KISS Team

Prashanta is a social development specialist, who holds a Master Degree and Ph. D. in Psychology, with a specialization in cognitive development of children. He currently serves as CEO at KISS Foundation and Registrar, KISS Deemed to be University, wherein he oversees institutional development and management of the institute in addition to monitoring numerous projects supported by UNFPA, UNICEF, UNESCO, US Embassy in India, ORACLE Education Foundation, TISS, Give India, National Mineral Development Corporation, Tata Steel Ltd., BPCL and other corporate foundations. He has also successfully forged collaborations and mobilised projects on different aspects of tribal development and research work. Moreover, he liaises with government and non-government organizations for grant and fund-raising activities.

Pramod holds Master Degrees in History, Odia & Sociology, in addition to professional degrees in B.Ed and Law. His association with KISS is more than 2 decades. As one of the Core Team Members of KISS, he has developed a good ambiance for teaching-learning transactions & is known for his able administration. Apart from these, he has also developed guidelines/systems for several activities & their smooth implementation at KISS. He is very much competent to monitor the day to day activities that are followed and implemented for the 30, 000 students of KISS. He is responsible for liaising with the government and other stakeholders on various issues on education & allied programs. Moreover, he coordinates community level Mega Awareness/Sensitization Programs which are organized frequently by KISS for its community engagement initiatives. Pramod closely looks after the Academic and administrative activities in different KISS satellite centres established in different tribal-dominated districts of Odisha. He is closely associated with the Alumni, Parents/Guardian and other stakeholders of KISS. In addition to this, he is also the author of several articles and two books. He has a keen interest in editing and writing special case studies of the tribal students who belong to the remote tribal dominated districts of the state. Pramod has also been confirmed with Best Staff Award and has received numerous State and National Level awards/recognitions for his outstanding contribution in the field of education, literature and social work.

Aditya has worked in the social & economic sectors for various UN agencies, corporate houses, global foundations and grassroots organisations within the areas of monitoring & evaluation, displacement issues, tribal education, life skill issues, programme management, networking, institutional building, fundraising etc for over twelve years. He was instrumental in making KISS the world’s first-ever, tribal university and helping it achieve UN recognition and Platinum status for financial transparency. In addition, he has successfully implemented UNFPA-KISS Life Skills project for more than 70 thousand children across Odisha, initiated the New Mind & New Hope program to re-enrol school drop-out students, established a Centre for American Studies with assistance from US Consulate Hyderabad Aditya is an IVLP Fellow for the US Department of State, 2006.

Easwar is a Chartered Accountant with over 42 years of experience in both public and private sectors.

Sashikant has been providing secretarial assistance since 2007 to Pro- Chancellor, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and Director of KIIT Group of Institutes. Presently, he has been assigned as the Private Secretary to the VP of International Relations at KISS Foundation. He also provides Travel and Coordination assistance on Project CHIRAG in collaboration with the University of East Anglia. He also holds a degree Business Administration.

Basanta is a seasoned professional responsible for day-to-day monitoring and supervision of infrastructure development work along with general administration of KISS. He also monitors infrastructure and developmental work of various branches of KISS established or being established in different districts of Odisha. Armed with an MBA and a Masters in Political Science, Basanta has rich experience in the development sector. Over the course of his two-decade-long career, as an indispensable Core Team member of KISS Management, he has positively contributed to several mega projects and events of KISS and its sister concern, KIIT. These include Green Initiative, 1st Khelo India University Games (2020), Indian Science Congress (2012); Four Guinness World Records by KISS, among others.

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.

Tushar is a sociologist and administrator with over a decade’s work experience. His interests delve into the problem statements of vulnerable sections and assertion of their rights. Tushar has written extensively on Dalits and Tribals, and is an alumnus of JNU and IVLP (US Department of State). Prior to joining KISS, he worked for UNDP on Displacement and Rehabilitation domain and worked directly with tribal communities, this bringing on table, both theory and praxis. At KISS, Tushar heads the English Access Program in collaboration with the US Department of State, in addition to overseeing research conducted at KISS.

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 is Deputy Director, Projects & Research at KISS. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai with a specialization in Urban & Rural Community Development. After completion of the course, she worked with UNDP and Government of Odisha on the Resettlement and Rehabilitation of people displaced due to development projects. She has also worked with UN Women and state governments of Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan on subjects of Ending Violence Against Women, Gender Responsive Governance, Gender Budgeting and others. She has also taken up assignments with Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Navdanya / Research Foundation for Science, Technology & Ecology on varied subjects including social audits, social inclusion, migration, land acquisition, tribal development, disability rights amongst others.

Sushree holds an M.Phil and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Hyderabad, India. Her interests focusing on the impact of both socio-cultural & economic changes on the various indigenous/tribal populations of Odisha / India. As Deputy Director at KISS, she facilitates the process of Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE), to build strong educational foundations among the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural & multi-lingual tribal students.

Sanghamitra is Deputy Director, Projects, KISS. She holds a Master and M.Phil degrees in Education with a B.Ed in Special Education. She has also completed PG diploma in Educational Administration and Management. She has worked in the social development space for over a decade and specializes in Sustainable and Inclusive Community Development, child rights programming, Quality education, research, monitoring & evaluation, documentation and knowledge management. Ms. Ray has worked in middle and senior level positions in reputed NGOs and Consulting firms. She has managed large programs including involving supportive supervision, monitoring and evaluation responsibilities while working in senior positions in projects implemented by LAVS-Odisha, CYSD-Plan Bhubaneswar, Kusuma Foundation (UK) and IPE-Global and KISS.

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.


