S S Bhat has assumed charge of Chief Executive Officer of Friends of Women’s World Banking India wef 24.2.2020. He is a veteran banker with over 37 years of experience in diverse areas of banking operations, management and administration. Prior to joining FWWB, Mr Bhat was Managing Director of Ananya Finance for Inclusive Growth Pvt Ltd, responsible for bringing stability to Ananya’s operations with fourfold increase in business and profits keeping intact the impact motto.
He was the Chief General Manager of Canara Bank, the Country Head of Priority Sector and Financial Inclusion Wing, responsible for rebuilding the agriculture, affordable housing, educational loans and MSME portfolios of the Bank achieving all the mandatory norms consistently for 5 years. Financial Inclusion, Corporate Social Responsibility and skill development initiatives were also steered by him. Mr Bhat also had a stint as Advisor in Canara Bank for developing strategic initiatives for inclusive development. He began his career with Canara Bank in 1980 and has held various leadership positions across the
geographies and disciplines throughout his banking career. Among others, he was Regional Head of Delhi and Vijayawada Regions, Zonal Head of Jharkhand state, Country Head of PSL in Corporate Office besides heading IBA sub committee on Agriculture & Rural Development and Educational Loans. He has been on various committees of Govt of India, RBI, NABARD and Indian Banks Association.
Presently he is on the Board of MYRADA and Sanghamithra Rural Financial Services and on the Management Committee of Guarantee Scheme of Educational Loans of Govt of India. Mr Bhat is a Postgraduate in Agri science, a CAIIB, PGCA, Certificate Course in Project Planning and Management from University of Bradford UK. He also has attended Kellogg School of Management Chicago USA, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Frankfurt, Germany and APRACA Manila, Philippines.
He is the winner of prestigious Aryabhata International Award for excellence in banking
Neha Kansara is Chief Operating Officer at Friends of Women’s World Banking, India. At FWWB, she focuses on networking, strategizing and amplifying organization’s work on women centric developmental initiatives to enable social and economic change in the lives of women from the low-income household segment.
In her 18 years of association with the organization, she has been instrumental in driving multi state, large scale programs on women empowerment, livelihood and micro entrepreneurship development reaching out to more than 33000 women. On the institutional capacity building front, she has played a critical role in designing and execution of support interventions for more than 75 nascent microfinance organizations and farmer producer organizations. As one of her core roles, she manages networking, fund-raising and funder relationships for numerous Indian and foreign donors and foundations.
She holds a Masters in Business Administration with specialization in finance and brings in a prior experience of working in the financial sector with Citibank in the initial years of her career. This has served her well in designing and implementation of various financial inclusion interventions at FWWB.
With B.Tech in Textile Technology and a postgraduate degree in Rural Management, he has a decade of experience in financing livelihoods, renewable energy, water & sanitation and agriculture. He started his career with SKS Microfinance and contributed in scaling up its activities in West Bengal. He joined FWWB in 2011. He works closely with funders and portfolio companies for program management and program development, strengthening farmer producers companies.
Sumit comes with a blend of experience in knowledge management, capacity development, climate resilient agriculture and agribusiness management. During his 11 years of extensively working with public-private organizations and other institutions including SHGs, Farmer Interest Groups, and Community based organizations, and FPOs, he has led and supported various capacity building programs.
He also has excellent experience of working with central government and state governments and multilateral agencies, particularly with IRRI and World Bank. Sumit is basically an MBA in agribusiness, from Symbiosis Institute of International Business, Pune, and an agri graduate from CSAUAT, Kanpur.
A Post Graduate in Social Work with more than 12 years of work experience in the sector, in 2010, he joined FWWB and has been looking after Agriculture Finance for women, strengthening the women farmers’ producers’ companies. His core focus areas are undertaking due diligence, monitoring and evaluating, value chain financing and developing the program’s MIS. Till now, he has assessed and monitored more than 100 institutions working in the agriculture and microfinance domains.
Alexis is part of the program management team at Friends of Women’s World Banking, India, overall she has more than 8+ years of experience in the development sector. At FWWB, she manages programs on livelihood skills, entrepreneurship development, and financial & digital inclusion of women in the informal sector from low-income households.
She has worked extensively with more than 7000 nano and micro women entrepreneurs in the underserved valley and hilly regions of Manipur, Nagaland, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat by providing capacity-building inputs on financial literacy, business management skills, enterprise development, digital literacy, and business technical assistance by leading a team of master trainers. She also delivers training and conducts seminars and workshops to build the capacities of grass root partners and community-based institutions. She is experienced in conducting impact evaluation, scoping studies, and social research in the entrepreneurship space. Prior to this, Alexis worked at Deepak Foundation, Pune where she managed programs in areas of public health, maternal health & preschool education. Alexis has pursued a Master of Social Work from the Faculty of Social Work - MS University of Vadodara, Gujarat.
With a postgraduate degree from the Development Management Institute in Patna, Shreya joined FWWB in 2017. She works on building capacities of women entrepreneurs and farmer producer companies. She also conducts research for the various programs.
MBA in Rural Management and PG diploma in Human Rights, he carries 4 years of work experience in the Banking and Development Sector. He is currently pursuing Ph.D in ‘Management’ on Financial Inclusion for Rural Development. He joined FWWB in 2018 as a Program Officerand is working with the capacity building team for women entrepreneurship development program.
With a Master in Social Work (specialization in Women’s Centre practices) from TISS Mumbai, she has done varied internships in reputed institutes. She started her career as Program Manager in a previous organization and has worked in Women empowerment skill entrepreneurship projects and sustainable waste management projects. She has a strong hold over MIS and Documentation.
