• Board of Directors – India
• Board of Directors – USA

---

 

Board of Directors - INDIA

Bishakha Datta

Bishakha Datta is a writer and documentary filmmaker. Her first book, 'And Who Will Make the Chapatis?' focuses on rural women's participation in politics and she is currently researching a full-length book on the struggle for sex workers' rights in India. Her two most recent documentary films include 'In The Flesh', which explores the lives of three people in prostitution from their own perspectives and 'Taza Khabar', which explores a rural newspaper run by eight women, most of whom are dalit or tribal. Bishakha is the executive director of Point of View, a Mumbai-based not-for-profit organization that aims to promote the points of view of women through a creative and sustained use of media, art and culture. She currently serves on the Board of the Wikimedia Foundation.

Neelam Deo

Neelam Deo completed her Master's degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics. Prior to joining the Indian Foreign Service, she taught Economics at Kamla Nehru College, Delhi University from 1971-1974. She began her career with the IFS in Italy serving from 1977-1980 and returned to Europe from 1996-1999, when she was appointed as Ambassador to Denmark, was the political and press officer in Thailand from 1984-1987. Her experience in Africa was as Ambassador resident in Ivory Coast with concurrent accreditation to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Niger (1999-2002). During her tenure in the IFS, she served in the USA on two occasions - in Washington DC, the political capital, from 1992-1995 and in New York, the financial capital, from 2005-2008. With a career spanning 33 years with the Indian Foreign Service, she has gained valuable insights into how each country's unique history, geographical location, experience of international interventions (including colonization), foreign aid, the changing status of women, and levels of education shape its perspective and future direction.

Sanjeev Duggal

Sanjeev Duggal, currently serves as the  CEO & Executive Director of Centum Learning Limited, a Bharti Group Associate Company.Centum Learning Limited is an integrated Learning & Development Company, committed to the transformation of Indian Youth by equipping them with the New Age Professional Skills & the Corporate Inc. by devising & delivering Innovative Learning Solutions. The Company was adjudged as among the top 15 Emerging Leaders in Training Outsourcing Worldwide in 2009 by Training Inc USA & enjoys a National Presence in Higher Education Domain in India. Sanjeev also serves as CEO of Bharti Airtel Service Limited.

Prior to this, Sanjeev was the Managing Director and CEO of NIS Sparta Ltd, Reliance Group Company, one of the Asia’s leading Education and Performance Enhancement Solutions groups. Sanjeev is an acknowledged authority and a leading consultant is the Sales and Marketing arena in India. He is the recipient of many honors and accolades, including the Udyog Rattan Award awarded by the Institute of Economic Studies. He is also a visiting faculty at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

Sangita Jindal

Sangita Jindal, Eisenhower Fellow 2004, is the founder chairperson of the Jindal South West Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the O.P. Jindal group. The Foundation's work ranges from healthcare and education programs to activities in arts, culture and heritage. Sangita established the Jindal Arts Creative Interaction Centre (JACIC) in 1992 on invitation from the NCPA to start a centre for inter disciplinary arts activity. She is also the founder and publisher of Art India, India's leading publication on modern art. Sangita serves as the Chairperson of the Hampi Foundation committed to heritage management and has been recently elected to the Board of Trustees of the World Monuments Fund based at New York.

Suneeta Kar Dhar

Suneeta Kar Dhar currently serves as the Director of JAGORI, a well-known feminist resource and training center in New Delhi. Prior to this, she worked with the United Nations Development Fund for Women at the New Delhi Office, and later at the New York Office as the Manager of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women. She is a passionate advocate of women’s rights and has worked on a wide range of issues including ending violence against women and its intersections with HIV, adult and popular education, gender training and organizational development, and peace and development. Active in the women’s movement in India and South Asia, she is also one of the Founding Directors of the South Asia Women’s Fund based in Colombo. She has produced over the years a number of training manuals, case studies, booklets, papers and articles on diverse aspects of women’s rights.

Mallika Dutt

As the President of Breakthrough, Mallika has spearheaded the use of art and culture as an essential strategy for mainstreaming the global dialogue on human rights. She has conceived and led Breakthrough’s award-winning campaigns on violence against women and immigration reform that have reached millions. She has amplified the project of bringing human rights home through groundbreaking and unlikely partnerships ranging from grass-roots community organizations to the entertainment industry. Mallika has overseen Breakthrough’s evolution from a single campaign to a global leader in advancing human rights through cutting edge multimedia and pop culture tools.

