Executive Leadership
"Growing the movement to end food insecurity, starts with you."
- Dola Mohapatra,
Dola Mohapatra
Executive Director
Dola Mohapatra is the Executive Director of Rise Against Hunger India. With rich and extensive experience in international and national NGOs spanning nearly three decades, Dola has led large-scale program operations and developed a program portfolio across the globe. He served as Regional Director of ChildFund International, including the CEO/Executive Director of ChildFund India in Bangalore. He is also the co-founder of WorkMatterz, a Management Consulting firm that provides HR and Management support to startups, business enterprises, and national and international non-profits.
Dola holds a Master of Arts in English Literature from Sambalpur University, a Master of Social Work in Labor Law from Santiniketan (Visva Bharati), and a Master of Philosophy in Social Work from the University.
Naomi Joshua
Director of Operations
Naomi Joshua is responsible for directing, managing, overseeing and mentoring our volunteer and corporate engagement teams across India. She is also responsible for developing robust operational systems and guidelines, ensuring everyone is fully trained in meal packaging, storage and distribution standards, and leads HR for Rise Against Hunger India. Naomi has over 25 years of experience in operations, HR and project management. Due to her excellent organizational capabilities, she was nominated to join an international task force conducting organizational diagnostics in various countries in Asia.
Naomi holds a post-graduate diploma in HR Management, a post-graduate diploma in Systems Management and a Bachelor’s in Physics, Electronics and Mathematics.
"It starts with a meal, and it starts with you."
- Naomi Joshua,
"Together, we can overcome global food insecurity."
- Mahadev Hansda,
Mahadev Hansda
Head of Programs
Mahadev Hansda provides programmatic leadership and guides Rise Against Hunger India’s program directions to effectiveness, impact, and sustainability strategies and approaches to realize the organization’s vision and oversees the process for field-level implementation of various nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive initiatives. Mahadev has twenty-six years of professional experience in designing, developing and delivering social development and humanitarian response programs.
Mahadev Hansda holds a Post Graduation Diploma in Rural Development from Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS) Ranchi. He received the 1997 Best Social Worker Award from Xavier Institute of Social Services and the 1994-95 Best West Bengal Aicufer Award from St. Xavier’s’ College, Kolkata, from Mother Teresa (now Saint Teresa of Kolkata) and the 2020 Jharkhand Vibhuti Veer Birsa Samman for Social Work.
Henry Rozario
Finance Manager
As Finance Manager, Henry Rozario’s primary role involves day-to-day financial management for Rise Against Hunger India, monitoring field office accounts and timely disbursement of funds for continuing the projects. Before joining Rise Against Hunger India, Henry provided financial consultancy services to several NGOs across South India. Henry has significant audit and financial review experience as the audit manager with two major reputed Chartered Accountancy firms in South India specializing in non-profit accounting.
Henry holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Madras University and an article-ship with Simon Rodrigues & Associates in Bangalore.
"Paving the way toward brighter futures."
- Henry Rozario,
"Empowering communities builds self-sustaining economies."
- Sieti Banu Immanuel,
Sieti Banu Immanuel
Program Manager, Food and Nutrition Security (Livelihoods)
Sieti Banu Immanuel works with field teams and community groups to lead the project design and development process to achieve sustainable food and nutrition security at the household level. He is the lead technical manager for Rise Against Hunger India’s signature programs around building nutrition-sensitive value chains (NSVC), enabling communities to adapt and pursue diverse livelihood options, building community resilience and climate change action. As the thematic expert on food security and livelihood, Sieti establishes linkages and liaises with nutrition-related agencies & government departments to enhance program capacity.
Sieti holds a Bachelor’s in Agriculture and a Master’s in Environmental Studies from Loughborough University.
Samit Pal
Programs Manager, Emergency Response
Samit Kumar Pal is responsible for leading, designing and effectively implementing projects in Clusters, a group of districts with a high malnutrition rate, food insecurity, anemia and similar indicators in the Eastern Region, two of the first clusters developed. Rise Against Hunger India has identified several clusters across the country to work with the community toward addressing the root causes of food insecurity and malnutrition. Samit has over ten years of program management experience with local and international organizations, implementing livelihood, agriculture, value chain management and disaster management projects.
Samit has a Master’s in Social Work and a Diploma in Statistics and CSR Program Management.
"Taking action today to end food insecurity tomorrow."
- Samit Pal,
Trustees & Advisory Board
Hatim Dawasaz
Founder Trustee
Hatim is a founding trustee and the Settler of Rise Against Hunger India. Hatim works for Cisco Systems as an IT Operations Manager and Global Extranet Service Manager. With an overall experience of about 18 years, he’s involved in several give-back activities and events, including mobilizing and leading an active citizen support group in his neighborhood apartment association and conducting several volunteering activities.
Hatim Amreliwala
Founder Trustee
Hatim is a successful entrepreneur who owns Integrated Mall Management & Retail Solutions, which works in many locations in southern India. Hatim is an inspirational leader who takes a personal interest in social activities that uplift the deprived population. He spends personal time in various humanitarian activities. His passion is visible during volunteering activities where he puts his heart and soul.
Kalpana Subbaramappa
Board Member
Kalpana Subbaramappa is an Electrical and Electronics Engineer and an Analytics Specialist with over 20 years of experience developing analytics solutions for healthcare, technology and other industries. Her interest is to design and develop Bespoke learning programs in the emerging areas of robotics, data science and business analytics.
Deepali Thakur
Board Member
Dr. Deepali Thakur is a healthcare professional with a decade of experience in hospital operations, service delivery and project management, with a focus on start-up ventures in the private sector. Currently, she heads the Indian entities for Noora Health in India as the Director of Operations and Finance.
Sherebanu Milky
Board Member
Kamlesh Nichani
Advisory Board Member
Kamlesh Nichani is a senior professional with many years of experience in business continuity, disaster recovery, and risk management programs in enterprise settings. He is the Risk and Compliance and Business Continuity Management at Accenture in Bangalore, where he leads a team in providing solutions in emergency management, risk mitigation, business contingency planning, and disaster recovery.