Staff

As Director Programme for India since February 2022, Heera leads the strategic design, implementation, and oversight of EMpower’s India portfolio, ensuring alignment with our mission to empower marginalised youth—especially girls—to become leaders and agents of social change. By guiding strategic planning and capacity‑strengthening efforts, Heera plays a pivotal role in embedding best practices and fostering equity across our portfolio.

Heera brings over 25 years of experience in both non-profit and for-profit sectors, having served most recently as Director of Grants and Finance for RTI International’s South Asia Regional Partnership Fund (SAREP), a USAID initiative to expand access to clean energy across six South Asian countries. Before that, she spent more than 12 years at the Ford Foundation, where she managed multi-country grants portfolios focused on gender justice, sexual and reproductive health, and non-traditional livelihoods for women. Early in her career, Heera held senior grants and finance roles with the European Commission, the USAID-funded American Institutes for Research’s Reach India programme, and corporate leaders like GE Capital, giving her a broad governance and sustainable development foundation.

She holds a Master’s in Business Administration with a specialisation in Finance, equipping her with strong analytical and financial management skills essential for programme sustainability.

Outside of her professional work, Heera enjoys travelling and listening to music.