Pushpa Bhave

A well known activist-academician, a trustee of the Social Gratitude Fund and a member of People’s Forum for Peace and Justice to establish cordial relationships between India and Pakistan. She has also been examining socio-political processes through the lens of gender. Through her five decades of advocacy, writings,research and social and political activism she has made a major contribution to the development of grassroots democracy in the country.

Anita Patil-Deshmukh

Dr. Anita Patil-Deshmukh is the Executive Director of PUKAR and she brings a wide variety of talents and expertise to the organization.
A physician by profession, Anita received her Masters in Public Health from Harvard University and worked as a faculty Neonatologist in a teaching institution in Chicago for 20 years.

During her tenure she was also the Director of the Pediatric Residency program and Director of Continuous Medical Education for the Department of Pediatrics.  During her stay in the USA she played a major leadership role within India Development Service (IDS), a pioneer organization in United States which supported multiple, small scale, socio-economic development projects across India. During her voluntary tenure at IDS, she organized many important seminars in Chicago on developmental issues and helped build links between several philanthropic initiatives and leaders in India and the United States. Anita relocated back to India in 2005 to contribute to the development sector and currently she is also the Senior Advisor for India China Institute (The New School, NY).