Our Legacy

Vibhor Singh Parihar is the Director – Finance & Accounts at PopulationCouncil Consulting, with more than 20 years of experience in financial strategy, governance, transformation, and operational leadership across international organisations. His career spans both commercial and social impact sectors, giving him a broad perspective on financial sustainability, operational effectiveness, and mission-driven growth. Having worked across the US, UK, India, and other international markets, Vibhor brings extensive experience in managing complex, multinational finance environments. His expertise spans financial planning and analysis, controllership, treasury, compliance, enterprise risk management, financial reporting, and operational excellence. He has led finance transformation initiatives, implemented scalable financial systems, established shared-service operations, and leveraged automation and digital technologies to enhance efficiency, transparency, and business insights.

His leadership experience includes strengthening financial governance frameworks, improving financial reporting processes, and enabling informed strategic decision-making across diverse organisations. Prior to joining PopulationCouncil Consulting, Vibhor served as Corporate Controller at Escalon Business Services, where he worked with organisations to strengthen financial governance and operational performance. He is a Chartered Accountant and IBBI Registered Valuer, with additional certifications in Artificial Intelligence. He combines strong technical expertise with a forward-looking approach to finance leadership, with a particular focus on leveraging emerging technologies to modernise finance functions and drive organisational effectiveness.

Reshmi Vasudevan is a climate and sustainability specialist with over 20 years of experience across climate change, technology, livelihoods, markets and inclusive development. Her expertise spans climate mitigation and adaptation, sustainable value chains, climate technologies, gender-responsive approaches, and policy research, translating evidence into strategies for resilient systems and livelihoods, in collaboration with governments, UN agencies, donors, research institutions and businesses across India and South Asia.

At PopulationCouncil Consulting, she leads the Climate & Sustainability portfolio, focusing on climate intersectionality across diverse population outcomes. This includes climate–health resilience, systems analysis of complex megatrends on population wellbeing, and evidence-informed policy design. She is strengthening PCC’s mandate for system readiness for extreme heat, assessing climate risks across value chains, and developing gender-responsive adaptation approaches.

Previously, at UNIDO she led climate innovation and sustainable value chains, enabling entrepreneurship and ecosystem design by operationalising a USD 8.7 million GEF facility for low-carbon technology deployment and delivering a USD 1.3 million National Manufacturing Innovation Survey across 14,000 firms in India. At MP Ensystems Advisory, she led clean energy access and demand flexibility work, while her foundational experiences include energy-efficiency policy, programs and markets at AEEE.

She holds an M.Sc. from Lund University, a Master’s in Computer Applications (Mysore), and an Advanced Strategic Management qualification (IIM Kozhikode).

Avishek Hazra is a seasoned monitoring and evaluation specialist with over two decades of experience in clinical and socio-behavioural research. His work spans public health, nutrition, livelihoods, women’s empowerment, and digital health. He has led several large-scale, multi-country programs and policy research. His core strengths lie in designing and assessing complex interventions including social behaviour change communication and community mobilization, especially with marginalised communities and women’s collectives. His work on self-help groups and women collectives; preconception nutrition; and implementation science study on women micro-entrepreneurs has strengthened the organisational array of work globally.

He has substantial experience in cost-effectiveness analyses, measuring health and livelihood impacts in terms of lives saved. Earlier, he coordinated a Phase-3 Indo-US clinical trial on a novel contraceptive method and conducted WHO-commissioned systematic reviews on cash transfers and contraception in South Asia. An accomplished researcher, Avishek has authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. He is a regular peer reviewer for international journals and contributes to several global academic and technical advisory platforms, including the World Health Organisation. He holds an MSc in Statistics, an MPhil, and a PhD in Population Studies.

K G Venkateswaran brings over 25 years of strategic acumen, coupled with his profound understanding of complex ecosystems cross-cutting public health, development communications and social impact.

