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The Youth Collective

COMMUTINY - THE YOUTH COLLECTIVE is a group of progressive and like minded individuals/organisations who have a passion and belief in the power of young people to bring about social change. As a group we wish to encourage, strengthen, visibilise and applaud young people’s questioning and exploration of the complex issues in the human and natural worlds, and their actions to bring about a positive change.

For this we are working at:

  • creating a common platform for youth development and youth action
  • creating a positive image about youth citizenship action
  • developing a bridge between policy makers and influencers to strengthen youth programmes
  • bringing more organisations towards youth development

Founder Members

Amrita Patwardhan completed her MPhil in Education from University of Delhi in 2000. She worked as a primary school teacher in Pune and as a teacher educator with Jeevanshalas at the Narmada valley. As an Edberg Award recipient, she spent a year as a visiting fellow in the International Development Department, Clark University, where she investigated the impact of displacement on children. She has been working with the Sir Ratan Tata Trust since 2003, leading the elementary education portfolio.

Dr. Anita Patil Deshmukh is the Executive Director of Partners for Urban Knowledge and Action Research (PUKAR). An MD in Neonatology from the University of Illinois and a Masters in Public Health from the Harvard University, Anita served as the faculty neonatologist at a teaching institute in Chicago for twenty years. She played a major leadership role within India Development Service, a pioneer organization in US, which supports small scale development projects across India. Anita has a great passion for working with youth and staunchly believes in participation, democracy and youth empowerment.

Arjun Shekhar is the founder of Vyaktitva, a performance support consulting firm and a co-founder and current President of Pravah. A Masters in Economics and Human Resource from XLRI, Jamshedpur, Arjun has co-created with others at Pravah and Vyaktitva the 'Big Ticket' program on Instruction Design & Facilitation skills, the Conflict Positive curriculum and the Active Citizenship curriculum, all being used widely in both profit and non- profit organizations. His interests include writing and trekking. Two of his novels 'A Twist of Faith' and 'A Flawed God' are to be published soon.

Ashraf Patel is a co-founder of Pravah and headed the organization for nine years before stepping down in 2002. She is currently responsible for design and implementation of organization development within Pravah’s partner organizations and establishing Pravah Learning Voyages as a premier institution for building the capacity of the development sector in the area of youth development. Ashraf is a post graduate in Human Resource from XLRI, an Ashoka Fellow and a trustee of the National Youth Foundation. She is also a working group member appointed by the Youth Ministry to make recommendations for the XIth plan.

Durba Ghose is Director Communications at Pravah. A Post Graduate in Comparative Literature, Durba worked with Vikramshila, Kolkata in the field of education for many years. Before joining Pravah in 2000, she was a consultant for Ashoka - Innovators for the Public, CRY- Child Rights and You, and other organizations. Durba was awarded the Commonwealth Professional Fellowship in 2005 to explore an intensive youth volunteering programme at Voluntary Service Overseas (UK), and she supported the replication of the module by Pravah in an Indian context. Durba is trained in Bharatnatyam, and conducts regular dance workshops with young people.

Father Jerry Thomas is the Director of Bosco Institute in Jorhat, Assam, which offers a 2 year Masters in Social Work Degree affiliated to Dibrugarh University to prepare professionally sound and socially committed social workers in and around India's North East. From 2001 to 2007, Father Jerry was director of the North Eastern Regional Youth Commissions and is responsible for introducing the peace education program for and with youth in all the states of the region. He has been engaged in youth and social development related activities in the north eastern states of India for the last 25 years.

Gagan Sethi was the Managing Trustee of Janvikas till 2008. As an expert, Gagan has designed and conducted over 400 training programs related to organizational development, project planning and evaluation support to various NGOs, government programs and funding agencies. He has also consulted on curriculum development and training program on Gender for Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation and Diploma in Human Rights for Centre for Social Justice. Gagan has a Masters degree in social work, and is currently on a two year study leave.

Meenu Venkateswaran is a co-founder of Pravah and has been heading it as Chief Executive since 2005. Before this, Meenu led the Teachers Training intervention at Pravah into a powerful program. Over the last 20 years, Meenu has worked in both the corporate and development sectors. She has been a consultant to development organizations and was the head of the resource generation function at CRY- Child Rights and You, and a member of the Managing Committee. She has a Masters in Economics and has completed her post graduation in Management from IIM, Bangalore.

