Advisors and Team

Our Advisors

Dr. Amita Yadav (Founder)

Amita Yadav is a public health professional from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to Johns Hopkins, she was a Postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and the FDA in the United States. She holds a doctorate degree in Molecular Biology. In the past, she has worked with national and international organizations such as Tata Trusts, ACCESS Health International and Clinton Health Access Initiative. While working with Tata Trusts, she commissioned world class Tata Memorial Hospital namely, Mahamana Pandit Madanmohan Malviya Cancer Centre and Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital in Varanasi. She was recognized by India Book of Records for Largest Cancer Care Hospital built in least time by a Philanthropic Organization. As a part of CHAI, she hosted President Bill Clinton in Lucknow in July 2014 for a part of his global campaign “Shattering Highest Hardest Glass Ceiling” for women.

Abhay Tripathi

One of the founding members of the organization. During his 25 years’ long career in the corporate & development sector, he led multiple corporate & government projects across different states. Abhay has been involved in urban mobility & green energy since the last 10 years with leading corporate houses as a part of their Strategic Management Group. During such tenure, he had been instrumental in developing, concluding & executing various Mobility & Green energy projects involving operators & Government agencies.

He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering & an MBA in Marketing & Finance. During his tenure he has been working on social issues and serving society and creating social impact.

Dr. Amita Yadav

Dr. Amita Yadav is a public health professional from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to Johns Hopkins, she was a Postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and the FDA in the United States. She holds a doctorate degree in Molecular Biology. In the past, she has worked with national and international organizations such as Tata Trusts, ACCESS Health International and Clinton Health Access Initiative. While working with Tata Trusts, she commissioned world class Tata Memorial Hospital namely, Mahamana Pandit Madanmohan Malviya Cancer Center and Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital in Varanasi.

She was recognized by India Book of Records for Largest Cancer Care Hospital built in least time by a Philanthropic Organization. As a part of CHAI, she hosted President Bill Clinton in Lucknow in July 2014 for a part of his global campaign “Shattering Highest Hardest Glass Ceiling” for women.

Vinod Kumar Shyam

Vinod Shyam is a development economist. He has over twenty years of diverse experience in government, public and private sectors in India and the United States of America. He is currently working in development sector in India. He has been advisor to several governments, and international agencies such as Government of Uttar Pradesh, World Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Clinton Foundation, PATH in the areas of economic development, energy, public health, education, and livelihood.

He has been actively engaged on public health and public education at policy levels with governments and running projects in fields to impact the population on ground and acquire real data and information to feed the policy recommendations to the government. He has a master’s degree in international development from Harvard University. He has an MBA from SMU – Cox School of Business in Texas, and B Tech in Electrical Engineering from Madan Mohan Malaviya University.

Preety Pandey

Preety Pandey is a Finance and Strategy professional and advisor to the new age Internet companies in the ecommerce and Financial services sector. She has over decade of experience with private organizations in India and USA.. She is an engineer from NIT, Assam and an MBA from the University of Chicago by training.

Dr. Vikas

Dr. Vikas Yadav is a Medical Graduate, working with numerous National and International Organisations to support the Government and to improve public education and public health system in the country. He has completed several projects in uttar pradesh like ODF villages, spread awareness campaigns for cancer and has arranged cancer screening camps, Education awareness program to get more enrollments in U.P. government schools and also supports the Uttar Pradesh Government as well as District Administration in both Health and Education Sector.

Our Team

Princy Prajapati

Program Lead : NJIA Leadership

Princy is a social entrepreneur and has held a role as Assistant Professor and Head of Department role in a private technical university in Rajasthan State, India. Princy has led projects in public health and education for Progressive Foundation. Princy is pursuing Master in Development Practice from University of California, at Berkeley. She has a masters degree in technology. Princy has been working with the Pepal Foundation, which is an international collaborator of Progressive Foundation to bring the NJIA programme, which uses leadership development to improve cervical cancer outcomes, to Uttar Pradesh, India since 2019.