After spending his early career with Indian pharma and diagnostic companies as a marketing professional, he moved to the public health sector when he grew progressively with international and Indian health NGOs before returning to a marketing role with GSK Consumer Healthcare and setting their last mile connectivity into rural markets in India. Later in his career, Venkat had also founded Auriga Consultancy and Management Services, a social sector advisory firm to support the NGOs sector in social and behavior change communication, corporate communications and public relations, which acquired and serviced over 20 diverse clients in South and Southeast Asia. Subsequently, working with the Population Foundation of India and PATH, he led strategic engagements with elected representatives, government ministries and global platforms, like the G20, to advance critical health agendas, including medical countermeasures and regional roadmap for diagnostics. Beyond policy, Venkat’s expertise in end-to-end content strategy is demonstrated by a vast array of communication products, from technical briefs and training modules to marketing collaterals for rural markets. Venkat holds an MBA in Hospital Administration from the Institute of Management Studies, Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV), Indore, India.

Nizamuddin Khan is an expert in population studies and health systems research, with over 26 years of experience in monitoring and evaluation, operations research, and large-scale survey implementation. He has led the design and evaluation of health programs; developed Monitoring and Evaluation systems; and conducted advanced quantitative analysis using SPSS and STATA. He has coordinated major national surveys, including the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), District Level Household Surveys (DLHS), and Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) in India.

Before joining PopulationCouncil Consulting, Nizamuddin worked with organisations such as the World Bank, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), International Centre for Research on Women and Futures Group International. Dr. Khan has authored multiple publications and continues contributing to evidence-based health policy and program development. He holds a Master’s in Statistics with Computer Programming and Population Studies and a PhD in Population Studies from the IIPS, Mumbai.

Punit Mishra is a statistician, demographer, and expert in Research, Monitoring, Learning, and Evaluation (RMLE) with over 16 years of experience designing M&E frameworks for complex social development programs; implementation research; and multi-round longitudinal studies. He leads the RASTA initiative, guiding young researchers in programmatic research and evidence generation to inform impactful policies and programs.

As the Lead of Partnerships at PCC, he has played a key role in building research networks across India, expanding the RASTA initiative, and building partnership with major donors such as GIZ, UNICEF, USAID, and Indian philanthropies. He has worked extensively with governments, multilateral donors, and non-profits across India and Africa.

Before joining PopulationCouncil Consulting, he led the RMLE team at the Piramal Foundation, and managed the Aspirational Districts Collaborative with NITI Aayog. His earlier roles at RTI International and Abt Associates involved managing donor-funded evaluations. A former Assistant Professor at the University of Delhi, Punit has mentored numerous researchers and published widely, making significant contributions to evidence-based policy in India and Africa. Punit holds a Master’s degree in Statistics from BHU, an MPhil in Demography from JNU, and an MBA from Sikkim Manipal University.

Dr. Samiksha Singh is an expert public health researcher and epidemiologist with over 17 years of experience in maternal and neonatal health, early childhood development, infectious diseases, and health systems strengthening. Her work focuses on improving quality of care, referral systems, and service utilisation across public and private sectors. She has shaped health policies and supported large-scale programs aimed at reducing preventable maternal mortality. She has led research on obstetric care quality, maternal and perinatal death reviews, peri-conception care, and system efficiency. She has contributed to HIV behavioural surveillance, TB operations research, vector-borne disease control, and COVID-19 response.

Before joining PopulationCouncil Consulting, she served in leadership roles at PHFI, where she supported integrated ECD pilots in Telangana, strengthened newborn care units, and led dengue control efforts. She played a key role in COVID-19 response for Telangana through surveillance and training. She has also been involved in capacity building through the National Neonatology Forum across multiple states.

She holds a PhD from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, an MD in Community Medicine from UCMS, and an MBBS from LHMC, Delhi. She has authored over 35 peer-reviewed publications.

Dr. Snigdha Banerjee is a Qualitative Research Associate at PopulationCouncil Consulting, with expertise in geography, demography, and qualitative research. She brings extensive experience in qualitative data collection and analysis, large-scale survey data management, and the use of statistical and qualitative research software. Her research experience spans diverse thematic areas, including child labour and education, household debt and migration, commercial sexual exploitation of girls, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, sexual and gender-based violence, and the evaluation of the Girls First Fund. She has extensive field research experience, including conducting focus group discussions (FGDs), in-depth interviews (IDIs), and stakeholder interviews with government partners and other key stakeholders.

