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Founder & President
Rani Patel
Rani Patel is the President and founder of Aarohan. In 2005, an incident with a 7-year-old rag picker named Rohan shook Rani’s conscience and she founded Aarohan – a not-for-profit to address the educational needs of under-privileged slum children from childhood to livelihood. Her strong belief is that investment in early childhood is the building block for a healthy nation.
Aarohan teaches life skills and extra-curricular skills to enable the children to integrate with society and take control of their lives. Rani was clear that health of a community is a critical factor in the healthy development of children. She extended her vision to women – many of them mothers / siblings of Aarohan children to make them aware about their rights and to teach them skills which make them financially independent.
Rani Patel has done extensive work with the LGBTQ community in the area of AIDS awareness as well as skill development to mainstream them. Under her leadership, Aarohan has initiated their education and skilling programmes in tribal belts of Jharkhand, Odisha and AP/Telangana – communities which are under duress due to depleting forests and habitat which brings them into contact with mainstream society and leads to exploitation and forced labour.
Aarohan – an embodiment of her vision and life’s purpose has gone on to win many prestigious awards and recognition both in India as well as in other countries.
Rani is Member, sub-committee of the Standing Committee of Niti Aayog & CSOs and a Core Member of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). She is also the Member of Sexual Harassment Committee at International Institute Foreign Trade (IIFT). She has won many accolades, awards and recognition for her work – notable amongst them are:
> Leadership in Education Award 2019 by Delhi Institute of Management in Association with Niti Aayog
> Healthcare Leadership Award 2019 by Zee Business
> 51 Most Impactful Social Innovators of 2019 Award by World CSR Federation
> Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Award 2018 for active participation in good governance by Ramraj Environment
> Best NGO Award 2017-18 by India Habitat Centre
> Nayi Soch Award 2013 by Star Plus for innovative initiative of providing after school academic support
Contact Details: [email protected] / +91 11 41007526
Vice President
Dr. Rekha Khandelwal
A renowned gynaecologist who owns Vardaan Hospital in New Delhi. She has made social work an integral part of her life. As Aarohan's Vice-President, she has been a pillar of strength for our children. Sensitive and considerate, she has also made women's issues her focal point. Her ultimate dream is to establish an old age home to take care of the senior citizens in their twilight years.
Treasurer
Shashi Sahai
A prolific photo journalist with an experience of 33 years, he has worked for various well-known national, international magazines and newspapers. He has a comprehensive portfolio on travel, heritage and wildlife etc and showcased his expertise in an advertising project that won the bronze at Cannes. A philanthropist to the core, he has been associated with Aarohan since its inception and has selflessly dedicated himself to the cause. He is also the Treasurer of our organization
Joint Secretary
Esha Guha
Successful Business Manager with over 3 decades of rich experience in business operations entailing revenue expansion, advertising & marketing, corporate communications, public relations and client servicing. Presently associated with Concept Communication Ltd., Delhi as Senior Vice President.
Dexterity in managing overall Business Development & Marketing activities: Breaking new avenues & driving sales growth. Proactively conducting opportunity analysis by keeping abreast of market trends and competitor moves to achieve market-share metrics. Recognised as Agent of Change Management; shifted among categories for ensuring successful turning around in business.
Executive Member
Kiran Soni Gupta
Kiran Soni Gupta is an artist, a prolific writer, a keen photographer and an activist administrator. She is an officer from the 1985 batch of the Indian Administrative Service till recently posted as Textile Commissioner Mumbai. Presently she is Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. She has worked in different assignments in Government of India, Government of Kerala and Rajasthan. She has been District Collector of two districts and Divisional Commissioner of Jaipur and Jodhpur
Executive Member
Dr. Baran Farooqi
Dr. Farooqi is a Professor and Co- Coordinator of Outreach Program in Jamia Millia Islamia. Teaching English language to under-graduate and post graduate students, she is equally involved in developing and overseeing Jamia's community initiatives including income generation programs for women leading to all-women established and successfully run canteen in the University campus catering in short 1000 students.
She is a scholar of Shakespearean drama, gender studies and women’s literature. She also translates extensively from Urdu to English. Her translation of Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s selected poetry titled, The Colours of My Heart was published by Penguin Random House India in 2017.
Executive Member
Deepak Kumar Kulshresth
Deepak Kumar / Dipika, is working with India HIV/AIDS Alliance and is the Clinic Manager for Samarth Clinic (Noida). Deepak / Dipika has recently become a member of the International AIDS Society and has been representing India’s work since 2018. Dipika has done her graduation in Arts from Delhi University in 2015.