Mahendra joined CORO in 1989 as a literacy volunteer. He had opted out of education after 12th class, but completed his graduation in social science while working in CORO. His commitment and consistency in vision for social change has helped him to lead CORO through various stages of growth. Mahendra has been instrumental in the development of CORO’s flagship program of grassroots leadership development in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Delhi, implemented in collaboration with Leaders Quest, UK. The program has built a community of 1100+ grassroots leaders and their mentors and the network of 250+ organizations across Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Delhi.

Mahendra is now the Director of all of CORO’s Programs.

Rahul grew up in a slum, and this gave him a deep understanding of his community. He has been associated with CORO since 1995 and was the recipient of one of the first Quest Grassroots Leadership Development Programme. During this programme, he led a project on youth personality development, sexuality and is employment-related issues in an urban context.

Despite his lack of early education, Rahul has graduated in Economics and completed his MBA in Social Entrepreneurship. Rahul’s interests are organizational development, process management, and youth empowerment.

Sujata joined CORO in 1996 as volunteer in combating violence against women. She then shouldered responsibility of counselor in Counseling and Legal aid centre. Sujata in her grassroots fellowship project worked extensively on Domestic Violence Act and focused on systemic gaps in implementing this act. She developed and led a network of 30 organisations in Maharashtra working on domestic violence issues.

Sujata is currently Program Manager for women empowerment project (supported by APPI) focusing on domestic violence related issues.

Born and raised in Mumbai, Nitin has been associated with CORO for the last 10 years. During this time, he’s been a part of its intervention research into understanding gender attitudes amongst young boys and girls in the community. He has also provided support to other CORO programmes. Nitin is married and lives in northeast Mumbai with his wife Sangeeta and their son Rishi. When he isn’t working, he enjoys playing cricket, reading and spending time with his son.

Deepchand is a social activist with 25 years of experience in field work and NGO management across several districts of Rajasthan. He has been involved in the expansion of the Quest Fellowship Programme across the state – from initial conversation onwards.

Deepchand has an MA in Sociology and a Diploma in Rural Development.

Supriya is currently leading the Right to Pee (RTP) Campaign which is advocating for safe, clean, and free public urinals for women in Mumbai and in other parts of the state of Maharashtra. This campaign was initiated and incubated by CORO. Her core areas of interest are urban planning and development.

Supriya studied Political Science in college and was awarded a gold medal during her Bachelor of Law degree from Goa University. She is currently pursuing her MA in Women’s Studies in Mumbai.

Having worked in the consulting/ financial services sector (PwC, SBI Capital Markets, IDFC Alternatives, Athaang Infrastructure) for 20+ years, Kartik decided to make a mid-career shift to the development sector. He was associated with CORO in 2018-2020 after being inspired by the philosophy and the approach adopted by CORO in bringing about equality in the society. From 2020-2023 Kartik was associated with CORO in an advisory capacity. Kartik is back to CORO from 2023 as Lead – Strategy & Partnership. He has an MBA from IIM Indore. 

Varsha has 15+ year of experience at Bombay Natural History Society ( Bnhs ) as Dy. Director Finance. Varsha joined CORO in 2023 and she leads the Finance team.

Luis founded IDFC private equity in 2002 and retired in 2010 to focus on not-for-profits in human rights, health and education. He is the chairperson of Centre for Civil Society, a trustee of the Society for Nutrition Education and Health Action (SNEHA), and a senior advisor to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure. He also sits on the advisory boards of the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago and St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

Luis received an MBA from the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago. According to Economic Times, ‘Luis has recast himself as something of a philanthropic catalyst, using his powers of persuasion and strong business network to advocate the cause of a bunch of organisations’.

Recently Sujata has been awarded Ph.D. for the thesis on ‘Meanings of Women’s Empowerment’. This academic research is facilitated by Sujata with seven grassroots co-researchers, by developing the research methodology ‘Feminist Cooperative Inquiry’, feminist research influenced by the cooperative Inquiry (CI) approach. Sujata has authored a book in Marathi titled “Aashevin Aasha’ (Hope without Hope) based on her community related work. She has represented CORO in national and international forums and has contributed to many publications.

JM Trivedi (JM) is based in Mumbai. He heads South Asia operations at Actis, an emerging markets private equity firm which invests in mid-market control/buyout and growth capital deals. JM joined the UK-government’s CDC (Commonwealth Development Corporation) in 1997 to establish private equity operations out of its Mumbai office, and was one of the founding partners when Actis spun out of CDC in 2004. Prior to this, JM was Senior Vice President of GVFL, one of the first VC firms in India. He has led a number of marquee deals in the PE market in India including UTI Bank, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Paras pharmaceuticals.

JM has worked in the financial services industry in India for more than 35 years. He graduated in Chemical Engineering from IIT-Bombay in 1975.

Sulakshana is a researcher in urban and women’s issues, with a particular focus on India. She has produced several papers, articles and newspaper columns, and her writing appears in both English and Marathi language publications. She is a visiting lecturer at Sir JJ School of Art and Architecture and Rachana Sansad’s Academy of Architecture in Mumbai.

Shaila is a development professional with eight years of work experience. She is the Founder and President of the SAMAVESHAK SAMAJIK VIKAS SANSTHA (Inclusive Social Development Institute), Aundh. She set this up five years back and is currently working with and for people from the NT-DNT community, on areas such as women empowerment, Health education and legal rights of the NT-DNT and ST communities. She s Prior to this, she has worked as a Social Worker in Swades Foundation (Agriculture, Water Education and Health) and as a taluka coordinator in Nirman Sanstha Pune. Through this, she has developed expertise in Block-Coordinator, District Coordinator coordination with local stakeholders and local governance documentation, MIS, special programs on gender equality and reduction of domestic violence against women. She is an active participant in human rights and nomadic tribal Movements She has also been part of various leadership fellowships, including our Samta Fellowship from 2019 to 2022.