Mallika Dutt, President and CEO
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.
Mohd. Aslam - Office Assistant
Aslem assists the Breakthrough staff in the daily office activities. Prior to Breakthrough he was with Bhummika Exports.
Piali Bhattacharya, Assistant Manager - Campaign
Piali has done her Masters in English Literature from Meerut University. She has been working for 9 years in academic and administrative positions in various organizations like Electronics Corporation of India Ltd, Reliance Infocom and Kaya Skin Care Ltd. She has received on the job training on communication skills and Bioinformatics and has actively conducted workshops on communication skills.
At company Kaya Skin Clinics, she worked very closely with the operations team, maintaining and updating daily sales and monthly information reports as well as coordinating with clinics in North and East India. Before joining Breakthrough Piali worked as the HR and Admin Executive in M/s Andre HK Buying Office Ltd. Her key functional area was recruitment, expat management and administrative support of all the branch offices of India.
Urvashi Gandhi, Manager - Community Leadership Program
A trained and experienced facilitator, Urvashi has conducted training programs with different groups (youth from colleges and marginalized communities, CBO, NGO workers and people from the corporate sector) on social issues ranging from gender, human rights, women's rights sexuality and life skills. She has been involved in developing resource materials, sessions and organizing state and national levels events on these issues.
Urvashi has done her Masters in Home Science specializing in Human Development from the S.N.D.T Women's University. She has received her certificate in Non-Profit Management from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2000 she joined Pratidhi, which works for the welfare and rehabilitation of victims of crime, and undertook legal literacy drives to sensitize women about their rights in the context of dowry, domestic violence and sexual abuse. At CASP-Plan, she has counseled children and women, begun a documentation center, worked on a children's quarterly magazine and organized events for and with Bal Panchayat members. At Don Bosco Ashalayam, she worked on a UNHCR project with Afghan and Burmese refugees in Delhi and building self help groups.
Sonali Khan, Country Director - India
Sonali Khan has been a journalist with about ten years of experience in the field. She began as a TV journalist for Television 18 and has worked on programs broadcast on channels like the BBC World, Star Plus, Delhi
Doordarshan and CNBC. She has also made documentaries on Indian art and craft. She has been effectively trying to use her media skills in the development sector. She was previously working as Program Coordinator for Public Education And Advocacy, with Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action - CREA a not for profit organization. Her work involved building awareness on issues of violence against women, sexual and reproductive health, sexuality, women's human rights and social justice.
Sonali has an M.phil degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University in Political Science.
Pushkar Kirola, Assistant Manager - Accounts
Pushkar holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from Delhi University. He is currently pursuing an MBA in Finance & HR, and has 7 years experience in Accounts & Administration. His professional career began as an Accounts Trainee under the auspice of Ms. Sanjeev K. Bansal & Co. and worked for 2 years in different positions in the corporate sector.
Ditipriya Ghosh, Manager - Operations and Development
Ditipriya is a Commerce graduate with 18 years of experience in Human Resource/ Recruitment and Communication. For the last 4 years she has been working with organizations like Hemophilia Federation (India) and Parivar Seva Sanstha in the areas of Information, Education & Communication. She has been associated with Development Sector since childhood and volunteered for organizations like Missionaries of Charity and Vivek Chetana
Bindu Madhavi, Manager - Monitoring and Evaluation
Bindu Madhavi is a postgraduate in Sociology with eight years of experience in the development sector especially in education, policy issues, child and health. She has developed skills over the years in Management, Monitoring and Evaluation, Research, Training, Advocacy, and Counseling. She has worked with several organizations holding different positions such as Population Council (Consultant), BBC World Service Trust (Research Officer), UNDP/TAHA/NIS Sparta (Faculty), CRY (Consultant), EC/Trained Nurses Association of India (Research Officer), Society for All Round Development (Trainer/Counselor), Center for Civil Society (Project Coordinator) and National Institute of Education Planning and Administration (Project Assistant).
Gautam Marwah, Manager - Accounts
Gautam has his Bachelor's in commerce from Delhi University and has 14 years of experience in accounting. He began his professional career as an Accounts Assistant with Charisma Realty and worked for 9 years in different positions in the corporate sector. In 2003, he joined the development sector as Account Executive with TARSHI, NGO which works on the reproductive and sexual health issues.
Before joining Breakthrough he worked as a Manager-Accounts with IDE-India NGO working towards development of low cost technologies to assist farmers.
