Senior Functionaries

Satya S. Tripathi is Secretary-General of the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet.

A development economist, lawyer and changemaker with over 40 years of varied experience, Mr. Tripathi is the Chancellor of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences - the world's largest academic institution dedicated exclusively to indigenous people and cultures. He is also a Senior Distinguished Fellow on Innovative Finance at the World Agroforestry Centre.

He has served with the UN for more than two decades in key positions across the planet and was most recently the UN Assistant Secretary-General, Head of the New York Office at UN Environment and Secretary of the UN Environment Management Group. His other strategic engagements with the UN include Head of Human Rights Investigations for the UN in post-war Bosnia (UNMIBH); Chair of the Committees on Laws, Treaties and Administrative matters for the UN-mediated Cyprus unification talks in 2004; UN Recovery Coordinator for Aceh and Nias where he facilitated international cooperation and funding of over US$ 7 billion for post-tsunami recovery efforts in support of the government and affected populations; and Executive Head of UNORCID, a UN System Office established by the UN Secretary-General in 2011 to facilitate the implementation of a US$ 1 Billion REDD+ partnership between Indonesia, Norway and other stakeholders.

Mr. Tripathi was instrumental in establishing the Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility (TLFF) in Indonesia in 2016 and the Sustainable India Finance Facility (SIFF) in 2017 to leverage ‘private finance for public good’ at mega-scale to achieve transformative social and environmental impact for millions of people in developing countries. He previously served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Forests.

Prof. Amareswar Galla is an internationally acclaimed expert in inclusivecultural leadership and sustainable heritage development. With a Ph.D.from the Australian National University, Canberra, his career spansseveral continents and a multitude of roles that emphasize culturalinclusivity and heritage preservation.

Prof. Galla has significantly contributed as the Founding ExecutiveDirector of the International Institute for the Inclusive Museum, wherehe championed the integration of cultural diversity and inclusivity inmuseum practices globally. His role as the UNESCO Chair on InclusiveMuseums & Sustainable Heritage Development further highlights hisinfluence in shaping heritage policies and practices worldwide.

Renowned for his publication record, Prof. Galla's works, such as thosecelebrating the 40th Anniversary of the 1972 World HeritageConvention, have been influential in heritage and museum studies. Hisexpertise has been sought in various global forums, including his tenureas a Salzburg Global Fellow, influencing cultural heritageunderstanding and policy-making internationally.

In addition to his work with museums and heritage, Prof. Galla has heldprestigious academic positions, contributing to the discourse oncultural diversity, sustainability, and heritage development. His role as aProfessor and Director at the International Centre for Inclusive CulturalLeadership (ICICL) and his visitorships at institutions like theSmithsonian reflect the breadth of his impact in the field.

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.

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.

Mr. 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.

Deepak Kumar Behera hails from Sambalpur district in Odisha and is an internationally acclaimed anthropologist. Presently, he is serving as the Vice Chancellor of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) Deemed to be University. Prior to joining KISS-DU, he served as the Vice-Chancellor of Sambalpur University, Berhampur University and Rajendra University, Bolangir. Under the leadership of Professor Behera, Berhampur University secured “A” grade by NAAC (the first state-funded university in Odisha to achieve this distinction). Professor Behera has the distinction of being the only academician from Odisha to become the Vice Chancellor of four different universities.

Professor Behera has many national and international distinctions to his credit. He had been a Fulbright Visiting Professor at California State University, Long Beach, where he taught a course titled, “Childhood in a Changing Context (With Special Reference to South Asia)”. As a recipient of DAAD fellowship, he had been a Visiting Guest Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Karl Ebrard University, Germany. The other prestigious fellowships received by him include: the Carlos Chaga Foundation Fellowship, Brazil; National Research Foundation Fellowship, Republic of South Africa; German Research Council Fellowship, Germany; Indo-French Academic Exchange Fellowship, India/France; Indo-Israel Academic and Cultural Exchange Fellowship, India/Israel.

He has also been a visiting professor in Aarhus University, Denmark; University of Free State and University of Durban-Westville, South Africa; Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Maison des Sciences de L"Homme, Paris and CNRS-EHESS, France. He has also delivered invited lectures at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; Tel Aviv University, Israel; University of Orange Free State, South Africa; University of Durban West-Ville, South Africa; University of California at Santa Cruz; University of Illinois at Chicago; University of Utah, Logan (famous Brownbag Lecture); University of Arizona, Tucson, USA. Professor Behera also delivered the prestigious Jubilee lecture (Anthropology Section) in the 100th Science Congress held at Calcutta University in January 2013.

Professor Behera has also been a recipient of the prestigious Sarat Chandra Roy Memorial Gold Medal by the Asiatic Society, Kolkata (the oldest educational institution in Asia) for his outstanding contribution in the field of cultural anthropology in India.

He has to his credit more than 120 research publications in reputed journals and edited volumes. He is the author/editor of 22 volumes.  His publications have appeared in reputed publishing companies such as Routledge, Springer, Anthem, Elsevier, Pearson, Orient Longman, Kluwer International, Trans-National, Manges, Greenwood Press, Concept, etc. He was the editor of the Journal of Social Sciences (New Delhi) during 1997-2002 and a member of the Editorial Board of many journals in India and abroad. He has successfully completed a dozen major research projects funded by national funding agencies. Professor Behera has visited more than 30 countries in various academic connections.

Professor Behera has also served as a member of the Executive Board of World Anthropology Association (International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, IUAES) for two consecutive terms, i.e. for the period 1998-2009. He is the founding Chairman of the IUAES International Commission on Anthropology of Children, Youth and Childhood. He was also a member of the Governing Council of Association of Indian Universities (AIU) continuously for three consecutive terms (from 2013 to 2016) and is the General President of the newly formed Anthropology Association titled, “United Indian Anthropology Forum” (UIAF), the most vibrant, registered anthropological organisation in India. A total number of 26 candidates have received their doctoral degree working under the supervision of Professor Behera.

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

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.

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.