The People Behind the Purpose

One Foundation. Generations of leadership. A team rooted in communities.

Calcutta Foundation is powered by people who believe that meaningful change is built together. From our Founder and Directors to our central teams, field leaders, centre coordinators, community liaisons and trainers, every person plays a different part in the same story: bringing opportunity closer to where people live.

Calcutta Foundation community initiative

150 People

Where the Story Began

Shamlu Dudeja

Founder & Chairperson

Some institutions begin with a strategic plan. Calcutta Foundation began with a belief: that opportunity, placed in the right hands, can change the direction of a life.

In 1994, mathematician, educator, philanthropist and Kantha revivalist Shamlu Dudeja founded Calcutta Foundation. What began with initiatives spanning education, healthcare, relief and cultural preservation grew over three decades into a wider commitment to building dignity and opportunity for underserved communities.

Her work has always been grounded in a simple conviction, that people should not be defined by the circumstances into which they are born.

Today, that belief continues to shape Calcutta Foundation as it builds pathways for women to learn, earn and lead.

Opportunity can begin with one person. Change becomes lasting when a community carries it forward.

Saumya Varma and Mahima Varma, Directors of Calcutta Foundation

Carrying the Legacy Forward. Reimagining What Comes Next

Saumya Varma & Mahima Varma

Directors, Calcutta Foundation

A legacy survives not by remaining unchanged, but by continuing to respond to the world around it.

Today, Saumya Varma and Mahima Varma lead Calcutta Foundation into its next chapter. Under their leadership, the organisation has sharpened its focus on women’s economic empowerment and expanded Apni Kutir into a community-based model that brings livelihoods, healthcare and social empowerment closer to women.

Together, they guide the Foundation’s strategy, programmes, partnerships and institutional growth, combining a deeply personal connection to its history with a contemporary approach to social impact.

Their leadership reflects a question that continues to shape the Foundation’s work:

What does a woman need not only to learn a skill, but to have a real chance to succeed?

Leadership sets the direction. People make it real.

No community programme is delivered from a boardroom.

Behind every Apni Kutir is a network of people: teams that design programmes, build partnerships, track outcomes, manage operations and mobilise communities and local teams who know the women, families and neighbourhoods they work alongside.

Our structure is designed to connect the two.

Strategy at the centre. Leadership across teams. Delivery rooted in communities.

Organisational Structure: How We Work Together

Calcutta Foundation combines central institutional expertise with decentralised, community-based delivery.

The Board of Trustees provides governance and strategic oversight. The Directors lead the organisation’s direction and growth. Central and bridge teams build the systems, programmes and support required across the network. At the community level, centre coordinators, community liaisons, placement teams and trainers translate those systems into relationships, learning and opportunity.

Calcutta Foundation Organizational Chart

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

STRATEGIC ADVISORS

Programs, Finance,
Legal and Institutional

LAYER 1
CENTRAL
LEADERSHIP

SENIOR
MANAGEMENT

Head –
Monitoring &
Operations

Head –
Grants, Impact &
Learning

Head –
Field Strategy &
Mobilization

Head –
Data & Tracking
(MIS)

Head –
Institutional
Development &
Programs

Head –
Communication &
Partnerships

MANAGERS

Manager –
Mobilization

Manager –
Administration &
Human Resources

Manager –
Accounts &
Finance

Manager –
SELL &
Health Strategy

LAYER 2
BRIDGE ROLES –
SHARED CENTRAL
& KUTIR
RESOURCES

ASST.
MANAGERS

Asst. Manager –
Professional Courses
& Health

Asst. Manager –
FLO

Asst. Manager –
Placement Mentorship
& Tracking

Asst. Manager –
SELL & Health
Tracking

SUPER
COORDINATORS

Cluster Head
(1)

Cluster Head
(2)

Cluster Head
(3)

Cluster Head
(4)

Cluster Head
(5)

PROJECT
COORDINATORS

Mobilization
Coordinators

Finance
Coordinators

MIS & Tracking
Coordinators

HR & Trainer Audit
Coordinators

AK HR & Trainer
Audit Coordinators

PROJECT
ASSOCIATES

Monitoring &
Documentation Associates

Data Tracking &
Survey Associates

LAYER 3
APNI KUTIR
CENTER NETWORK (DECENTRALIZED
DELIVERY
STRUCTURE)

CENTER
COORDINATORS

COMMUNITY LIAISON &
PLACEMENT OFFICERS

TEACHERS /
TRAINERS

Ground-level program delivery,
learner engagement and outcomes
at each Apni Kutir center.

From Strategy to the Grassroots Where Change Happens

A programme may begin with a strategy, a curriculum or a partnership agreement. But its real life begins somewhere else.

It begins when a mobiliser knocks on a door.

When a centre coordinator knows why a learner has missed class.

When a trainer helps someone try again.

When a community liaison speaks with a family.

When a placement team helps a woman navigate her first opportunity to earn.

Our central teams create the systems that allow programmes to scale. Our field and centre teams make sure those systems remain human.

That connection—between structure and relationship, is how Calcutta Foundation works.

The Team Behind the Ecosystem

Senior Management

Afroz Khatoon

Head- Monitoring & Operations

With an M.Sc. and 6 years of experience, Afroz leads programme operations, monitoring and field-level coordination across the Foundation. She works closely with teams to translate plans into consistent delivery, strengthening the systems and day-to-day processes that keep programmes running effectively across communities.

Roosha Gupta

Head- Field Strategy & Mobilisation

With a Master’s in Social Work (MSW) and 12 years of experience, Roosha leads field strategy, mobilisation and community-level implementation. Drawing on her experience in programme management, community engagement and social development, she works closely with grassroots teams to ensure that programmes remain responsive to the realities of the communities they serve.

Neelanjana Bhattacharjee

Head- Grants, Impact & Learning Design

With a Bachelor’s (Hons.) and Master’s degree in Applied Psychology, a PGDM in Human Resources, and 4 years of experience, Neelanjana leads the Foundation’s work across grants, impact frameworks, programme learning and evidence. Drawing on her background in organisational psychology, programme design and monitoring and evaluation, she helps translate what communities experience into stronger, measurable programmes and partnerships while supporting the Foundation’s grant development and institutional growth.

Shreetama Ghoshal

Head- Institutional Development & Programs

With a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Maulana Azad College, a Master’s in Social Welfare specialising in Children and Family Welfare from the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, and 8.5 years of experience, Shreetama leads institutional development and programme strategy. She works across partnerships, programme design and organisational growth, helping turn the Foundation’s vision into collaborations and interventions built for long-term impact.

Sahin Chattopadhyay

Head – Data tracking & Placements

With a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Calcutta, a Master’s in Mass Communication, and 8+ years of industry experience, Sahin leads data tracking and programme monitoring at Calcutta Foundation. She also drives placement initiatives and builds partnerships that create meaningful opportunities for community participants. Through a strong focus on data-driven planning and collaboration, she helps strengthen programme outcomes and advance the Foundation’s mission of creating lasting social impact.

150 People. One Shared Purpose.

A Foundation is not only the people whose photographs appear on a website.

Across our central office and community network, approximately 150 team members contribute to Calcutta Foundation’s work, from programme and finance teams to mobilisers, coordinators, trainers, community liaisons, placement teams, data and monitoring professionals, and the people who keep each centre running every day.

Many work within the very communities our programmes serve. They bring local knowledge, language, trust and relationships that cannot be replicated from a central office.

They are not the last mile of our work. They are where our work begins.

Work With People Who Believe Change Is Built Together

Whether you want to build programmes with us, support our work or bring your expertise to our team, there is a place for collaboration.

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