Sunita Menon, Director - Education and Training
Sunita Menon has developed and implemented projects at national and international level on citizenship education, women's rights, sexuality and HIV/ AIDS. An experienced trainer, she has conducted capacity building programs with various civil society organizations, government departments, corporate houses and with marginalized communities on diverse social issues .She has authored Jaano, Jaago , Jagaao – A Peer Educators Guide to HIV/AIDS Awareness and co authored Rights and Desire- A Facilitators Manual on Healthy Sexuality. Her articles on development issues have been published in national newspapers, magazines and websites. She has scripted and hosted education programs for Gyan Darshan a national television channel. She is also the founder member of socio - cultural group, which uses theatre and culture to address conflict related issues.
Bulbuli Mukherjee, Assistant - Manager – Media Dissemination
Bulbuli is experienced in Business Development, Project Management, Media Coordination and Event Management. Prior to working at Breakthrough she was working at Jagran Pehel, a social initiative arm of Dainik Jagran where she was handling Business Development andcoordinating various national level seminars, panel discussions, road shows, and media workshops. She has a graduate degree in Public Relations and Mass Communication.
Vani Periodi, Program Manager
Vani Periodi has over two decades of experience in the field of development. She is a seasoned trainer in the areas of gender, education, communications and local governance. She has also used theater and other cultural forms of expression to promote human rights.
Vani has considerable experience in research and evaluation and has produced several publications, newsletters and reports for organizations in Karnataka. She has also developed a training mannual for youth on sensitive partnership and responsible parenthood during her fellowship under Population Council Delhi.
Meghana Rao, Manager - Communications
Meghana is a Public Relations professional with over three years of experience ranging across a number of industries including entertainment, broadcast, technology, real-estate, and lifestyle. Over the past few years, Meghana has been actively servicing, supervising and managing client relationships. She has worked closely with clients to develop and implement strategic communications plans.
Prior to her career in Public Relations, she has also been a performer and an instructor with Mr. Davar’s Dance Company. She has imparted dance education to under-privileged, the differently abled and challenged children as a part of her teaching career.
She was given the additional responsibility of being Shiamak Davar’s Assistant PR manager where her portfolio included the mandate of managing Mr Davar’s business relationships and active participation in business functioning.
Meghana holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Mumbai University. In addition, she has also obtained a Management Diploma in Advertising and Public Relations from the same.
Rajinder Singh Rawat, Office Assistant
Rajinder completed his studies in 2000 from Uttaranchal, India. Prior to joining Breakthrough he worked at Hero Cycles as an office assistant holding the position for two years. At the Delhi Breakthrough office Rajindra provides support to staff in numerous capacities including public relations.
Harsh Vardhan, Administration Coordinator
Harsh has a B.Sc. degree in Psychology from Annamalai University and currently pursuing Master’s degree in Social Work from IGNOU. He has about six years of work experience in both administration and community development activity. Previously, he was associated with Programme on Women’s Economic Social and Cultural Rights (PWESCR) as an Administrative Officer, responsible for Administration, Database Management, IT, HR and Procurements. Prior to that, he worked with Ideosync Media Combine, in the administrative part of two radio series focused on safe migration and HIV/AIDS, which was aired on All India Radio and World Space. He has also worked with CASP-Plan as a Project Coordinator of the ‘Working Children’ project in M.B. Road, Badarpur and Madanpur Khadar, Delhi.
Staff – USA
Katie McDonough, Executive Assistant to Mallika Dutt, President & CEO
Katie graduated from Hunter College in 2008, earning her BA in Political Science and Religion. While at Hunter, she completed her honors thesis on the discourses of opposition and support for same sex marriage in the United States, and their overlapping rhetorical strategies. She has interned extensively with various nonprofits, conducting writing intensive research projects on human rights and religion.
