’ rights, democracy and access to justice. Previously, she had also served as the Vice President and then India Country Director for Breakthrough, where she spearheaded large-scale program implementation, numerous multi-platform campaigns promoting gender equity, developed M&E practices and supported global fundraising and partnership development. She also sits on the board of Plan International. Sonali is a proud recipient of the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskar (Women’s Empowerment Award) from the President of India. In 2016, she also received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship for her work in ending child marriage.
Neha Rastogi
“Investing in the future of young girls is investing in the future of our country. It gives me immense satisfaction and pride to contribute to Milaan's vision of an inclusive and equal world where every girl can explore her true potential.”With over 15 years of experience in public relations, corporate brand communications and media planning, Neha started WordsWork in 2009. Within a short span, she has spearheaded successful communications campaigns for brands ranging from lifestyle, corporate, and public diplomacy to sports. She leads strategy and content for all WordsWork clients and enjoys getting into the thick of client servicing and delivery beyond expectations. She has considerable expertise in corporate, consumer and sports PR. Her strength lies in enabling collaborations, which impact the business. This includes cross-leveraging clients and beyond, which is the basis for her business network. Before setting up an independent consultancy, she had been the Communications Director for several corporate initiatives of the Spice Energy Group companies. This role included complete management of communications and media tie-ups of Narain Karthikeyan, leading race driver and A1Team India, representing the country at A1GP–the World Cup of Motor Sport. Her PR experience began with Genesis Burson Marstellar in India, followed by a stint with Burson Marstellar in London.
Shantanu Ghosh
“I find Milaan’s approach of driving fundamental social change through the Girl Icon Program innovative with the potential of a lasting impact, and am therefore excited to contribute to the organisation’s scaling up.”Shantanu, based in Gurgaon, is the CEO of Social Finance India (SFI), a catalytic impact investment intermediary for designing funding and programs for improved social outcomes at scale in India. Before this, Shantanu spent three decades in corporations like Genpact, GE, Unilever and PwC in global business and functional leadership roles. Shantanu decided to move from the corporate sector to the social sector in early 2019 and mentored multiple organisations focused on education, gender equality, and rural entrepreneurship before taking on the role at SFI.
Deepak Majeethia
“Men and boys need to be equal partners in the goal of achieving gender equality. I am glad to see Milaan has embraced this in its programs. It has grown very rapidly to achieve its impact goal of improving the lives of 100,000 adolescent girls on the back of effective program design, a learning and responsive organization culture, and passionate committed leadership. It is well poised to be a systems change exemplar in gender equality. It’s my pleasure to be a part of their journey.”Deepak moved to the social sector in early 2023 with a desire to use his leadership skills and diverse experiences to create systemic and sustainable social impact. Prior to this he has worked for 32 years in a variety of business leader roles globally across organizations including Genpact, GE, DHL, Godrej and a dotcom start-up he cofounded. He brings to the development sector his passion for human values, driving change, and focus on outcomes;
and his experience in building teams and organizations at scale with a shared purpose, bold vision, and excellence in execution. He currently advises select social sector organizations in strategy and capacity building to scale impact as an independent advisor and a lead partner
at Social Venture Partners. He is especially passionate about gender equality.