OUR MISSION

Awalkhana Institute, an effort to promote ‘Everyday Heritage’, is powered by Neeman Initiatives Foundation (NIF), as a part of its commitment to support art and culture. The Awalkhana Institute is focused on developing, supporting and recognizing various form of everyday heritage existing amongst the diverse communities of India. ‘Awalkhana’, derived from Persian word for ‘first home’ aims to engage with artisans and communities in retaining their traditional skills and knowledge which contribute to the vast source of tangible and intangible forms of heritage and culture in India.

We believe that heritage in India, can be seen in our everyday lives, which comprises a legacy of tangible and intangible attributes of the past, inherited and conserved for future generations. ‘Everyday heritage’ is the heritage in the private domain of people, its tangible forms housed and locked in their households, kinship and families strung together by the intangible thread of memory, folklore, legends, myths and other such narratives. At Awalkhana, we focus on creating a discourse on development which intends on preserving the ‘everyday heritage’ by safeguarding the livelihoods, skills, and well-being of many engaged in production of such creative heritage and traditions; by adopting new paradigms of knowledge such as design thinking, social business, sustainability approaches, research, archiving, conservation and use of digital tools and technology.

OUR TEAM

ADVISORS AND MENTORS

Rajesh Bansal

Rajesh Bansal has over twenty years of experience in designing electronic payment systems, electronic cash transfers, digital financial services both products and systems, and electronic IDs to enable inclusive development. He is currently the Asia Regional Director for Bankable Frontier Associates (BFA). Prior to that he worked with Reserve Bank of India as the General Manager and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as Assistant Director General. He has pursued his Masters in Development Economics and International Development and hisbachelors in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce.

Shaleen Wadhwana

Ms. Shaleen Wadhwana, academically trained in History(LSR, Delhi) , Art History(SOAS, London) and Liberal Arts(YIF - Ashoka), is an art-polymath who teaches, mentors, writes about art to bring audiences closer to it. An emerging voice in Indian Contemporary Art, Shaleen travels across campuses to consult for developing careers in the visual arts industry, and is visiting faculty at MITID Institute of Design in Pune, where she links the worlds of art, design and history. Apart from working in several arts and heritage institutions like the British Museum, Heritage Transport Museum, India Art Fair, in shaping their programming and strategic development, she has also served as the Director of Sales and Strategy at Chemould Prescott Road, in Mumbai. Currently she involved in setting up her own Arts management advisory firm.

Manu Prakash

Manu Prakash, a thought-action leader in the development space, has rich experience of working within urban and rural sectors especially in urban services, water, sanitation, health, nutrition, labour, climate change, livelihood, disaster management, tourism, governance, CSR, start-ups, etc. with range of international, national, and community organizations. He is currently the CEO at TARU Leading Edge, a leading development advisory and think tank delivering innovative transformative solutions and insights in the development space. Prior to that he has worked with bilateral and multi-lateral agencies, national and international organizations; and government organizations like World Bank, WSP, UNICEF, UNDP, ILO, Govt. of India- Ministries/Departments, Care, State Governments, & others. He has received his academic training in Masters in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics.

Anshul Maudar

Anshul Maudar, a graduate in Statistics, Economics and Mathematics from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, comes from the city of Pune. He was also part of Ashoka University’s Young India Fellowship Batch of 2018. During his time at AshokA, Anshul was part of the first Awalkhana team which carried out grassroots research on Kashida and Baawan Buti in Bihar and also presented a paper on the topic at a conference in Sri Lanka. He has keen interest in gaining understanding of grassroots challenges and Development Economics.

PARTNERS AND DONORS

Our work includes working with governments, grassroots institutions, INGOs, bilateral and multilateral organizations, corporates, as well as academics institutions, think tanks, CSR foundations.