Tierney Gleason, Operations Manager
With over ten years of experience working for progressive organizations, Tierney is Breakthrough’s Operations Manager. Before joining the team at Breakthrough, Tierney built her career focusing on philanthropy and development at a range of organizations including Tides Foundation, Colin Higgins Foundation, Ms. Foundation for Women, and City Harvest. She is a proud board member of Third Wave Foundation, a feminist, activist foundation that works nationally to support young women and transgender youth ages 15 to 30. A committed activist working for racial and economic justice, Tierney serves as a facilitator of a support group in the Shelter Organizing Project run by Queers for Economic Justice to provide safe space for homeless LGBTQ residents in a local women's shelter. She earned her BA in Women's Studies and a certificate in Film Criticism from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Lynn Harris, Communications Strategist
Lynn Harris brings to Breakthrough two decades of experience in journalism, advocacy, and pop culture designed to make a difference. She has written extensively about women's rights, reproductive justice, gender, religion, disability, and culture, sometimes all at once. Her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, Salon.com, The Nation.com, The Washington Post, Glamour, and Marie Claire, and has garnered several awards, including a Planned Parenthood Maggie Award for reporting on female genital mutilation in the United States. She is co-founder, with Chris Kalb, of the award-winning website BreakupGirl.net, online headquarters of the only superhero who fights crimes of the heart and rescues men and women from romantic peril. She is author of several books, most recently the satirical mystery Death By Chick Lit. Lynn cut her teeth in public interest communications as media director for the Boston chapter of the National Organization for Women, way back when no one but NASA had email. She now volunteers as public relations advisor for the Afghan Women's Writing Project (awwproject.org) and as a mentor/editor for the Op-Ed Project (opedproject.org). A retired standup comic, Lynn wrote and co-starred in "Lynn Harris On Ice," which sold out its Off-Off-Broadway run in 2002. A graduate of Yale University, Lynn lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two young children, who are currently developing their own communications strategies.
Nikki Marron, Grants Manager
Nikki has an undergraduate degree in art history from Barnard College. She is also a graduate of Villanova University School of Law, where her studies focused on civil rights and social justice issues. Prior to joining Breakthrough, Nikki assisted with the administration of grant programs for local artists at Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and most recently she worked in the office of development at The New York Public Library.
Marc Sokol, Vice President
Marc has worked extensively in nonprofit management and administration, and has an MFA in Arts Administration from Columbia University and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in Art and Architectural History.
Prior to joining Breakthrough, Marc was VP for Business Development and acting COO of a national school-reform organization that provided professional training services to administrators and teachers. Marc designed the staff and operation systems, programs, and budgets, growing the organization to where it had 100 trainers delivering 4,500 training days yearly. As a private consultant, Marc helped nonprofit and for-profit clients with strategic planning, organizational development, education and training programs, and client development.
Marc's nationally replicated Architectural Youth Program received numerous awards and won multi-year funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. As a member of Visual AIDS for the Arts, he helped produce the "Night without Light", a World AIDS day tribute. Marc has served on juries and panels, including the Westchester Arts Council, United Federation of Teachers, Scholastic Art Awards, American Institute of Architects, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum.
Ishita Srivastava, Media Production Associate
Ishita Srivastava grew up in New Delhi, India, and very early on, was inspired by the power of the arts to effect social change. Surrounded by media and culture at home and drawing on her fascination with people and social interaction, she chose to explore the visual medium after she finished her first BA in English Literature from St. Stephens College in Delhi. A second BA in Media and Communications at Goldsmiths College (London) helped her hone in on her passion for film.
After completing her MA degree in Cinema Studies and Culture and Media at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in May ‘09, Ishita left academia to explore her passion for making documentaries. She is interested in harnessing the power of non-fiction storytelling to raise awareness about political and cultural issues, and work with new and exciting media forms to engage with issues of human rights.
Her most recent documentary film, Desigirls, examines the intersection of gender, sexuality and immigrant culture as it follows two women as they negotiate their
diverse and often fraught experiences as queer Indian women in New York City.
Crissy Spivey, Multimedia Manager
Crissy has worked as the Multimedia Manager producing web content and managing web outreach and multimedia programs at Breakthrough for over five years. In addition, her online reach includes being a freelance writer and social media consultant during off hours. Prior to working on the web, Crissy worked in documentary production at Court TV. She was also an Admissions Counselor at the University of Rochester, in Rochester, New York.
Crissy has her Masters in Television, Radio, and Film from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Journalism from the University of Rochester.
Dana Variano, Multimedia Associate
Dana is a young screenwriter and director who joins Breakthrough as Multimedia Associate in the New York office. Dana graduated from Swarthmore College in 2006 with a double major in History and Film & Media Studies, and participated in NYU: Tisch School of the Arts BBC program in London in 2004. Since then, Dana has spent much of her time working on, and implementing, alternative media strategies for non-profits and foundations across the US. In her spare time, Dana serves as Creative Director for dapperQ, and has recently finished production of her 35-minute short narrative film, Triptych. Dana is excited to be a part of Breakthrough's movement, and is grateful for the opportunity to use media to forward human rights.
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