Shyam Narayan

Shyam Narayan is the founder of DigDesignStudio and works with Innovation teams in Enterprise companies and Series A startup founders to build aligned, high-trust leadership teams, strengthen organisational culture, and enable scalable innovation.

Dr. Shekhar Seshadri

Dr Shekhar Seshadri is a child psychiatrist with over 40 years of experience in the field of child and adolescent mental health. As Former Senior Professor in the Dept. of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NIMHANS, his work has extended beyond the clinical population to children and child care institutions/service providers across the country as well as the South Asia region. Some of his special areas of interest are childhood trauma, gender and sexuality issues and life skills education. He has been part of policy and legal deliberations in these areas. Also, an artist and musician, he uses a number of creative methodologies in child mental health interventions including theatre and developmental approaches.

In May 2025, he completed a four-year advisory position in India’s largest public child mental health initiative SAMVAD (Support, Advocacy & Mental health interventions for children in Vulnerable circumstances And Distress - A National Initiative & Integrated Resource for Child Protection, Mental Health, & Psychosocial Care), supported by the Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India.

Dr. Shekhar is based in Bangalore, India and currently works as Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Sciences, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS). In NIAS he is also Advisor to PRATICRIA, Protection, Response, Advocacy & Transformational Interventions for Children Residing in Adversity - An Initiative for Child Rights, Protection and Mental Health.

Dr. Kunle Adewale

A Nigerian-born, UK-based multimedia artist and global arts and health leader. He founded the Arts in Medicine Projects, the Global Arts in Medicine Fellowship, and the Global Mental Health Fellowship — training over 1,000 professionals across 60 countries and impacting more than 60,000 people. As Global Development Lead for GSAH, his programmes have reached over 500,000 people in 41 cities worldwide.

A Global Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at UC San Francisco, a Mandela Washington Fellow, and a Global Talent Exceptional Leader by Arts Council England. His work has been endorsed by the Arts Council of England and the Smithsonian Museum, and featured on Voice of America, The Guardian UK, BBC Africa, TRT, France24, and Al Jazeera.

Rashmi Balakrishnan

A trauma-informed, queer-friendly Creative Arts Therapy Practitioner with 17 years of experience in learning design and curriculum development. She integrates creativity, empathy, and evidence-informed practices to support healing, self-expression, and growth.

A certified youth mentor and gender educator, and founder of Sankalpam — an arts-for-wellbeing initiative. She is a Global Arts in Medicine Fellow and Vital Voices Visionaries fellow, and has served as Chapters Director at the Creative Movement Therapy Association of India (CMTAI).

Preethi Rajagopalan

A Dance Movement Therapy Practitioner certified by CMTAI (2015), with a postgraduate dance therapy program from the National Centre for Dance Therapy, Montreal. She has worked with children with special needs, teachers, students, women's groups, and corporate organisations.

A trauma-informed and queer-affirmative practitioner, co-director and faculty at CMTAI's Certificate Course in Dance Movement Therapy, and a Global Arts in Medicine Fellow. She currently practices at Cadabams Hospital, Whitefield and Amaha Hospital, Thanisandra.

Lalithashree Ganesh

A certified Arts Based Therapy (ABT) practitioner, writer, poet, and artist based in Bangalore. Through her initiative 'HArt Space Therapy,' she works with diverse individuals and communities with a deep focus on trauma-informed approaches.

A Global Arts in Medicine Fellow, currently Director of the Brushstrokes of Emotion Program (India & Nepal) at Darash Ahava Foundation, with work spanning children in palliative care and children in conflict zones.

Megha Chhallani

A Certified Facilitator and Practitioner of Mindfulness Based Therapeutic Processes, Dance Movement Therapy, and Master NLP, with a Master's in Business Management and 19+ years of experience in people development and emotional/mental health.

She specialises in an inclusive, inter-modal approach integrating experiential learning, psychology, yoga philosophy, mindfulness, movement therapy, expressive arts, and trauma-informed practices — offering heart-based safe spaces through the 'Orange Arc Community Studio' and 'The Healing Culture.'

Srini Ramaswamy

A seasoned global HR leader and entrepreneur dedicated to building high-performing organizations where culture, inclusion, and innovation intersect. Over a 25-year career spanning India, Singapore, Australia, the UK, and the US, Srini has transformed corporate landscapes by treating Inclusion & Belonging as a core business imperative rather than a checklist item.

