Role Models for Change

Ruchit Nagar, MD, MPH is CEO and Co-founder at Khushi Baby. He is also a resident physician at Yale New Haven Hospital, training in internal medicine and pediatrics with an interest in pediatric critical care.

Ruchit founded Khushi Baby as an undergraduate at Yale in 2014, and has grown the global health non-profit to a team of 75, now working as the Technical Support Partner to the Department of Health of India's largest state, Rajasthan. Khushi Baby's flagship solution, the Community Health Integrated Platform, has enabled 70K+ community health workers to t the track the health of 45M beneficiaries. CHIP has received $15M in Ministry of Health funding for deployment scale-up.

Dr. Aparna Hegde is Founder of NGO ARMMAN, which creates scalable mhealth based programs to impact maternal & child health in 21 states of India (as of August 2024, interventions implemented by ARMMAN have reached 53 million women and trained 430,000 health worker). She is an internationally renowned Urogynecologist trained in Stanford and Cleveland Clinic and Assoc Prof (Hon) and founding Head of Dept. of Urogynecology at Cama Hospital, Mumbai, India’s first University-based Center of Excellence in the field. Dr. Hegde is Chair of FIUGA, the foundation arm of IUGA (International Urogynecology Association), Chair of IUGA Publication Committee and member of the Editorial Board of International Urogynecology Journal. Dr. Hegde is an accomplished researcher with over 75 abstracts/publications, and an NIH grantee. Dr. Hegde was listed by Fortune Magazine as one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders in 2021 (15th spot), and was awarded the Skoll Award (2020), Elevate Prize (2021), Ashoka Senior Fellowship (2021), TED Fellowship (2020) etc.

Ramesh Padmanabhan is the CEO of ARMMAN. Ramesh was Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Piramal Foundation prior to joining ARMMAN, leading technology initiatives across primary education, primary healthcare and safe drinking water. Prior to joining the Piramal Foundation in 2016, Ramesh was the CEO of NSE.IT, a technology subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India, for seven years. At NSE.IT, Ramesh was pivotal in transforming the company from a captive to a global technology organization.

Joan Carling is an indigenous activist from the Cordillera, Philippines with more than 20 years of working on indigenous issues from the grassroots to the international level. Her expertise includes human rights, sustainable development, the environment, and climate change. She was the General Secretary of the Asia Indigenous People Pact (AIPP) From 2008 to 2016. She was an indigenous expert member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from 2014-2016. Ms Carling was awarded the Champions of the Earth- Lifetime Achievement Award by UN Environment in September 2018. She is the co-founder and currently the Executive Director of the Indigenous Peoples Rights International-IPRI.

Juan Carlos Jintiach Arcos, current Executive Secretary of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (AGCT), recently nominated as a candidate for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, belongs to the Shuar people of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Partner and active member of the Interprovincial Federation of Shuar Centers of Ecuador - FICSH, member organization of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon - CONFENIAE, Former coordinator of International Cooperation of the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin - COICA , Former Parliamentary Advisor to an Amazonian Indigenous Congresswoman, former Coordinator of the Interfederal Committee of indigenous organizations such as: FICSH, NAE and NASHE.

Kynan Tegar is a 19-year-old photographer and filmmaker from the Dayak Iban tribe of the island of Borneo, Indonesia. Living in and around the traditional longhouse of his village, he learns directly from the elders, their wisdom and values, their stories of resistance in the face of encroaching deforestation, and the threats to their way of life. Picking up his first camera as an inquisitive twelve year old, he was making his first short films soon after. Working with this new medium he crafts thoughtful and emotive imagery, highlighting the quiet daily lives of the people and the community within his tranquil village. Documenting their traditional knowledge, and highlighting the importance of balance with nature. Through filmmaking, activism, and policy engagement, he amplifies the voices of indigenous communities and articulates the challenges that they face, carrying forward the legacy of his elders, championing the rights of his people.

Sellah Bogonko is Co-Founder & CEO of Jacobs Ladder Africa (JLA), a youth focused organization on a mission to activate 30 million jobs in the green economy in Africa by 2033.

JLA is spearheading workforce readiness for the green economy in Africa through research aimed at building the Africa Green Knowledge Hub, an early-stage start-up incubator focused climate tech and development of bespoke programmes in partnership with local government in climate smart agriculture and biochar production. We also run the Africa Climate Ambassadors Programme aimed at increasing the range and number for voices advocating for climate opportunity narrative in Africa.

Sellah is also the founder of Zinduka, an apolitical youth centric and culture shaping platform which empowers young Kenyans to meaningfully engage and participate in democracy and nation building. In 2024, Zinduka is set to launch a platform that will amplify bold ideas from Africa by Africans.

Dr Aakash Ganju is a healthcare entrepreneur and the CEO of Saathealth, an impact focused digital health company building AI powered tools for targeted interventions and positive outcomes for health workers and consumers.

Trained in medicine and management, Aakash started his career leading research teams at Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson and developing mobile health solutions for underserved populations across Asia and Africa. He has been a health technology entrepreneur since 2011, working at the intersection of behavior change sciences, user centred design, health and technology to develop and deploy sustainable health technology solutions serving patients in infectious diseases, women and children?s health and chronic diseases.

Aakash is passionate about integrating human-centricity, technology and collaborative solutions to build healthcare experiences of the future.

Bruna Barros is the current Executive Director of RenovaBR and has +15 years of experience in consulting and auditing companies, public sector and third sector. She holds a BA in Accounting from FECAP, an MBA in International Business from BI International, 2 executive specializations in public policies (SIPA / Columbia and SAIS / Johns Hopkins) and a master's degree in Public Policy at Insper (2023). Was Special Advisor on Competitiveness, Productivity and Entrepreneurship and Undersecretary of Entrepreneurship and Microcredit of the State of São Paulo. She is also Fiscal Board to Legisla Brasil and the Grupo Mulheres do Brasil, and is fellow from political and leadership organizations as Movimento Acredito, RAPS, RenovaBR, ProLíder of Instituto Four, and the Public Policy Committee of the Grupo Mulheres do Brasil. Her purpose is to to help strengthen democracy and public policies that matters for society.

Francisco Brito Cruz (Chico) is the Co-founder and Executive Director at InternetLab, a Brazilian think tank focused on human rights and technology. Over the past decade, the organization has been actively engaged in research and dialogue to shape transformative initiatives. Francisco holds a PhD, a master's, and a law degree from the University of São Paulo School of Law (FDUSP). During his time at FDUSP, he founded and coordinated the Hub for Law, Internet, and Society at the University of São Paulo (NDIS-USP) from 2012 to 2014 and 2016 to 2019. Additionally, Francisco served as a visiting student researcher at the Center for the Study of Law and Society at the University of California – Berkeley in 2013. As a prominent legal scholar and policy thinker in Brazil and Latin America, Francisco specializes in platform regulation, election integrity, the internet, and trust and safety.