Team | Naagrik

Our Team

Vandana Vasudevan

Founder Director

Vandana is an alumna of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and has had a long corporate career in leading banks and media companies before she joined the international development sector. Vandana Vasudevan holds a PhD in urban studies from the University of Grenoble, France. Her thesis was a cross country study of the mobility and spatial accessibility of urban women in French and Indian cities. She has since continued to be a researcher and consultant for the World Bank, IFC and other organizations in India and abroad.
She has been a writer/columnist for the Times of India, Hindustan Times, Mint, Indian Express, DNA and the Hindu. She has authored three books on different aspects of contemporary urbanism. She is a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress, (formerly Brookings Institute) a public policy thinktank.

Sai Priya, India

Research Associate

Sai Priya completed her Ph.D from IIT Khargapur after a Masters in Urban Planning from National Institute of Technology (NIT), Calicut and a B.Tech in civil engineering.

Her doctoral thesis was on 'Urban Growth Patterns and Spatial Sustainability in Coastal Cities' with a focus on Visakhapatnam. Sai Priya has several publications in prestigious journals to her credit.

She is skilled in using GIS applications, design software and statistical analysis tools.

Purva Goel, India

Research Associate

Purva is an architect and has a Masters in Regional Planning from the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), Delhi.

As part of her Masters thesis, Purva has conducted research in rural Rajasthan to assess the impact of clean energy on rural women’s empowerment and developed policy recommendations across district, block and village levels.

Since completing her education, she has worked on studies related to the mobility of care and building of gender equal transport systems and EV infrastructure.

Anjula Joshi, Khatmandu

Research Associate

Anjula has a Master’s degree in Conflict, Peace, and Development Studies from Tribhuvan University after a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (BASW).

Anjula has worked in several grass roots social initiatives, making her skillful in data collection and qualitative data interpretation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she facilitated virtual learning for 500 + children in rural areas. She has worked with South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF), focusing on women entrepreneurs. She has led programs at CANSHIP, Nepal, an educational scholarship program for underprivileged children.

Advisors

Kamala Marius

Associate Professor in Geography at Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Bordeaux, France.

Ruchi Mathur

Co-Founder and Vice Chair, Lighthouse Communities Foundation (Formerly Pune City Connect)

Pradeep Peiris

Senior Lecturer, Deptt. of Political Science, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka