Sambhaav’s work is governed by a Board of Trustees, and managed through a Team of practitioners with deep experience in community-based restoration and conservation work around seed, water, soil / land, livestock, commons and forests. Sambhaav’s Team brings together farmers, pastoralists, educators, researchers, architects, writers and development management professionals. The multi-disciplinary team collaborates closely with local communities across regions, disciplines and functions to support Sambhaav’s mission.
TRUSTEES
Alka Jani
Trustee
Alka ben has been Trustee of Sambhaav since its inception in 1999. She is one of the founders of Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS), a voluntary development organization that works in Kutch district of Gujarat, and currently works with KMVS’ Urban programme, Sakhi Sangini, which is now registered as a separate organisation. Her work has focussed on women-led development, livelihoods, and community institutions, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions over four decades.
Ashis Panda
Executive Secretary / Managing Trustee
Ashis has a background in Civil Engineering from BITS Pilani and Rural Management from IRMA Anand, with over two decades of experience in work on environmental sustainability across seed, food, water and shelter systems across India. He has been associated with Sambhaav as a volunteer between 2008 and 2022. He formally leads Sambhaav as its Executive Secretary / Managing Trustee since August 2022 and has spearheaded Sambhaav’s revival after a 9-year hiatus.
Farhad Contractor
Founder & Trustee
Farhad founded Sambhaav in 1999 and worked actively as its Executive Secretary until 2014. He has worked for over three decades on community-led ecological restoration across rural and urban India, with extensive experience in water, land and forest conservation, particularly in the Thar Desert. He formally stepped down as Executive Secretary of Sambhaav in July 2022 and continues to guide the organisation as a Trustee.
Om Prakash Sharma
Trustee
Om ji has been Trustee of Sambhaav since its inception in 1999. He is the Founder and Secretary of Gram Chetna Kendra, a voluntary development organization that works in Jaipur, Udaipur and Dausa districts of Rajasthan. He has over four decades of experience in grassroots development work and community-based natural resource management in Rajasthan.
Sopan Joshi
Trustee
Sopan has been Trustee of Sambhaav since April 2024. He is an independent journalist and author based in Delhi, who has reported extensively on water, land, agriculture, public health, science, indigenous communities and the environment. He designs and conducts training programmes on social and environmental perspectives. His writing interests include travel and adventure, sports and motoring, religion and politics. He has five non-fiction titles to his name.
TEAM
Core Team
Chatar Singh
Programme Coordinator – Western Rajasthan
Chatar ji is a farmer based in Jaisalmer district, and has worked on water and ecological conservation in western Rajasthan for over 45 years. He has been associated with Sambhaav since 2006.
Dhannaram Jat
Programme Coordinator – Central Rajasthan
Dhannaram ji is a farmer based in Jaipur district, and has worked on water and ecological conservation in central Rajasthan for over 15 years. He has been associated with Sambhaav since 2010.
Kunjbihari Sharma
Programme Coordinator – Eastern Rajasthan
Kunjbihari ji is a farmer based in Alwar district, and has been working on reviving rivers and associated ecologies in eastern Rajasthan for over 35 years. He has been associated with Sambhaav since 2004.
Nitish Kumar
Programme Coordinator – Documentation & Outreach
Nitish is a writer and researcher working on ecology, culture, and community engagement based at Delhi and Pune. He coordinates Sambhaav’s documentation and outreach related to indigenous water and ecological knowledge systems. He has been associated with Sambhaav since 2025.
Palak Babel
Programme Coordinator – Documentation & Outreach
Palak Babel is an architect and researcher based at Mumbai and Udaipur. She has over 9 years, led multiple research projects around the study and documentation of traditional built environments and ecological landscapes in different parts of India. She has been associated with Sambhaav since 2022. She coordinates Sambhaav’s work on documentation and outreach related to indigenous water, food and ecology-related knowledge systems.
Pranav Pandya
Programme Coordinator – Finance & Administration
Pranav bhai has over 40 years of experience in finance and administration with non-profit organisations and has been associated with Sambhaav since 1999 and is based at Ahmedabad.
Prakash Sahu
Rajaram Dhedu
Programme Coordinator – Western Rajasthan
Rajaram ji is a farmer based in Barmer district, and has worked on water and ecological conservation in western Rajasthan for over 25 years. He has been associated with Sambhaav since 2000.
Jeevan Makwana
Programme Officer – Finance & Administration
Jeevan kaka supports finance and administration work of Sambhaav. He is based at Ahmedabad and has been associated with Sambhaav since 1999.