Prior to founding Breakthrough, Mallika served as Program Officer for Human Rights at the Ford Foundation’s New Delhi Office where she initiated the Foundation’s work in police reform and forged unique partnerships between police, NGOs, and civil society groups. Mallika also acted as the Associate Director of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University, and was at the forefront of the global movement for gaining recognition for women’s rights as human rights.

Mallika is a co-founder of SAKHI for South Asian Women and has served on several boards and committees, including the Human Rights Watch Women’s Rights Project and Asia Watch, The Sister Fund, Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, and the US NGO Coordinating Committee for the UN World Conference Against Racism. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and currently serves on Boards of WITNESS, the Open Society Institute US Programs, and Games for Change, and on the Rights Working Group Steering Committee.

The recipient of several awards, Mallika began her career as an Associate at Debevoise & Plimpton. She graduated from NYU Law School in 1989, received a Masters in International Affairs and South Asian Studies from Columbia University in 1996, and an A.B. in International Affairs from Mt. Holyoke College in 1983.

Sandeep Khosla

Sandeep Khosla hails from Kapurthala. Sandeep, in his initial years, worked in the family business of leathers and specialized in a number of traits. Shifting base to Delhi, he worked for an export house, where he learnt the variety of fabrics and garment manufacturing. He then moved to Mumbai where he partnered with Abu Jani. Their launch into the global forum was with a range of shawls, under the brand name of 'Shakira Caine' mark at Harvey Nichols, Neiman Marcus and Harrods in London, along with Bergdof Goodman in New York and Knightsbridge in UK. The designer label "Jashan", launched in 1989, was previewed at the 'Save the Children' Charity fundraising ball in London. In a span of nine years, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla have established their first London store, while their British profits have doubled. In 2007, they appeared in Business Week's list of the 50 most powerful Indians.

Benu Kumar

Benu Kumar has been closely associated with the fashion industry for many years. She has assisted in organizing several shows and is particularly involved in the revival of traditional fabric, embroidery and weaving in different parts of the country through her work with designers, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla.

Jael Silliman

Jael Silliman is currently an independent consultant. Last year she completed six years as the Women’s Rights and Gender Justice Program Officer at the Ford Foundation in New York. Previously, she worked at Ford as the Reproductive and Sexual Rights Program Officer. Jael has also served as a tenured professor in Women's Studies at the University of Iowa for several years. She is the author of several books that are widely used in colleges and universities across the US. In addition, she has held positions at the Noyes Foundation, Nehru Foundation, Barnard College, and Columbia University.

 

Board of Directors – USA

Nasser A. Ahmad

Nasser A. Ahmad is chief investment officer and managing partner of DiMaio Ahmad Capital, a New York based asset management company. Prior to co-founding DiMaio Ahmad Capital, Nasser was managing director of Credit Suisse Capital and the Chief Investment Officer for the Direct Credit Hedge Fund Group. He was co-head of Global Cash and Derivatives Credit Trading within the Fixed Income Division at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). Nasser received a B.S. and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also serves on the Board of the Soros Economic Development Fund.

Geoffrey H. Coll

Geoffrey H. Coll is a partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf. He represents clients in a wide variety of civil, criminal, and regulatory matters. He also has extensive experience defending complex commercial actions in the banking, insurance and energy fields, and is a co-leader of the firm’s India Practice Group. Formerly with the State Department, Geoff served as a diplomat in India and France. While attending Columbia University Law School, he interned with the Lawyer's Collective in Mumbai. Geoff is a member of the Bar in New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia; and is a writer in his spare time.

Patricia Dhar

Patricia Dhar founded and served as president of Woo Gear, a highly acclaimed design and manufacturing firm of women's golf wear. Previously, Patty worked at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, in Global Asset Allocation/Emerging Markets Product Marketing within Asset Management and Mortgage Finance and Real Estate Investment Banking. Patty received a BS in Economics and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She is a mother of 5-year-old triplets, and lives in Greenwich, Connecticut with her family and husband, Madhav Dhar, managing partner at the hedge fund Traxis Partners.