Nayan Patel is involved with Yuvshakti, a youth project initiated by Janvikas to work in Halol, Kaalol and Ghoghamba in the Panchmahals District of Gujarat to lead conflict transformation processes through youth empowerment. Soon after completing his Masters in Social Work, he started working with Yuvshakti as a fellow. Since 2004 he has been leading the Yuvshakti program. His area of interest is in understanding the field of youth development, conflict transformation and human rights.

Dr. Ramnarayan Syag is a co-founder of Samavesh Society for Development and Governance. As a member of the Panchayat training team constituted by the Government of Madhya Pradesh (MP), he trained members of the Zila Panchayat. As an Anchor at Aagaz Academy, Bhopal, he is associated with the “Community Based Participatory Program for Strengthening Elementary Education”. He was also associated with the material development team in Doosra Dashak, Rajasthan and with Eklavya since inception, where he conceptualized the Chakmak clubs. He was the vice chairperson of BGVS, MP and was associated with the people's science program. He did his doctorate in teacher education and has also been a teacher in DAV College, Abohar.

Rustam Vania is a creative communications consultant and a faculty member at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology. As an editorial and information designer, he is interested in the interface between educational needs and creative design/communication solutions. He has over a decade’s experience in creating popular creative communication strategies for science, environment and development education. He was the founder editor and designer of Gobar Times, a monthly magazine supplement to Down To Earth, the science and environment fortnightly published by the New Delhi based Centre for Science and Environment.

Ravi Gulati is the founder of Manzil, an NGO in Delhi that aims at building a lively learning space and expose young minds to different enriching experiences. He is an MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad and has worked in the corporate sector in Canada for about a year. He is a board member of Pravah, a Delhi based NGO and Jansamarth, an NGO working in remote Himalayan villages. Some of his main interests are education, environment and alternative economics.

Sonam Wangchuk is an advisor for various government and non-government organizations in Nepal. In 1988, Sonam co-founded Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), an NGO that works deeply with the Ladakhi youth. Sonam has worked on strengthening the elementary education system adopted by the Ladakh Hill Council and has been on the National Governing Council of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. An engineer by background and an Ashoka Fellow, Sonam has worked extensively in the field of alternative energy resources and supported innovations on building solar heated schools and homes in the high Himalaya.

Vartika Jaini completed her post graduation in rural management from IIRMA. She has been in charge of shaping the Youth and Civil Society Intitiative as well as the Microfinance portfolio of Sir Ratan Tata Trust for over the past 7 years.

Executive Team

Rama Rao Vedula
Facilitator, Leadership & Learning Journey
Rama graduated from TISS in 1999. Working at Vividha, a Women's Resource Center in Jaipur, she was a part of the women's movement and various campaigns for people's rights in Rajasthan. To work closely with communities, she joined Muskaan, a group in Bhopal working among urban slum communities on education and urban poverty. She has also been part of a state wide initiative on supporting women facing violence in Rajasthan, working with Vishakha in Jaipur. To explore the notions of spaces among young people, she has conducted a study on 'Spaces for Communication: Use of Mobiles in a Women's College' as a Sarai Media Fellow in 2006.

Kuber Sharma
Coordinator, Creative Media and Policy Group.
Kuber has been media practitioner with experience in print, television and new media spaces. Before joining CYC, he was a programming head of a startup, Triveni Media. He has been a production specialist with national television networks like TV Today & Star. Kuber started his career as a journalist with Hindustan Times. Kuber has a Masters degree in Mass communication from AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia and a Bachelors degree in Journalism from DCAC, Delhi University. In his free time, Kuber is a guerrilla filmmaker and a dedicated film viewer.

Manak Matiyani
Associate Coordinator, Leadership & Learning Journey
A filmmaker by training, Manak has worked on social action and development projects on policy formulation, advocacy and documentation and trainings with various international and national NGOs, grassroots campaigns and local communities. Before joining CYC, he was working on a research project exploring copyrights, open access and its implications for artists, culture and knowledge with the Magic Lantern Foundation. Manak has also worked with TISS' field action project in the Andaman and Nicobar islands. Manak has a Masters degree in Mass communication from AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia, and has worked various independent documentary film projects.