Sadhana is the Social Development Officer, State Coordinator for the new project "Nua Maa" in the Rayagada district. Sadhana belongs to transgender community and has nearly two decades of experience in the development sector, working on HIV/AIDS, gender equality, maternal health and nutrition, rights for marginalized people. Sadhana holds an MSW and MBA and has been working towards the social mainstreaming of transgenders and development of underprivileged children and women for the past 14 years in Bhubaneswar. Sadhana is the first transwoman of Odisha to be issued with a passport and the first highly qualified transwoman of Odisha to be appointed in a private organization (KISS). She is a founding member of SAKHA – Odisha’s first LGBT CBO and has also previously been associated with NGOs like HIV AIDs Alliance, Sathi and UNDP. Sadhana is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IIVLP) by the US Department of State and has received many awards and recognition for her contribution to society.

Smruti is a development professional with 15+ years of hands-on experience in Development Sector. The youth sector has been my major focus. Skilled in working with non-profit organisations, corporate sector, government and the social arm of the IT-BPM Industry trade body. She has worked across diverse areas of HIV-AIDS, Reproductive Health, Youth, Livelihood, Digital literacy, and Community Engagement. Specialties: Program & Project Management, Partnership Management, Implementation of programs, Communications, Capacity building, volunteer engagement, Capacity Building of NGOs and Multi-stakeholder Partner Management. Currently, at KISS, Smruti is leading the Mission UDAY, aiming to reduce vulnerabilities of young people from tribal communities by creating a cadre of tribal youth leaders who would be change agents in their respective communities, in collaboration with the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA).


With her core competency in Disability and Gender, she has a wide experience of working with several international funding agencies like USAID, Oxfam, ILO as well as with National Commission for Women, Niti Aayog, Gram Vikas at the national level. Aditi brings her personal expertise and commitment to scale up the life of the adolescents with disabilities across Odisha. As the Project Manager of Samarthya, the Life Skill Education is being initiated for all the special schools of Odisha through user friendly and easy to access modalities.

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.

Abhijit is working as a Project Officer-Partnership Development, with UNV-UNDP, Bhubaneswar and is associated with Kalinga Institute of Social Science (KISS), Odisha. He has worked with indigenous communities on a range of thematic areas including education, livelihood, health, gender, youth empowerment, local self-governance and land rights in India and Cameroon. His works has been widely published at several media outlets such as The Wire, The Wire Science, Down To Earth, Village Square and Geopolitical Monitor to name a few. He graduated with Sociology Honours from Utkal University and hold an MBA Rural Management postgraduate degree from Amity University.

Shubhasree manages collaborative institutional projects on food and nutrition security of tribal populations with the University of Cambridge (TIGR2ESS) and the University of East Anglia, UK (CHIRAG) at KISS She is also Sr. Faculty cum Asst. Research Coordinator at KISS DU. She holds a Doctorate in Aquatic Toxicology, and her research interests focus on the impact of climate change on diverse ecosystems and livelihood vulnerability of low-income population along with ecosystem approach and management. As part of skill development, she coordinates and facilitates training funded by various national agencies, for the development of sustainable agricultural and aquaculture farming practices in tribal communities.

An IIT Kanpur alumnus, Apratim brings into play proven strategies devised by excelling in various exams to instil a competitive spirit in KISS students and to guide & mentor them for a successful career. His previous stints with leading corporate firms and start-ups have enabled him in chalking up crucial collaborations with prominent national and international partners. Alongside, Apratim is leading the re-established KIIT School of Leadership.

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).

Soumya wears multiple hats at KISS, from event planning and management, to handling logistical arrangements, documentation, research and development of programs and courses. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce as well as an MBA and prior to joining KISS, has worked as an Operations Executive.

Rudra holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and NIS in Health and Fitness. He has been pivotal in identifying sports talent at KISS, training our students to perform nationally and internationally since 2006. Under his tutelage, KISS boys won U-14 Rugby World Cup in London in 2007. Rudra’s story has been the inspiration for a Bollywood movie ‘Jungle Cry’ (2021) featuring Abhay Deol, which portrays the success of the tribal boys from KISS. Rudra has also trained Ace Indian sprinter and KIIT student Ms. Dutee Chand to her Gold victory at the 100m event at the World University Games (2019) in Italy. Rudra is also a member of the Indian Delegation Officials and was Manager of the Athletics Team at the event.

Iswar holds an M. Phil in Social Anthropology from the University of Delhi and a Masters degree and Ph.D. in Sociology from JNU. He has over 9 years experience in teaching and research within areas of Social Movements, Environmental Movements, Naxalite Movement, Dalit Movements, Tribal Movement, Political Sociology, Tribal Sociology, Social Stratification and Inequality, Sociology of Development, Development and Local Governance, Rural Sociology and Caste and Tribe in India. He is a published author & researcher and has participated in and organised numerous prestigious national & international seminars and conferences.

Manoj graduated from B.J.B College, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Then he obtained his Master degree/s and Ph.D degree from University of Delhi. He has been in teaching and research for the past nine years. His area of teaching and research interests are: Adult continuing Education and Lifelong learning, Social Anthropology, Tribal religion, Politics and Economy, Women empowerment among tribals, Tribal education etc. He has published books, research papers and articles on various marginalised women empowerment related aspects. He has conducted various macro and micro-level research projects on literacy and women empowerment. He has participated and presented papers in national and international conferences, including IUAES World Congress 2018 held at Brazil, IUAES Inter congress 2019 held at Poland etc. He has also organised various National level Seminars and Webinars. In 2018, he was awarded ‘Best Teaching Staff’ by Founder of KISS, Prof. Achyuta Samanta.