Previously, he led the APAC DEI offices for Fortune 500 tech giants Cisco and Intuit, proving that a genuine culture of belonging is the ultimate catalyst for organizational growth. Driven by a mission to scale this impact, Srini transitioned from the corporate world in 2018 to launch a portfolio of purpose-driven ventures: Pride Circle (2018) — driving ecosystem-wide LGBTQ+ inclusion at workplace and beyond; Rainbow Bazaar (2018) — economic empowerment of LGBTQ+ micro enterprises; Fameworks Entertainment (2018) — redefining modern talent branding and management; and Men's Circle India (2025) — fostering holistic health, community and wellbeing for men.

A recognized global voice on advocacy and systemic change, Srini has shared his insights at the United Nations in Berlin and serves as an advisor to organizations including the Merck Group, Amani Institute, Connecting Dreams Foundation, Rainbow Lit Fest, and TEDx Bangalore. His work has earned international acclaim, including "Ally" recognition from Out & Equal Workplace Advocates (USA) and RAHM (London). He is also the co-author of equALLY: Stories by FRIENDS of the Queer World (2021), and producer of the short LGBT+ film "What's In A Name?" (2024).

Srini holds an MBA in HR & Finance, is a Certified Diversity Professional (USA), Behavioural Trainer (Singapore), FIRO-B Administrator (India), Social Innovation Fellow (India), and is currently advancing his expertise with an MA (Positive Psychology), dedicating his career to shaping a more equitable and productive world.
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Mamta Sagar

Professor Mamta Sagar is a poet, transdisciplinary artist, writer, academic and translator from Bengaluru. Her writings focus on identity politics, feminism, and issues around linguistic and cultural diversities.

She has six collections of poems, four plays, an anthology of column writing, and a collection of critical essays. Beyond Barriers: Slovenian-Kannada Literature Interactions (translation), edited by Dr Sagar, was published by the Centre for Slovenian Literature, Ljubljana, in 2011. She has a set of three poetry films and a book of collaborative poetry activities titled INTERVERSIONS (2018). Her translation of Elif Shafak's Forty Rules of Love into Kannada (2017) was conferred with the Bhasha Bharathi Translation award. She has been honoured with the World Literary Prize 2024, a prestigious international award, and Sahithya Shree 2024, conferred by the Karnataka Sahithya Academy.

She was the Charles Wallace Fellow at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK (2015), and is involved with international poetry translation projects. An art-poetry installation project she developed and co-curated was exhibited at the Piccolo Museo della Poesia, Italy (2020). On a yearlong IFA project (2022–23), she documented the city of Bengaluru through poetry. Mamta curates Kaavya Sanje, a community poetry engagement, since 2013, and has presented her poems and facilitated poetry and translation workshops across the UK, USA, Europe, and the African, Asian, and Latin American countries — representing India at several international poetry and literature festivals.

Dr Sagar has taught Comparative Literature, Translation Studies, Kannada Literature, Feminism, and Postcolonial and Cultural Studies at Hyderabad Central University and Bangalore University. She is the founder director of Kaavya Sanje, a community poetry initiative, and presently leads the Translation and Literary Studies Lab at the Srishti Manipal Institute (SMI), where she also teaches MA Contemporary Art Practice at Manipal University Bengaluru.

Priya Varadarajan

Priya Varadarajan is the founder of Durga – I'm Every Woman, a nationally recognized gender justice initiative that reimagines how women and girls occupy public spaces in India. Born from her own lived experience and a refusal to accept normalized misogyny, Durga was established as a bold, intersectional response to the question: how can women and girls truly belong in public spaces?

Under Priya's leadership, Durga has evolved into a systems-change organization that blends behavioral science, grassroots mobilization, and institutional partnerships — introducing pioneering interventions including India's first panic alarm system in public transport, training over 5,000 active bystanders, and collaborating with 75+ colleges to co-create safe, inclusive campuses.

Her influence extends well beyond Durga. She previously led the Gender Justice, Disabilities, and Mental Health portfolio at the Azim Premji Foundation, overseeing a pan-India grantmaking program supporting over 400 partners with an annual portfolio of INR 100 crore, and helped shape the foundation's anti-trafficking strategy. As Program Manager at Co-Impact, a global collaborative for systems change, she led strategy and partnerships across India, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, advancing women's leadership in law and policy, care economy frameworks, and stigma-free access to sexual and reproductive health rights.

Priya is also a state representative on multiple government committees addressing child marriage, inheritance law reform, and workplace gender justice, a visiting faculty member on gender studies, a Theatre of the Oppressed facilitator, and a public speaker and writer. With two decades of experience across philanthropy, policy, and grassroots action, she is now focused on deepening and scaling Durga's mission to embed gender equity across public systems.

Sachin Malhan

Sachin Malhan is the co-founder of Agami, an organisation catalysing innovation, entrepreneurship, and collaborative action to advance new and improved systems of law and justice in India. Before Agami, he served as Executive Director of Changemakers, a global initiative of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, connecting high-potential changemakers with the ideas and resources to accelerate social change.

