Kalinga Kusum Foundation is a non-profit initiative that addresses challenges tied to education and legal empowerment in communities, in the state of Odisha. It started its operations in 2011, and its goal is the socio-economic and legal empowerment of those living on the edges of the society, with a special focus on children, youth, women and tribal.
To help realize an equitable and just society.
Kalinga Kusum Foundation’s mission is the socio-economic and legal empowerment of those living on the edges of society, with a special focus on children, women and tribal.
Mr. Behera started his career as a project engineer for community based program in rural Odisha, working with different programs of United Nation Development Program (UNDP) and Govt. of Odisha, in various capacities, for 5 long years before the entrepreneurial bug hit him. Mr. Behera has received international training on Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) from PRAXIS International, headed diversified professional teams for different community based development programs in Odisha, and has been part of many national teams for livelihood and damage assessments of UNDP/Govt. of Orissa. One of his initiatives was short-listed for Development Marketplace (DM) Award by World Bank in 2008. His 12+ years of experience in the field of development and entrepreneurship, coupled with his keen insight on human psychology will add immense value to the organization.
Mr. Behera is a Graduate Engineer from Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology (OUAT).
Dibya brings experiences ranging from non-profit management, development consultancy, and corporate career to entrepreneurial ventures. He has been playing a monumental role in streamlining the operations and developing various initiatives and programs at Kalinga Kusum.He holds a B.Tech degree in Agricultural Engineering from OUAT, Odisha and an MBA from IBCS, Bhubaneswar.
Kamala has 17 years of work experience in areas of social, market and policy research. He has worked on issues of development, inclusion, empowerment, skills development and policy advocacy, both in India and Australia.
Kamala has an MA in Political Science from Ravenshaw, MPhil in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and studied at Monash University, Australia for his PhD in Public Policy and South Asian Studies. Kamala is a public policy graduate from Centre for Civil Society and as a Trainer of Trainers (ToT) has worked for The Hindu Newspaper in Education (NIE) programme in NCR-Delhi. He is a Founder Director of Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) and a Founder Member of two leading news portals-Odisha Diary and India Education Diary.
Jyoti has a rich experience of nearly 14 years in non-profit organizations. He has extensively worked in the education sector, developing student learning outcome through teacher training on techno-pedagogy, coaching and mentoring, continuous assessment and evaluation. An amateur documentary film maker, he has done many documentary films on social themes.
Jyoti holds Computer Operator and Programming Assistant Certification from Biju Patnaik Computer Academy, Bhubaneswar and Bachelor Degree of Arts from Utkal University, Odisha.
Swadesh took the bold decision of joining the development sector to start his career and help make this world a better place. He has taken part and led of a number of students-driven organisations working in the field of primary education, child labour, blood donation drives, etc. He has a wide experience of working in the field of rural education, digital literacy & women empowerment as a student volunteer. He brings a lot of passion for the social sector to the table, apart from his fresh ideas & approach.
Swadesh holds a B.Tech degree in IT from VSS University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla, Odisha.
Our Advisory Board has luminaries from different walks of life, such as development practitioners, Members of Parliament, academicians and professionals – bringing rich and valuable experience and expertise. The Board plays a significant role in periodic review and policy guidance.
Professor Anil K. Gupta is a Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad and is also the Executive Vice-Chair, National Innovation Foundation Chaired by Adviser to Prime Minister. Prof Gupta wears many hats including the Visiting Professorship of Innovation Management in Emerging Markets, European Business School, Berlin; Fellow, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Fellow, The World Academy of Art and Science, California 2001; Coordinator, SRISTI. He is also the Founder and Editor of Honey Bee Newsletter- promoting people to people learning and represents the voice of creative grassroots innovators for over twenty years. Consultant to several national and international organizations, Prof Gupta has published extensively in national and international journals, books and magazines.
He has been invited to be a founding member of the LAUNCH – a global initiative, to identify and support the innovative work poised to contribute to a sustainable future and accelerate solutions to meet urgent challenges facing our society, by NASA. Recipient of numerous awards and accolades, Prof Gupta is a member of over two dozen national and international advisory committees and groups.
Mr. Swamy is one of the most respected names in the civil society sector and in public life in Odisha. Influenced by the Bhoodan movement and the Gandhian philosophy, he has over 6 decades of participation and leadership in grassroots movements. Having worked with 5 Chief Ministers of Odisha, he is currently a member of the State Planning Board and is also serving the nation as a Parliamentarian (Member of Rajya Sabha).
Sujeet Kumar currently serves as the OSD-cum-Special Secretary of the Odisha State Planning Board, a very senior policy-planning position. He is also a mentor at LexMantra, a boutique business and legal Consulting firm focused on advisory services for domestic and overseas corporations, multinational companies and multi-lateral bodies. He is an ardent advocate of building bridges between law, technology and development. Previously, Sujeet worked at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva, Switzerland, and for United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and for Infosys Technologies Ltd. in India.
Sujeet studied for the mid-career Master in Public Administration (MPA) at the prestigious Harvard University. He also has the distinction of receiving the inaugural Skoll Scholarship for Social Entrepreneurship, in-order to study for his MBA at University of Oxford. Sujeet also holds Bachelor’s degrees in Engineering and Law from India.
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