She holds an MSc in Geography from the University of Calcutta and a PhD in Population Studies from the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai. Dr. Banerjee has authored and co-authored 10 articles and reports published in national and international peer-reviewed journals. She has also presented her research at various national and international conferences.

Dr. Himani Gupta is a Research Associate at PopulationCouncil Consulting and a public health professional with a Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS) and a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Health Policy, Economics and Finance (HPEF). She brings an interdisciplinary perspective, combining her clinical background with expertise in public health research, policy analysis, and programme implementation. Her experience includes evidence synthesis, literature reviews, and mixed-methods research, with contributions to projects supported by leading global organisations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Gates Foundation.

Her areas of expertise and interest include maternal and adolescent health, digital health, and rights-based family planning. She is particularly interested in generating evidence and insights that can inform the design and implementation of effective public health programmes and policies.

Ms. Karthika is a Research Analyst at PopulationCouncil Consulting and a Biostatistician and Demographer with hands-on experience in processing, managing, and analysing large-scale demographic and epidemiological datasets, including NFHS and LASI. She brings expertise across end-to-end data workflows, including data cleaning, merging, harmonisation, advanced statistical modelling, and interpretation. Her work involves conducting rigorous primary and secondary data analysis to identify key socio-economic and healthcare determinants among diverse and underserved population groups and translating complex data into actionable insights to inform programme design and public health policy.

She has supported international, multi-country research projects, with experience in ensuring cross-national data quality and integrity and developing visualisations to monitor reproductive health and family planning outcomes. Ms. Karthika is proficient in Stata, R, and GIS software, and has experience in digitalising research tools and strengthening data management and analytical workflows across government, academic, and international research settings.

Abhishek Kumar brings over 10 years of experience as a demographer and public health expert specialising in adolescent sexual and reproductive health, fertility and family planning, maternal health, childhood nutrition and mortality, abortion, post-abortion contraceptive use, and migration. His research primarily focuses on the role of the private sector in family planning services, cross-cutting issues in contraceptive use, and adolescent vulnerabilities in sexual and reproductive health.

He has authored over 30 peer-reviewed publications and presented more than 40 research papers at leading international forums, including the Population Association of America (PAA), International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), and the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP). He is an alumnus of the Young Scientist Summer Program (YSSP) at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria, and a former Policy Communication Fellow at the Population Reference Bureau, USA. He holds a PhD in Demography from the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai.

Aditi is an accomplished researcher with over 2 years of experience in scientific writing, large-scale data analysis, and publication across diverse areas of public health. Her expertise spans maternal and child health, geriatric health and nutrition, and communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Before joining PopulationCouncil Consulting, she has contributed to a national project assessing the nutritional status of mothers and children in India, a collaborative initiative between IFPRI, NITI Aayog, and the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS). She holds a PhD in Population Sciences from IIPS, Mumbai.

Basant Kumar Panda brings over 5 years of experience as a statistician and demographer with deep expertise in data management, statistical analysis, and large-scale datasets. Proficient in statistical tools such as STATA and SPSS. He has authored and co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed articles in national and international journals and presented his research at various global conferences. His key areas of interest include ageing, health financing, and maternal and child health in the Indian context.

Before joining PopulationCouncil Consulting, he served as a Research Consultant at the Population Council. He holds a PhD in Population Studies from the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS).

Latika Sharma is a management professional with over 18 years of experience in Human Resources. She specialises in talent management, HR operations, performance management, and digital transformation of HR processes. She has worked across diverse sectors, including staffing, education, travel and events, and pharmaceuticals. She brings deep expertise in building and streamlining HR functions to drive organisational effectiveness.

Before joining PopulationCouncil Consulting, she was associated with Innova ESI Pvt. Ltd. Latika holds a Master’s in Human Resource Management from the Institute of Marketing & Management (IMM), Delhi.

Namrata Goswami is a development professional with over 20 years of experience in reproductive and sexual health, family planning, HIV/AIDS, youth development, and life skills education. She leads a maternal health program in Assam, using innovative technologies to support women through antenatal and postnatal care. Her work includes program design, implementation, monitoring, and collaboration with partners and state government.

