Sia is the Executive Director of the 3D Program for Girls and Women, where she is responsible for strategic direction, partnerships and program management and leads the programmatic focus on violence against women and girls in public spaces. Sia has over 25 years of experience working in international development, with organizations such as the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, the International Center for Research on Women, the Population Council, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), and the International Women’s Health Coalition. Her work has involved public policy, advocacy, training and capacity building, institutional strengthening, and strategic communications, with a focus on gender, reproductive and sexual health and rights, violence against girls and women, HIV/AIDS and education. Prior to joining the 3D Program, Sia served as a Senior Gender Consultant with UNICEF, where she contributed to the implementation of UNICEF’s Gender Action Plan and the design of its gender capacity development program. Earlier, she served as Senior Technical Writer and Editor with agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network, including the University of Central Asia and the Global Centre for Pluralism. Sia serves as the co-chair of the Learning Working Group of the Movement for Community-Led Development. She has a Master of Social Services (Clinical) and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology (Honors) from Bryn Mawr College.
Geeta Rao Gupta is the Senior Advisor and Founder of the 3D Program for Girls and Women and a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation. Geeta is also Senior Advisor to Co-Impact, a global philanthropic collaborative for systems change, with a core focus on gender quality and women's leadership. Additionally, she is a member of the WHO Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee for health emergencies, serves on the Board of Merck for Mothers, Chairs the Advisory Board of WomenLift Health, a new initiative to promote women’s leadership in global health, and in 2019 was a lead author for the Lancet Series on Gender Equality, Norms and Health. From 2011 to 2016, Geeta served as Deputy Executive Director at UNICEF and from 2010 to 2011 was a senior fellow at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to that, for over a decade, Geeta was the president of the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW), a non-profit based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to using research to shape international development policies and programs to empower women and girls. Over the course of her career, Geeta has served on several boards, such as the Global Partnership for Education, GAVI, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and the MAC AIDS Fund. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including Harvard University’s 2006 Anne Roe Award and the 2007 Washington Business Journal’s “Women Who Mean Business” Award. Geeta earned a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Bangalore University and an M.Phil. and M.A. from the University of Delhi in India.
Vanessa is responsible for establishing and maintaining the Program office, managing the Program’s emerging communications platforms and designing many of the documents produced by the Program. With a background in office administration that spans the private and public sector, Vanessa brings a broad spectrum of knowledge and experience in effective program management and support. She has a long-standing interest in women’s empowerment and equity programming at the intersection of race, culture, and class, serving as a founding member of a race, equity, diversity and inclusion initiative at a prior organization. Vanessa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the Catholic University of America.
Ravi provides overall guidance and technical support to the ICRW 3D team with a focus on data, research and evaluation. Working closely with government departments, civil society and corporate partners, Ravi ensures strategic partnerships, advocacy and program development. Over the past three decades, Ravi has worked and published extensively on gender equality, including girls’ and women’s safety, reproductive and sexual rights, and economic empowerment in India and other countries in Asia. Ravi serves on various strategic national and international bodies and research and program advisory committees and review boards. He has served as a member of High Level Committee on the Status of Women, Government of India and the Rights & Empowerment working group of the FP2020 Initiative. Ravi holds a Doctorate degree in Social Sciences from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai.
Sapna supports the 3D team in its research and documentation activities. She is passionate about gender and governance and believes that the 3D Program brings the two together. Sapna has worked in the development sector as a researcher for the past seven years. She has conducted research and documented innovations in the field of improving public service delivery and promoting social inclusion in India. These innovations span sectors -national and state governments, international organizations, civil society organizations and the private sector, and cover themes ranging from health, education, environment, child development, gender and ICT for development. Currently, at ICRW, Sapna coordinates and conducts qualitative research studies on health and reproductive rights. Sapna holds a Masters in Political Science from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University, India.
Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue and Forest Department, Government of Maharashtra
Consultant, CSR Cell, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation
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