Aparna uppaluri
I am an interdisciplinary professional, with expertise in strategic planning in the fields of philanthropy,
women’s rights, public health, arts and culture, with over twenty years of leadership, relationship and
network building, research and consultancy experience in academia, civil society, social enterprise, not-for
profit and private sectors in India and Canada. I am also an independent artist and curator with a
commitment to bridging creative expression and social justice initiatives.
Sectors and Networks
I have cross-sectoral experience both regional and global:
Developed strategy and managing gender justice grant making for a global foundation’s regional
operations in South Asia, with a focus on gender-based violence.
Managing program and strategy (in an acting role) for a global philanthropy’s regional office.
Led and managed multi-sectoral collaborations and consultations for policy recommendations.
Founded and successfully ran a not-for-profit organization in the arts and culture field.
Civil society work at the research and policy level in the field of public health and gender justice
Built interdisciplinary programs in academic settings.
Led consultancy engagements in government, non-profit and private sectors with a focus on program
design, planning and evaluation.
Established networks of civil society actors, artists, activists and academics across the region and
beyond including conceiving and building donor collectives in the region.
ArtThink South Asia Fellow (a management, policy and research fellowship programme supporting
capacity building in arts and culture across ten countries in South Asia and parts of the Middle East).
Relevant Skills
My diverse experience includes the following skills relevant to this position:
Worked at both micro- and macro- levels in policy, advocacy, civil society engagement and grassroots
implementation of programs related to skill development in the field of gender, health and arts-based
education.
Strengthening social justice frameworks in development and social enterprise initiatives.
Administrative and management experience, leading teams across sectors in setting up and managing
independent organizations, as well as running programs within larger institutional settings.
Quantitative and qualitative research skills including: population-based studies, community needs
assessment, ethnographic studies and practice-as-research approaches.
Experience in public health program design and delivery has helped transfer the skills of program
planning, learning and adaptation for effectiveness to other arenas.
Research, analysis and communication skills reflected in range of publications and independent
evaluation reports.
Multilingual, with fluency in English, Hindi, Telugu, intermediate ability in French, working knowledge in
Kannada, Tamil and Italian.