Earlier in his career, Sachin built and led three ventures across education, learning, and access — the test-prep pioneer Law School Tutorials, the learning and talent platform Rainmaker, and Inclusive Planet, a venture focused on greater literary access for the visually impaired.

Recognised for his contributions to social innovation, Sachin became an INK Fellow in 2010. He is a graduate of the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, and began his career at the law firm Amarchand Mangaldas in Mumbai.

Dr. Sujata Gupta Kedar

Dr. Sujata Gupta Kedar is a distinguished developmental psychologist, academic leader, and social change advocate with over two decades of impactful service dedicated to empowering women and youth. As the Founder, Associate Professor, and Head of the Department of Human Development at Mount Carmel Deemed to be University, Bengaluru, she bridges high-level academia with grassroots community transformation and tech-driven STEM advocacy.

A trusted voice in national education standards, Dr. Kedar is an approved Ph.D. guide and sits on evaluation boards across India, including the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Karnataka State Eligibility Test (KSET). She serves on the Advisory Board of Knowledge Origin, a prominent early education chain. She is a prolific researcher with 37 publications, an e-content creator for the Ministry of Education (MHRD), and a regular contributor to The Times of India.

Deeply committed to community welfare, Dr. Kedar was instrumental in establishing multiple grassroots organizations, including NGOs in Rajasthan such as SARAL. Her background in public health includes youth and women's development initiatives supported by the UNDP, UNICEF, and UNFPA. She frequently spearheads awareness campaigns against domestic violence and child abuse, alongside designing tailored developmental workshops for adolescent girls, homemakers, and senior citizens.

Leveraging her background in behavioral change, Dr. Kedar acts as a link to the hard-tech ecosystem through global platforms like IEEE, championing the Women in Engineering (WiE) and Women in Microwaves (WiM) initiatives. A global expert and regular jury member for the IEEE 3MT (Three Minute Thesis) competition and MAPCON panels, she delivers talks on the psychology of failure in innovation, women's mental health, and female STEM participation, as well as on emotional intelligence and how the engineering brain works.

Her innovative toy design was selected for the Government of India's national Toycathon initiative, and she is also involved in developing specialized sensory toys to support children with developmental delays. Beyond her work as an educator and consultant, Dr. Kedar is an award-winning university-level singer and athlete, and takes immense pride in her role as a wife and mother of twins.

Pragya Prasun

Pragya Prasun is the founder of Atijeevan Foundation, a dedicated organization focused on supporting survivors of burn and acid attacks in their journey towards rehabilitation and empowerment. With a deep passion for social impact, Pragya has been instrumental in providing vocational training, counseling, and employment opportunities to help survivors rebuild their lives.

Her relentless commitment to advocating for the rights and dignity of survivors has made her a leading voice in the field of social entrepreneurship and disability inclusion.

Kabeer N.V.

Kabeer is the founder and CEO of Lifelab International, a social enterprise dedicated to human capital development through initiatives within educational institutions, organizations, personal development, and growth. He is a Certified Psychodrama Practitioner (Psychodrama Therapist & Master Coach) and a Certified Transformation Coach (ACC – ICF).

He is certified in psychodrama by PIB (Germany) and Vedadrama, India, trained by Jochen Becker, Klaus, and Savita Dhavan (Germany), and is a founding member of the Indian Psychodrama Association and a team member of its board for communication and media. He is also a certified transformation coach (ACC) by the International Coach Federation (ICF), USA, and is currently pursuing PCC.

A postgraduate in Psychology and Sociology (Gold medalist from Aligarh Muslim University), he also holds an M.Phil in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics.

Kabeer has worked closely with educational institutions in India and the Middle East for two decades, helping them build or revisit their vision in line with national education policy and the initiatives of authorities such as CBSE in India, KHDA in Dubai, and SCE in Qatar. He has formed and mentored core teams of leaders to advance the mission, foster a positive school environment, and establish innovative classroom dynamics with differentiated learning and individualised attention for students. His projects have also created teams of change-makers within the state to support students, parents, teachers, and educational institutions in villages with career planning, psychological counselling, and leadership development, under the auspices of the State Government and local self-government bodies.

He follows an integrated, creative approach combining tools from Transactional Analysis, Psychodrama, Creative Movement, Multiple Intelligence, Clinical Hypnosis, MBTI, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

Professional affiliations: Global member of the International Coach Federation (Chennai Chapter); member of the International Transactional Analysis Association (ITAA), USA, and SAATA; member of the Creative Movement Therapy Association (CMTAI), India; member of the International Society for Hypnosis (ISH); and former Executive Council member of the International Association for Counselling, representing the Middle East region.