About

I grew up in London as a child of working-class parents who migrated from India. I trained to be a manufacturing engineer at Durham University (where I first learnt about lean and agile management techniques), graduating with an MEng. However, I wasn’t drawn to becoming an engineer and instead spent three and a half years living and working in Zambia with VSO where I first taught science in a secondary school (which included raising awareness about sexual health) and then worked with VSO country office staff to undertake strategy and fundraising work.

Returning to the UK, I gained an MSc in Development Studies from the School of Oriental Studies (SOAS). I then got a part time position with the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET) – coordinating their programmes in Ghana as well as a part time position as a research assistant at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). I managed to secure a full-time position with the ODI in 2008 within the Research and Policy in Development (RAPID) Programme, becoming a research fellow in 2012. 

Within ODI’s RAPID programme, I undertook studies of the policy process (drawing on political economy and systems frameworks) in places such as Indonesia, South Africa and Nepal on a range of issues including social policy, climate change and resilience to natural hazards as well as studies of organisational systems and processes in the Global Fund, VASS in Vietnam and the EC's DEVCO amongst others.

Drawing on IDRC's outcome mapping approach as well as Harvard's Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA), I used learning from these studies to support actors interested in influencing change (including groups of academics, policymakers, foreign donors and international agencies). I did this through training, facilitation, 'how-to' guides, mentoring and coaching. I also helped to evaluate work to influence policy through approaches such as outcome harvesting and contribution analysis to learn and account for resources. 

In 2018 I moved from ODI to On Think Tanks (OTT) Consulting (set up by an ex ODI staffer) where I worked as an associate on similar issues, stepping down as director of programmes at the start of 2022.

Over the years, I’ve had an increasing curiosity about what happens between people in teams and organisations. in 2016, I joined an informal community of consultants and managers revolving around annual conferences hosted by the University of Hertfordshire's Complexity and Management Centre. In 2019, I participated in a year-long Foundation course on Group Analysis at the Institute of Group Analysis (IGA) where I also received a certificate in reflexive practice. 

Between 2020-22 I undertook an MA at the Tavistock Clinic, where I learnt to use a systems psychodynamic framework drawing on an action research approach and in 2023 acquired a Diploma in Analytic Network Coaching at Simon Western’s Eco Leadership Institute. in 2024 I returned to the Tavistock as a student to start a professional doctorate in advanced practice and research: consultation and the organisation.

I am part of a Sufi community, play the piano and the Turkish Reed Flute, dance the 5 Rhythms and enjoy cycling and walking.