Sukarya: A Vision of Empowerment and Change
Sukarya was founded by Ms. Meera Satpathy, a visionary leader whose personal experiences shaped the organisation’s foundation and mission. Today, she serves as its Chairperson, providing strategic guidance and continuing to drive Sukarya’s mission with dedication and purpose.
The organisation is governed by a Board of Trustees and supported by an Advisory Council (India, USA, Netherlands) comprising distinguished professionals from reputed global universities, civil societies, and the development sectors. This collective leadership meets quarterly to guide Sukarya’s policies and programs, ensuring relevance, impact, and accountability. Sukarya also benefits from the expertise of a Board of Advisors, including technical support and guidance through dedicated Advisory Boards for Maternal & Child Health and Nutrition.
Meera Satpathy, Founder and Chairperson
Sukarya was born out of Meera Satpathy’s deep concern for the stark health inequalities she witnessed while leading Pearl Advertising in Delhi. Disturbed by the lack of access to basic healthcare in nearby urban slums, she decided to act. With the support of like-minded individuals, she founded Sukarya to empower marginalised communities in Delhi (NCR), Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh with access to quality healthcare and dignity.
What began as small health camps have grown into a professionally managed organisation focused on:
- Reproductive Maternal Child Health Nutrition and Adolescent Health
- Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality
- Education for Slum Children
- Basic Healthcare Services
What sets Sukarya apart is its community-driven approach—educating, empowering, and mobilising people to take ownership of their health and future, building a more equitable society from within.
Renu Sood
Renu is an HR professional with a recruitment firm she founded 26 years ago. Her expertise lies in the apparel/garment industry. She has been associated with Sukarya since working as a Volunteer in 1998. She has since been closely associated with projects on health, women’s empowerment, skill development, human resources, and fundraising. She was appointed a Trustee in 2013. Presently, she looks after the HR and recruitment functions in Sukarya and has other responsibilities.
Devinder Singh Kataria
A retired Army officer and entrepreneur joined hands with Sukarya’s endeavours in 2000. He has been part of Maternal Child Health Nutrition, slum education, and women empowerment projects from the beginning. He holds the spice and cereal processing unit under the women empowerment program close to his heart. He envisions a society where women have equal opportunities and rights to life’s basics, such as education and employment. He is currently looking into the administrative growth at Sukarya.
Advisory Council
Professor Aasha Kapur Mehta
Professor Aasha Kapur Mehta is a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Human Development, Delhi. Before this, she worked as a Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Public Administration for a few decades. Studied at the Delhi School of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and Iowa State University, USA. She has conducted a large number of research and consultancy assignments for the Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Ministry of Women and Child Development, National Commission for Women, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy etc., as well as for international organisations such as UNDP, UN Women and World.
Advisory Board for Reproductive Maternal Child Health
Dr Kirk Tickell, Advisor of the Reproductive Maternal Child Health Board of Sukarya
Kirk Tickell, MBBS, MPH, PhD University of Washington, serves as the Lead Epidemiologist for the Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition (CHAIN) Network study and lead of the Migori Hospital (Kenya) site. He completed medical training at Imperial College London. He practised in the United Kingdom, Tanzania, and South Africa before moving to the University of Washington to pursue an MPH and PhD in Epidemiology. Through CHAIN and other projects, he has worked with international health agencies and Ministries of Health to design policy-relevant research studies.
Dr. Pierre P. M. Thomas, Advisor of the Reproductive Maternal Child Health Board of Sukarya
Pierre P.M. Thomas, PhD is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Public Health Genomics, Department of Genetics and Cell Biology (G & C) at Maastricht University in The Netherlands.
Advisory Board for Nutrition
Basanta Kumar Kar, Chief Advisor and Mentor
An award-winning international development professional with extensive experience leading transformative programs across South and Southeast Asia. He is known for driving organisational growth and global reach, with expertise in humanitarian response, climate change, agriculture, food security, nutrition, health, and livelihoods.
Recognitions include:
- Global Nutrition Leadership Award (2019)
- Banega Swachh & Swasth India – Hero of the Decade (2019)
- Transform Nutrition Champion for India & Bangladesh (2016)
- Odisha Living Legend Award (2016)
He was also honoured by the Government of India for his contribution to the POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission).
Dr. Seema Puri
Dr Seema Puri is a Former Professor at the Department of Nutrition, Institute of Home Economics, University of Delhi, India. She has been actively involved in research activities for the last 35 years. Her areas of interest include infant and young child nutrition, food labelling and regulations, NCDs, and ageing.
Dr. Shoba Suri Advisor of Nutrition Board of Sukarya
Dr Shoba Suri is a senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) Health Initiative. Shoba is a nutritionist with experience in community and clinical research. She has worked on nutrition, healthcare, infant and young child feeding, policy advocacy and assessment.
Shoba is a trained Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) counselling specialist with more than 40 research publications in scientific journals and books. During her research, she has travelled widely.