Our Board of Trustees
Shubhada Deshmukh
She was also an active member of CSVY and has been associated with progressive organizations nationally as well as regionally as an advisor, trainer and board member. She is a strong believer in people’s capacity for initiativeand has been involved in campaigns related to women’s health and violence against women. She is currently a member of the State Steering Committee of National Health Mission for the period 2021-2024.
Sandhya Edalabadkar
Trained as a Chemical Engineer she is currently the President of Jagrut Mahila Samaj, Ballarpur, Chandrapur. She is actively engaged in promotion of use of technology & science based conservation methods. Her expertise is in the bio-diversity conservation and documentation.
Keshav Gurnule
For the last 30 years, he has been working with the tribal communities that he grew up in. He is a an expert on medicinal plants and is a Resource Person and Master Trainer on FRA, CFR, NTFPs, MNREGA among other issues for various government and non-government organization.
Dr. Devaji Tofa
A resident of Mendha (Lekha) which became the first village in India to get its FRA rights under his leadership. Apart for being an inspiration for millions of tribal folks he continues his work in ensuring that more and more villages get their CFR rights. He has also coined the slogan ‘Amchya Gavat Amhich Sarkar’ (we are the government in our village).
Sunita Bagal
After completing her MSW, she started organizing female vendors to fight exploitation and realize their market potential. She is creating employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for India's poorest women working in villages at places of worship, historical monuments, and fairs.
Dr. Anuja Date
Dr. Anuja Date has a background in environmental sciences and has more than 15 years of experience in the development sector. She is a Post-doctoral Research Associate at ATREE, Bangalore. Her research interests broadly include sustainable environmental development, forest governance policy studies, and forest rights.
Vrunda Vaze
Vrunda Vaze is a consultant specializing in gender and social inclusion, health and sustainable development. She is based in Pune,Maharashtra. She carries over 28 years of experience working with large‐scale funded and government programmes as well as engaging with the grassroots civil society initiatives, focusing on advancing gender equity and inclusive policy and practice. Her expertise encompasses capacity building, documentation, participatory planning and aligning social inclusion goals with institutional frameworks. She engages with local and regional stakeholders, leveraging her deep experience to guide programmes in a way that is both community‐grounded and systemically aware.
Our Inspiration
Late Sukhdevbabu Uike
He was a teacher by profession and was a member of legislative assembly from Armori constituency. He was the successor and follower of socialist movement initiated by great tribal leader Karntiveer Naraynsingh Uike. Having command on legal and state policy matters, he was an advisor, guide and trainer for the staff and is fondly remembered by all of us.
Mohan Hirabai Hiralal
As a young man he was active member in CYSV (Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Wahini, student movement started by Shri. Jayprakash Narayan for Sampurna Kranti). He is greatly influenced by Gandhian philosophy, and experiments its practical application in human-forest relationship. His initiative and inputs in supporting Mendha (Lekha) village for developing a common consensus approach in village council decision making are used across India.