Before joining PopulationCouncil Consulting, Namrata has held key roles at North-East Network, Naz Foundation, Sightsavers, Foundation for Social Transformation, and Ipas Development Foundation. She has developed training materials on sexuality and disability and facilitated workshops with youth, women, children, educators, and those working with children with disabilities. Her grassroots experience spans urban slums in Mumbai and remote areas of Northeast India, focusing on menstrual health and hygiene. Namrata holds a postgraduate degree in Sociology.

Radhika Dayal is a public health practitioner and qualitative researcher with over 14 years of experience in research and program management. She specialises in qualitative research, systematic reviews, and evidence synthesis on girls’ empowerment, adolescent health, and gender-based violence. Her work focuses on mixed-method evaluations of child marriage, teenage pregnancy, sexuality education, and female employment in India. She has led complex evaluations across diverse populations and regions.

Before joining PopulationCouncil Consulting, she worked with JSI India and Public Health Foundation of India. She holds a Master’s in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics and a Postgraduate Diploma in Epidemiology from the Indian Institute of Public Health, Delhi.

Shilpi Rampal is a data management expert with over 15 years of experience working on large- and small-scale surveys focused on adolescent education, sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, child marriage, and maternal health. She specialises in developing survey tools, training field teams, monitoring data collection, managing data quality, and coordinating with field and quality assurance teams.

In addition to overseeing field-level data processes, Shilpi is experienced in data curation and analysis. She currently serves as the focal person for MQUAD products, collaborating closely with the technical team and leading the development of data collection forms across multiple projects.

Shreya Singhal is a public health professional with over 8 years of experience in monitoring and evaluation (M&E), focusing on maternal, newborn, child health, and family planning. She has led cohort studies, quality of care assessments, and outcome tracking surveys to inform evidence-based programming. She specialises in large-scale data analysis, HMIS, and applying innovative tools for data quality assurance.

Before joining PopulationCouncil Consulting, she was a Senior Associate at India Health Action Trust, where she supported state-level health interventions and led the Integrated Family Planning Survey in Uttar Pradesh. Her interests include fertility, mortality, and health systems strengthening. She holds a Master’s in Biostatistics and Population Studies.

Surendra is a development professional with over 21 years of experience in project management, research, and stakeholder engagement across the social development sector. His expertise spans designing and implementing intervention strategies, developing research tools, conducting qualitative and quantitative studies, and coordinating with government bodies, NGOs, community-based organisations, and grassroots stakeholders. Surendra manages community-focused initiatives and supports evidence-based program implementation.

Before joining PopulationCouncil Consulting, he held positions at leading institutions including the Population Council, TISS, IIPS, and ICRW. He holds a Master’s in Social Science from Dr. Rammanohar Lohia Avadh University, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Dipankar Bhattacharya is a seasoned social demographer with over 26 years of experience in Population, Health, Nutrition, Tuberculosis, and HIV, and Gender and Social Inclusion. His core expertise includes strategic planning and monitoring, evaluation of processes and outcomes, impact assessments, knowledge management, and technical advisory services.

Before joining PopulationCouncil Consulting, he led Knowledge Management, Monitoring, Learning, and evaluation for The Union’s iDEFEAT TB–Institutional Strengthening Project, supporting India’s National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP). And held senior roles with leading organizations, including Save the Children, Deloitte, the World Bank, FHI360, and ICRW. Dipankar holds Master’s degree in Sociology and Population Studies. He has authored over 5 peer-reviewed publications and 5 articles in prominent media.

Dr. Sudeshna Maitra has over seven years of experience as an evaluation specialist with expertise in applied economics, econometrics, and impact evaluation. She has strong analytical capabilities in handling large datasets and applying quantitative tools to assess complex development programs. Her research interests span gender economics, household behaviour, family economics, education, nutrition, agriculture, and rural development.

Before joining PopulationCouncil Consulting, she was a Research Associate at the National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, under the Ministry of Rural Development in Hyderabad. She holds a PhD in Economics from the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Her work reflects a firm grounding in policy-relevant research focused on improving development outcomes through rigorous evaluation and data-driven insights.