People

Advisors

Prof. Asit K. Biswas is universally acknowledged as one of the world’s leading authorities on water, food, environment and development-related issues. He has a very distinguished career as an academic; senior public official in Canada; advisor and confidant to Presidents, Prime Ministers and Ministers in 23 countries, 6 Heads of UN Agencies, 2 Secretary-Generals of OECD, and 4 MNCs in the Fortune 500 list. He was a member of the World Commission on Water, and co-founder of International Water Resources Association and World Water Council. He has won numerous awards including the Walter Huber Prize and Stockholm Water Prize.
Prof Asit K. Biswas
Renowned Water Expert
Jayamala Subramaniam has more than two decades of experience in strategy and execution in banking, education, agro-technology, ITES, and the nonprofit sector across countries. At Arghyam, she leads the scale imagination journey for large government and nonprofit programs to achieve water security in a sustainable manner. She has proven expertise in identifying and establishing transformational processes for scaling standalone start-ups and start-up environments.
Jayamala Subramaniam
CEO, Arghyam
Madhavan has spent fifteen years working in rural India on an integrated development approach. First, in districts of North-Western Rajasthan with the Urmul Rural Health Research and Development Trust till 1998, and then later with the Central Himalayan Rural Action Group (CHIRAG) (2004 – 2012). In the interim, Madhavan worked on policy related issues with ActionAid, as an independent consultant and then on women’s leadership and governance with the Hunger Project. Since May 2016, Madhavan has been the Chief Executive of WaterAid India.
VK Madhavan
CEO, WaterAid India
Vedika has more than 25 years of experience building teams and businesses with Indian and international institutions. She is currently responsible for the operating efficiency and effectiveness of Water.org, and for the attainment of strategic objectives and annual organizational goals. She previously served as Water.org’s Chief Global Impact Officer and the Managing Director, India. Vedika has been appointed as a part time member of the Banks Board Bureau, and she also serves as a board member of the Jai Vakeel Foundation.
Vedika Bhandarkar
COO, Water.org
Yugal Joshi is Director, National Jal Jeevan Mission in the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti. Previously, he was Director, IEC, Swachh Bharat Mission for 5 years, and Director, Railway Protection Force before that. He has been instrumental in bringing impactful information, education and communication (IEC) interventions for behavior change among rural Indians for toilet usage. He is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration (2018), Indian Police Medal (2020) and the National Award for Outstanding Performance by Ministry of Railways (2014).
Yugal Kishore Joshi
Director, Jal Jeevan Mission
Prof Asit K. Biswas
Renowned Water Expert

“Access to clean drinking water should be treated as a fundamental right. Improved access to clean drinking water can be empowering with many positive spin offs such as improved quality of life, reduced health risks and increased income among those communities which currently lack easy access to it. While the government is making an honest effort to solve the issue, a country as large and complex as India needs all stakeholders to come together to address it. Water management is in the DNA of Ashirvad and we are happy to partner in this initiative.”

- Deepak Mehrotra, Managing Director, Ashirvad Pipes
Ecosystem Support

Knowledge & Immersion

"Clean water is key to life. As a world-class institute that supports people and institutions in developing their capacity to improve societies’ access to water, the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education contributes to efforts to ensure water and sanitation for all, as called for in Sustainable Development Goal 6. Just like The/Nudge Prize - Ashirvad Water Challenge, IHE Delft views innovations – of a technical, economic and social nature – as key to improving access to clean drinking water for all, including residents in rural India. And just like the Prize, we strive for partnerships that bring together innovations and capacity development. This is why we support the prize as an expert knowledge institute."

- Professor Eddy Moors, Rector IHE Delft

Investor Circle

"Technology investments in water can drastically impact how communities, governments and nations perceive and manage existing water assets. At Social Alpha, we believe that the power of innovations and entrepreneurship can be leveraged to address some of India's toughest and most complex water challenges. We are here as partners to The/Nudge Foundation to help early-stage water innovations navigate through their lab to market journey."

- Manoj Kumar, CEO & Co-Founder, Social Alpha

Incubators & Accelerators

"Imagine H2O Asia wants to make water innovation more accessible in order to help India and the wider region get back on track to achieving SDG 6 - universal access to safe drinking waterand sanitation. While many of India's communities are on the frontlines of the global water crisis, the country is also increasingly a source of entrepreneurial solutions. Imagine H2O Asia is pleased to support The/Nudge Prize as we search for innovators buildingscalable, drinking water solutions that improve access, reduce waste and strengthen resilience to climate disruption."

- Nimesh Modak, Managing Director, Imagine H2O Asia

Technology & Innovation

The Team
Atul Satija
Founder and CEO
The/Nudge Foundation
Sudha Srinivasan
CEO
The/Nudge Centre for Social Innovation
Kanishka Chatterjee
Director
The/Nudge Prize
Arushi Choudhary
Challenge Lead
The/Nudge Prize
Sakshi Jain
Lead
The/Nudge Prize
Pranoti Waingankar
Product Manager
The/Nudge Prize
Sravya Jandhyala
Associate
The/Nudge Prize
Priyanshi Toshniwal
Associate
The/Nudge Prize
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