Mallika Tharakan
Dr Mallika Biddappa Tharakan is a social scientist working in the development sector for the last 18 years. She has a PhD in Development studies and Master’s Degree in Social Work from the TATA Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai.
She currently plays the role of Lead, Knowledge Management at KHPT supporting the organisation with learning, knowledge collaboration and strategy . Her expertise is in designing community centred program models, Social behaviour change strategies, and strengthening grassroots community institutions.
She liaisons across KHPT’s core themes for strengthening organisational impact. She has led the design of several community-based tools and processes specifically with vulnerable populations in underserved settings. She is Motwani Jadeja Fellow 2024 representing India’s vibrant development sector at the United Nations General Assembly week at New York, 2024.
Her passion is to bring community voices into grassroots governance specifically to address social determinants of health. She has dedicated her career to two things- Firstly, redefining public health response from a risk paradigm to a social vulnerability paradigm and secondly, actively preserving the development sector culture of inclusion, rights, deep community understanding and risks being a bit “old school” in doing so. She believes in simplifying words, deepening actions and taking everyone along, to stay true to her motivations.
Abhishek Nigam
Abhishek is a communications professional with over seven years of experience in journalism, marketing, and development sector. With a Master’s degree in Audio-Visual Communication, he brings solid knowledge about leveraging multiple types of media for effective messaging across various channels. He excels at managing brand presence on digital platforms using both organic and paid strategies.
Starting out as a journalist, Abhishek gained valuable skills in communication and storytelling. Later, he moved into marketing, which helped him develop his talent for creating engaging content which appeals to target audiences and promotes products or services successfully. Currently, Abhishek manages the social media presence of KHPT.
