KISS Team

Debendra holds an M. Phil in Women’s Studies, an MBA in HR and IT and is currently pursuing a PhD in Sociology. Prior to joining KISS Foundation, Debendra gained over 6 years of work experience at UN agencies in collaboration with the Government of Odisha working on various community mobilisation, livelihood and women empowerment projects. He has wide experience in the field of Disaster Management, Emergency Communication (HAM Radio), Research, Resettlement & Rehabilitation, Project Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Micro Planning, Communication and Information Management, Community mobilization, PR and Networking, Training, Organizing and planning events. With more than 10 years of work experience at KISS, Debendra oversees community development activities in 20 districts of Odisha, alongside planning & coordination between KISS Bhubaneswar and other upcoming campuses of KISS. He also liaises with the State and Central Government and co-ordinates other research and developmental activities.

Suraj brings diverse work experience from managing customers in Telecom sectors across US and UK, operating systems and networking to backend processing in the IT sphere. Follow this, he transitioned into client-based services and Diversity came along when he dabbled with FMCG and Supply chain delivery and logistics. At KISS, Suraj has spent nearly a decade dedicated to the Development Sector, overseeing Project Management and Fundraising. His enthusiasm and dedication towards empowering the deprived society are a direct influence from our Founder.

Kadey is actively involved in initiatives involving the education of tribal children, primarily with issues including enrolment, mother tongue-based multilingual education and arresting drop-outs. He currently oversees the Employability Training Program funded by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), focusing on employability support initiatives among college graduates. Additionally, Kadey leads the Santali Khabar team, benchmarking innovative ways to collaborate with Odisha’s indigenous communities. Besides this, he renders support to KISS’ dynamic district team. Kadey has also authored a book titled "Rethinking on Tribal Education". He has previously worked within the domains of mental health, substance abuse and behavioral modification.

Nizni holds a Master’s degree from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, specializing in Urban & Rural Community Development. Her professional focus at Kalinga institute of Social Sciences revolves around empowering indigenous communities in governance processes. Her prior experience includes working with the United Nations, where she contributed to the domain of mitigating involuntary displacement and gender-responsive planning & budgeting. Nizni has also served as a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Specialist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Nizni participated in the Professional Fellows Programme sponsored by the US Department of State and was also awarded with the prestigious Chevening Gurukul Fellowship for Leadership and Excellence, hosted at the University of Oxford.
Nizni is listed as an expert with the UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab, contributing her insights and expertise to foster inclusive policies on a global scale.

Sabyasachi holds a Master’s degree in psychology. He has over 22 years of experience on project management skills, particularly with respect to professional skills of Project Planning with Monitoring & Evaluation. . In the past, he has worked with different national and international agencies such as Spanish Red Cross on disaster management and disaster preparedness program, American Red cross on Disaster mental health and psychosocial care and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on life skills and Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive health, Sabyasachi brings his commitment to his current role as Senior Project Manager at Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS). He liaises and coordinates the life skills education program in the institute as well as in the State. He successfully advocated introducing life skills education in the Physical education curriculum. To add, he is a trainer on child rights and protection issues, life skills and Adolescent reproductive and sexual health.

Debendra is a development professional with knowledge of project management, planning and capacity building in the areas of decentralized planning, livelihoods, Skill Development and Strengthening Community Resilience, etc. He has worked with community-based organizations, INGOs and UN Agencies. He supports planning, execution of development projects and technology-enabled blended skilling initiatives at KISS.

Apratim is reviving and re-establishing the School of Leadership to mentor future leaders in the public and private sectors, primarily from the indigenous communities. Since joining KISS in 2019, he has strived to instil a competitive spirit in its students and has helped it enter into multiple partnerships and introduced programmes for employment generation and skill development, as part of the International Relations Office, KISS DU.

An integral part of the SDG Centre, KISS, he designs and manages several programs primarily around Sustainable Development Goals number 4, 5, 8, and 16, thereby building Partnerships for the Goals (SDG #17). Presently, he is managing two projects with UNICEF and the state government of Rajasthan.

An alumnus of IIT Kanpur, he has previously directed teams and led the operations in prominent tech-based ventures in the interior design and food industries in North India and Mumbai-Pune, respectively. Apratim is passionate about securing equitable participation in quality education to achieve a better and sustainable future for all.

Adiroopa is a Project Officer and Social Media Manager at KISS. Her work primarily covers 2 areas - communications and sustainable development. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Minnesota Morris, and a Double Master’s Degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Kent, UK and Philipps Universität Marburg, Germany. At KISS, Adiroopa is primarily responsible for outreach and documentation, while also managing the website and social media handles of KISS & KISS-DU. Additionally, in her capacity as a Project Officer, she brings 3+ years of academic and professional experience working across various domains including Education, Gender Equity, Inclusion, Indigenous Rights and Livelihoods vis-a-vis the Sustainable Development Agenda in India (Agenda 2030).