Sukarya was founded by Ms Meera Satpahty who is presently its Chairperson. It is governed by a Board of Trustees and an Advisory Council (India & USA) that comprises eminent personalities representing civil society, government, and development sector. They work closely with the Board of Trustees and meet every quarter.
Meera Satpathy, Founder and Chairperson
Sukarya was born out of the vision of a single person, Meera Satpathy. As the principal visionary of Sukarya, she has been the main force behind the efforts, galvanising the organisation and steering each of its activities and projects.
As Founder and Managing Director of Pearl Advertising Agency, she spent many years in Delhi witnessing challenges that people living in slums around the city faced, especially with respect to accessing basic health care services. That people were denied their basic right to good health, only because they did not have the means to access it was completely unacceptable to her. She decided to immerse herself in doing her bit to change this reality. Along with the support of a few friends she set up Sukarya with the goal of empowering those living in the slums and villages of Delhi and Haryana and helping them access quality health services.
Sukarya today has grown organically, both in terms of projects and number of beneficiaries and more importantly in its vision and ability to mobilise entire communities to become part of the very change that they envision for themselves. Sukarya therefore is not merely a developmental organisation focusing on health, but an empowerment organisation that raises awareness and gives people the tools to enable them to demand better services and adopt simple methods to improve their well being, thereby building a better society.
As Founder and Chairperson, Meera has been instrumental in transforming Sukarya as an organisation that started out by conducting health camps for the underprivileged to a professionally run and managed organisation undertaking multiple interventions in the areas of maternal and child health, basic health care and economic empowerment of women. She continues to provide strategic guidance and spearhead all that Sukarya does and stands for.
Renu Sood
Renu is an HR professional who has her own recruitment firm which she founded 26 years ago. Her expertise lies in the apparel/garment industry. She has been associated with Sukarya ever since she started working as a Volunteer in the year 1998. She has since been closely associated with projects on health, women empowerment, skill development, human resource, and fundraising. She was appointed Trustee in 2013. Presently she looks after the HR & Recruitment functions in Sukarya along with other responsibilities.
Devinder Singh Kataria
A retired Army officer and entrepreneur joined hands with Sukarya’s endeavours since 2000. He has been part of Maternal Child Health Nutrition, slum education, and women empowerment projects from the beginning. He holds the spice and cereal processing unit under the women empowerment program close to his heart. He envisions a society where women have equal opportunities and rights to life’s basics such as education and employment. At present, he is involved in looking into the administrative growth at Sukarya.
Advisor
Professor Aasha Kapur Mehta
Professor Aasha Kapur Mehta is a Visiting Professor at Institute for Human Development, Delhi. Prior to this, she worked as a Professor of Economics at Indian Institute of Public Administration for a few decades. She studied at Delhi School of Economics and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and Iowa State University, USA. She has conducted a large number of research and consultancy assignments for the Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Ministry of Women and Child Development, National Commission for Women, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy etc., as well as for international organisations such as UNDP, UN Women and World.
Maternal Child Health Board of Sukarya
Dr. Amita Vyas Senior Advisor of Maternal Child Health Board of Sukarya
Dr. Amita Vyas is an Associate Professor and Director of the Maternal and Child Health Program in the Department of Prevention and Community Health, at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. Dr. Vyas continues to hold an adjunct position in the Department of Population and Family Health Sciences at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
At the age of 20, she worked alongside Mother Teresa in the Missionaries of Charity and understood the importance of health and well-being for vulnerable populations. Her work focuses on reproductive health care, adolescent health, and the health and development of immigrant children and adolescents. She received the Kann-Trowbridge Award for outstanding research in the area of population and family health and the Morton A. Bender Teaching Award.
Dr. Kirk Tickell Advisor of Maternal Child Health Board of Sukarya
Kirk Tickell, MBBS, MPH, PhD University of Washington serves as the Lead Epidemiologist for the Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition (CHAIN) Network study, and lead of the Migori Hospital (Kenya) site. He completed medical training at Imperial College London and practiced in the United Kingdom, Tanzania, and South Africa before moving to the University of Washington to pursue an MPH and PhD in Epidemiology. Through CHAIN and other projects, he has worked with international health agencies and Ministries of Health to design policy-relevant research studies.
Dr. Pierre P. M. Thomas Advisor of Maternal Child Health Board of Sukarya
Pierre P.M. Thomas, PhD is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Public Health Genomics, Department of Genetics and Cell Biology (G & C) at Maastricht University in The Netherlands.
Nutrition Board of Sukarya
Basanta Kumar Kar, Chief Advisor and Mentor of Nutrition Board of Sukarya
An international development professional who has won numerous accolades and has a broad experience of leading and managing large country, regional programs and networks in South and South East Asia with demonstrable results. An organisation transformation change leader who has the ability to take the organisation to a new height and global reach. Have proven technical and strategic advisory services expertise in humanitarian and climate change, agriculture, food security, nutrition, health and livelihoods sector. Have experience on providing strategic technical advisory services to the countries like South Africa and Nigeria. Known for influencing public policy and advancing the rights of women and children and possessing political sensitivity; the ability to organise collaboration; even across national borders. Represent in numerous Board and Governance structures, policy, advisory and technical bodies in South Asia.
For the poverty eradication endeavours and innovations in social sector; was conferred with the most prestigious Global Nutrition Leadership Award(2019), Banega Swachh And Swasth (Clean and Healthy) India ‘Hero of the Decade’ recognition (2019), ‘Transform Nutrition Champion’ Award for India and Bangladesh(2016) and Odisha Living Legend Award (2016).He was also recognised by the Government of India for his contribution to the POSHAN Abhiyaan( National Nutrition Mission).
Dr. Seema Puri Advisor of Nutrition Board of Sukarya
Dr. Seema Puri is a Former Professor, Department of Nutrition, Institute of Home Economics, University of Delhi, India. She has been actively involved in research activities for the last 35 years. Areas of interest include infant and young child nutrition, food labeling and regulations, NCDs and ageing.
Dr. Shoba Suri Advisor of Nutrition Board of Sukarya
Dr. Shoba Suri is a Senior Fellow with Observer Research Foundation ORF’s Health Initiative. Shoba is a nutritionist with experience in community and clinical research. She has worked on nutrition, healthcare, infant and young child feeding, policy advocacy and assessment.
Shoba is a trained Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) counselling specialist with more than 40 research publications in scientific journals and books. She has travelled widely during her research work.