Mr. Sanjay Kumar (Ford Fellow, Boston, USA)
Executive Director
Mr. Sanjay Kumar is the founder and Executive Director of the Manjari Foundation based in Dholpur Rajasthan for the last two decades having intense engagement and experience in rural development experience.
He started his career with Professional Assistance for Development Action (www.pradan.net) Dholpur and is still continuing work across Rajasthan, Bundelkhand, central India, and West Africa. He holds a B.Tech in Agricultural Engineering from Punjab Agriculture University Ludhiana, Punjab, India, and a Masters in Sustainable International Development majoring in Development Economics from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management, Waltham, Boston, MA, USA.
He was awarded a prestigious International Ford Foundation Fellowship for the period of 2006-08 given his commitment to the cause of social justice, poverty eradication, and women empowerment. Over the years he has been instrumental in shaping favorable and socially inclusive policies at the state and center level with a mission of poverty eradication and women empowerment.
He has been a working committee member in various groups with the rural development department, livestock and dairy departments, and cooperative departments of the government of Rajasthan. Sanjay has professional experience and expertise in formulating, designing, implementing, monitoring and supervision of development projects, which include social mobilization, institution building, pro-poor livelihood value chain development, organizational development and advocacy and public policy formulation in rural development sector.
He has founded and mentoring several women institutions and women enterprises in order to improve the economic freedom to the women farmers across the hinterlands of Rajasthan and Bundelkhand. (www.katori.co.in, www.upaya.co.in). He also has vast experience working with international development organizations and overseas which included Cambodia, Kenya, Mali, and Senegal.