With a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Indore School of Social Work, Indore, and over 15 years of work experience in Watershed development, Self-Help Groups (SHGs) promotion, Farmers club development, and Farmers’ Producer Organizations (FPOs) capacity building, in 2023, he joined FWWB Agri. Capacity building and Climate Change Department and has been dedicatedly working on the capacity building of farmers’ producer companies.
Annapurna Kashyap is a professional with experience of working in the social and education sectors. She is a certified Early Childhood Educator, with extensive experience in working for WASH, Women & Child Protection, Advocating for Refugee Rights, Climate Change, Health and Livelihood Generation. An exponent of diversity and inclusion, she is a part of FWWB’s Agri Capacity Building and Climate Change Team. She is a Postgraduate, in Defence and Strategic Studies. In her leisure time, she engages in adventurous activities and actively participates in animal and environmental rights activism.
Rakshit Sood has an Experience of 2.5 years and has worked in diverse areas and around different geographical areas. He has done his Masters in Development from Azim Premji University Bangalore.
With a Master’s degree in Mass Communication and a post-graduate diploma in Entrepreneurial Leadership studies, he excels in public health and capacity-building programs. He is a result-driven professional with proven expertise in Social Behavioral & Change Communication, Risk Communication, and program implementation. He also believes in empowering women through targeted guidance and support pivotal for advancing society.
Ramya Tambe is a post graduate in Master of Social Work from The M.S University of Baroda. She began her career in social work with FWWB in December 2021 on the Women Entrepreneurship Program in the capacity of a Program Associate. She is empathetic and loves listening to people’s life stories. Journaling and watching wildlife documentaries are some of the activities that she enjoys doing in her spare time.
Roshami has completed her post-graduation in rural development and has been associated with M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) and managed. She was instrumental in various research projects, including gender surveys, Covid-19 impact surveys and analyses, value chain analyses (VCAs), participatory rural appraisals (PRAs), and surveys.
Alito Awomi from Dimapur Nagaland completed her post-graduation in social work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences(TISS )Guwahati Assam. Working in FWWB from June 2023 as a Program Associate.
Mimansha Singh, a Project Officer at FWWB, overseeing the Project Excel, CSR initiative of Nayara Energy. With a background in project management, stakeholder engagement, and rural development. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from TISS and a Master’s from Azim Premji University. Her focus areas are sustainable livelihoods, entrepreneurship development, and community institution building.
Jayanta Sarkar hails from Bongaigaon district of the state of Assam. He did his graduation in Botany and has experience working with FPCs and farmers of Assam.
As a dedicated developmental professional working to enhance rural development in the agriculture sector. He is focused on leveraging his expertise for nation-building and I am committed to making a meaningful impact in underserved areas.
Experienced project facilitator adept at analyzing FPOs’ capacity-building needs through collaboration with WASSAN field teams. Skilled in planning and executing field activities and Training of Trainers sessions, while preparing routine operations. Dedicated to ensuring regular communication and coordination with partners and stakeholders for effective project implementation.
Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA) specializing in Advance Financial Management, Diploma in Agriculture Extension Management (PGDAEM. Kuldip has been working with Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs) since May’2014. He has expertise in Institution building, Natural Resource Management, Resilient and Sustainable Agriculture, and the promotion of Renewable Energy Base Micro-enterprises.
Ranjan currently works as a Project Coordinator for FWWB in Assam. He is part of the climate change and agricultural capacity-building team. Ranjan brings over six years of experience in the development sector, where he has worked on rural livelihoods, poverty eradication, and youth development programs. He holds a B.Tech degree in Biotechnology from LPU, Punjab
Dedicated Project Coordinator with expertise in conducting baseline assessments, building rapport with FPOs and Partner Organizations, and evaluating capacity-building needs. Skilled in coordinating with FWWB’s Credit team to assess credit requirements for FPOs, ensuring seamless project delivery. Proficient in preparing and submitting timely monthly progress reports, and maintaining effective communication with stakeholders for successful collaboration.
Postgraduate in Mathematics and has been in the social sector for the last 25 years. working experience in various projects with Govt of India, CSR, FCR. Skill development, Awareness, Research and evaluation, need assessment, and impact assessment are the priority areas to work with.
A Fellow Chartered Accountant and a Post Graduate Diploma in Information System Audit (DISA) Madhvi has 34 years of experience in Finance, Accounts, Auditing, Statutory Compliances etc. in reputed companies, Led multiple teams of Accounting and Finance executives, Experienced in Strategic Financial Management, Acquisitions and Raising of Capital, Expertise in optimal utilization of Financial Resources, FCRA compliance, due diligence and training. She has been associated with FWWB since 2004.
Manali is a Chartered Accountant with over 5 years of professional experience. She joined FWWB in 2018. Before this, she has worked at the National Rural Health Mission ( a unit of the Government of Gujarat) and at Skyward Techno Solutions. She is taking care of the organization’s accounting, taxation, and MIS.
With a masters degree in Commerce and an MBA in Finance, she has more than four years of experience in accounting and finance. She looks after the implementation of FIMO (accounting software) in the system.
With the degree in commerce Krishna has 20+ years of experience in Finance and accounts working with the industry of Lifestyle and advertising including 6+ years of experience in Human resources.
Rashmi has had over 25 years of experience working with the corporate and development sector. Her journey with the non-profit sector started from 2001, when she joined the International Federation of Red Cross and Red crescent Societies – IFRC as a Sr. Administrative Officer for their earthquake rehabilitation project in Gujarat. She has worked with CHF-International-India for their urban development project. Before joining FWWB in 2018, she was working with the Danish trade Commission, the commercial wing of the Royal Danish Embassy. She has varied experience of working in administration, accounts, customer relations, and government liaison.
Pankit Shah has completed a Diploma in computer engineering, also known as technical support engineers, and gives technical solutions to users who are having problems with hardware, software, and networking.