Dr. Kanchan Yadav

Program Lead : Siksha Kayakalp and Cancer Care Affordability

Dr. Kanchan Yadav has proficiency in research writing, data analysis, research planning, and methodology. Currently, she is working as a ‘Program Coordinator’ at Progressive Foundation and implementing various projects in Public Health and Education sectors. Previously, she has worked as a Research Associate for the management of hospital wastes through microwave technology and purification of water without removal of valuable minerals. She has also worked as Research Director on a project with the Government of India for the adherence of tuberculosis drugs. She has published many research articles in peer-reviewed journals and in international proceedings. Kanchan is pursuing her Master in Public Health Program from the Harvard University.

Biswajeet Sarkar

Program Lead : Cervical Cancer Awareness and Screening

Biswajeet Sarkar is a Social Development Expert with over 20 years of work experience across different national and international projects. Currently, he is the lead of the Cervical Cancer Awareness and Screening program at the Foundation. His domain of expertise includes applying proven social and community inclusion skills for achieving standards of health and economic strengthening of the community and ensuring a better standard of living for the rural and backward populations.

He has experience working in the capacity of trainer and capacity building expert and has contributed to projects both at the Government level and with individual organizations, some of which include SEWA Lucknow, EED, DC Handicraft-GOI, UNICEF etc. He recently worked as an Institutional Strengthening and Urban Reform specialist in the Urban Development Department (AMRUT Mission), Government of Uttar Pradesh. He holds a master’s degree in social sciences and a bachelor’s degree in Commerce.

Dr. Miyola Cia Fernandes

Program Lead : Immunize & Mindrise

Dr. Miyola Cia Fernandes is a Public Health Researcher and Dentist by profession and leads project ‘Immunise’, currently funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). She works closely with the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI), Bihar and Goa Dental College and Hospital (GDCH), Goa on various research projects. She also practices as a Dental Public Health Consultant in Goa. Her research interests revolve closely around using quantitative methods in population-level public health interventions, socio-economic determinants of health, digital health promotion, and dental public health. Dr Fernandes holds master’s degree in Dental Public Health from University College London (UCL). Previously, she completed a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (B.D.S.) from Goa Dental College and Hospital (Goa University) in 2017 and holds a Dental Council of India license to practice as a dental surgeon in India.

Mr. Anish Bhargava

University of Bath and Haberdashers' Boys' School at Elstree, Hertfordshire in England

Passionate about computer programming and AI. Founder and editor of the school’s ENIGMA magazine, where articles are published written by the students within the fields of maths, physics, and computer science. Leading the school’s intermediate programming club and co-leading Turing society, a club where are hosted debates and talks by experts in science and technology.

Mr. Siddharth Kamannavar

Bachelor of Science, University of Chicago

Member of the U18 Field Hockey team of the United States.
Won the elementary National History Bee in 2014, as a third-grader, and also won the 2017 History Bee, and Geography Olympiad.

Namya Meshram

MA International and Development Economics (IDE)
Candidate at Yale University

Namya studied Economics (Honours) from SRCC, University of Delhi. She was Young India Fellow, Class of 2022. She is passionate about political and development economics, macroeconomic policies, sustainability & energy policies.

Tiara Puteri

MPA/International Development Candidate at Harvard University

Tiara worked in Financial Services and Risk Management (FSRM) at Ernst & Young Indonesia (EY). She is now focusing on addressing critical development challenges and mitigating them through education, cultural diversity, and financial inclusion.

Disha Kumari

Bachelor of Science University of California, Los Angeles, Majoring in Biology

Disha is interested in pursuing a career in the medical field with an intended focus in the study of nephrology. Her interests include speech and debate, learning new information about the world of medicine, and advocacy based projects. Disha enjoys community service as she is an active volunteer for her community. She has participated in recycling based projects, making care packages for the homeless, addressing water quality concerns in her county, and tutoring students in low income communities. Moreover, she founded a non-profit organization, called Bliss Kids, dedicated to empowering education for underprivileged children worldwide. In her free time, Disha also enjoys reading, taking long walks, photography, and spending time with family and friends.

Shagun Tiwari

Program Coordinator

Shagun, a dedicated social entrepreneur, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Technology. Currently serving as a Program Coordinator at the Progressive Foundation, Shagun manages projects in public health and education.

Shagun’s work with the Pepal team, an international collaboration of the Progressive Foundation, involves the introduction of the NJIA program to Uttar Pradesh, India. This program focuses on leadership development to improve cervical cancer outcomes, to Uttar Pradesh, India.