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Dr. Sita Sekhar, Executive Director

Dr. Sita Sekhar joins Public Affairs Foundation as Executive Director with over 14 years of experience as expert and manager of global, national and state level Social accountability and Monitoring and Evaluation studies. With her wide experience in management of Citizen Report Card studies in different sectors she brings in a wealth of knowledge to transform the foundation to the next level of growth.   Previously, Dr. Sita was Head, Participatory Governance Research Group at the Public Affairs Centre. One of her pioneering works was on assessing the quality of primary education delivered though the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program by the state of Karnataka. At the centre, she was instrumental in managing two citizen report card studies for the city of Bangalore.  Dr. Sita is also an acclaimed trainer on the Citizen Report Card Methodology. Dr. Sita spent six years in Chennai as faculty at Meenakshi College for Women teaching social research methods and business management at graduate and postgraduate level. Dr. Sita holds a doctorate in Econometrics from the University of Madras.

Email : sita@pafglobal.org

Mr. T. S. Prasad, Director, Operations

Mr. T.S. Prasad joined the foundation in 2003 and has been Director (Operation) since 2008.  He brings in specialized experience in project management, feasibility studies and stakeholder involvement.  He is an expert in Commission, co-ordination and management of large surveys and User feedback led assessments and execution of contracts both nationally and internationally. He is also a valued trainer on Citizen Report Card methodology and advocacy. Previously, Prasad was a lead consultant to NCRCL Bangalore. He was also associated with the NGO Janaagraha where he was Head, Public Records of Operations and Finance Campaign (PROOF). He was also Technical consultant to Hindustan Aeronautic Ltd. (Dasault Aviation). Prasad holds a Post -graduate diploma in Personnel Management from the University of Bangalore; he has graduated in the field of Economics, Sociology and Law.

Email : tsprasad@pafglobal.org 

Mr. M. Vivekananda, Chief Technical Advisor

Mr. Vivekananda is Chief Technical Advisor at the foundation since 2003. He brings in valued experience in formulating project proposals, planning, directing and implementing research. He is an expert in statistical data management. He is an acclaimed trainer in Research Methodology and Data Management. Previously, he was  faculty member at the Institute of Social and Economic Change, Bangalore and was also an economist with the Dry land development board of the Government of Karnataka.  Mr. Vivekananda holds a Post-graduate degree in Economics and Statistics from Andhra University.  

Email : vivekananda@pafglobal.org 

Dr. Lalita Pulavarti, Senior Program Officer

Dr. Lalita Pulavarti joined the Foundation in June 2011. She has wide and varied professional experience in social research, quantitative and qualitative methodologies, survey research, data management and analysis. Before joining the Foundation, Lalita worked as a Senior Health Policy Analyst at the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, USA. While there, she managed the intake of commercial health insurance claims data from insurance companies, prepared the data for calculating cost of health care in the state, and was responsible for conceptualizing the analysis of data, ensuring data integrity and accuracy, and reporting. Lalita was acknowledged by supervisors at the Division for timely delivery of outputs through multiple launch cycles of the project over her two-year tenure at the Division. Prior to this, Lalita worked for ten years as a Senior Research and Program Manager at the Boston Police Department, City of Boston, USA. In this role, she served as the lead Data Manager in developing and implementing efficient data collection and dissemination procedures, and facilitated the use of data by internal and external end-users. She won acclaim in the Department for her initiative and expertise in the development and implementation of protocols for internal performance reviews of Police Officers using data from various sources.

Lalita has a Ph. D in Sociology from Northeastern University, Boston, USA and a Master of Public Health (MPH – Biostatistics and Epidemiology) from Boston University, Boston, USA for which she was awarded the Community Scholarship by Boston University and the City of Boston. Lalita's doctoral dissertation dealt with the contribution of local NGOs to the empowerment of women at the grassroots in India.

Email : lalita@pafglobal.org

Mr. Lokesh Gujjarappa, Research Manager

Mr. Lokesh has 10 years of experience in operational research in the field of public health. He joined the foundation in 2008 and is currently managing the research component of Citizen Report Card   projects.  He brings in a rich experience in project management, qualitative / quantitative research design, sampling, statistical data management and report writing. He is a valued trainer in qualitative and quantitative research methods. His core competency is in social and behavioural research where he coalesces academic excellence with field experience.  Previously he has worked with national and regional NGOs in India on adolescent, reproductive health and HIV/AIDS issues. Mr. Lokesh holds a post-graduate degree in Health Sciences from University of Pune and is currently an International Health fellow at the Swiss Tropical Institute, Switzerland.  

Email : lokesh@pafglobal.org