Mallika Dutt

Mallika Dutt, President and CEO of Breakthrough and Managing Trustee of the India Board, has authored several articles and essays including the widely referenced "With Liberty and Justice for All: Women's Human Rights in the United States." She was also the co-author of the globally utilized manual, "Local Action Global Change: Learning About the Human Rights of Women and Girls," which has been translated into more than ten languages.  Prior to founding Breakthrough, Mallika was the Program Officer for the Human Rights & Social Justice Program at the Ford Foundation's New Delhi office. Mallika has also served as the Associate Director of the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University and as the Director of the Norman Foundation. She began her professional career as an Associate at Debevoise & Plimpton in NYC.  Mallika is a founder of Sakhi for South Asian Women and has served on several boards and committees, including the Human Rights Watch Women's Rights Project and Asia Watch, The Sister Fund, Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, Lt. Governor Committee on Public Police Relations, Committee on Sex and Law - the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and the US NGO Coordinating Committee for the UN World Conference Against Racism. She currently serves on the Open Society Institute US Programs Board, the WITNESS Board of Directors, the Games for Change Advisory Board, and the Rights Working Group Steering Committee.  Mallika is a member of the NY State Bar. She has a JD from NYU Law School, a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University and an undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College.  Mallika grew up in Kolkata and Mirzapur in India and currently lives in NY with her husband Sumit Daniel Ghosal and their dogs, Piko and Sulta.

Tula Goenka

Tula Goenka is a Professor of Television-Radio-Film at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University. She has more than twenty years of experience in film and television production and editing. She produced and edited the award-winning PBS documentary Dancing on Mother Earth (a documentary on Native American singer-songwriter, Joanne Shenandoah), and worked on several award-winning documentaries including Keep the River on Your Right, Unzipped and El Charango. She also worked on a number of films including Malcolm X and Do The Right Thing by Spike Lee and Mississippi Masala and Salaam Bombay by Mira Nair. Tula is also a founding member of Sakhi for South Asian Women, and serves as the director of Syracuse University's annual Human Rights Film Festival.

Michael Hirschhorn

Michael Hirschhorn is a strategy consultant to non-profit and philanthropic organizations predominantly in the arenas of education and human rights. Michael also serves as director of the International Human Rights Funders Group. Previously, from 2003-2008, he served as executive director of the Coro New York Leadership Center, and from 1995 to 2001, Michael was executive director of the Literacy Assistance Center in New York City. Prior to that, he was deputy director of Educators for Social Responsibility Metro and an assistant to the Chancellor of the New York City Public Schools. Michael serves on the boards of several local and national non-profits, including serving as board chair of the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation.

Salim Ismail

Salim is a successful angel investor and entrepreneur. He has operated seven early-stage companies and is a frequent speaker on internet technologies, private equity and entrepreneurship. Salim is currently the Executive Director of Singularity University, which is training a new cadre of leaders to manage exponentially growing technologies. Prior to that, Salim was a Vice President at Yahoo and the Head of Brickhouse, Yahoo’s internal ‘ideas factory’ where game-changing ideas were brought in, built and launched. The unit analyzed thousands of ideas and launched four products during that year, the latest being Fire Eagle. He also serves as co-founder and Chairman of Confabb.com, the world’s largest directory of conferences, and before that, Salim co-founded and built PubSub Concepts, a New York based startup which built internet-scale Publish/Subscribe systems and created and led the category of Prospective Search. He blogs infrequently at www.salimismail.com.

L. Camille Massey

L. Camille Massey is the vice president for membership, fellowship, and corporate affairs at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). In 2000, she started Cue Global (NYC), a consulting business that provides strategic policy and communications services to global organizations. Since 2001, she has served as a senior adviser at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, a biomedical public-private partnership working in 23 countries with a concentration in Africa and Asia. Prior to Cue Global, Camille served as director of communications at the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now Human Rights First). Before studying law, Camille was an assistant director of public affairs at CFR where she produced and helped create “America and the World”, a weekly radio program that aired on National Public Radio, featuring leading policymakers, and co-produced and marketed "World in Focus," a foreign policy series for public television. Camille also serves on the Board of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Communications, and is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the American Bar Association.