Organizing Team

Bhakti Bhowmik is a Training Manager (Events) with J-PAL South Asia. She manages training events, external meetings/workshops, mailing lists on salesforce, CLEAR inventory, contracting, billing and procurement etc. for the team as needed. She is also responsible for maintaining the database used for the CLEAR reporting at the World Bank. She coordinates with global, regional, and other CLEAR centers for various activities. She is involved in compiling and sending newsletters and takes a lead in organising Research Staff Training at the global level.

Bhakti has experience with multiple organizations like Taj Group of Hotels, PA Consulting Group, Tetra Tech, IRADe, and FHI 360. Apart from managing events and conferences, she was involved in office operations, visa management and administration. She has over a decade's worth of experience in managing and coordinating meetings involving ministry and diplomatic officials. Bhakti holds a bachelor degree in business administration from Indraprastha University, Delhi.

Ishwari Sonawane is a Training Associate at J-PAL South Asia where she works to support building capacity for evidence-based policymaking and monitoring and evaluation. Prior to joining J-PAL, Ishwari completed her Bachelors of Arts in Economics from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. She has worked with CSBC, Niti Aayog as a fellow in the Behavioural Insights in Policy Fellowship. She has also been a student representative from India for the South Asian Economic Student Meet.

Ramakrishnan is a Senior Training Associate at J-PAL South Asia, where he focuses on developing and enhancing monitoring and evaluation capacity-building programmes.

Prior to his current role, he obtained a Master's degree in Public Policy from IIT Delhi. During his masters, Ramakrishnan interned at mByom Consulting, where he contributed to a project involving the preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Tamil Nadu Agro-Industrial Corridor. His Master's thesis explored the relationship between women's agency and their education levels, financial independence, and access to technology at the household level. Additionally, he holds a bachelor's degree in technology from NIT Tiruchirappalli and previously worked as a software engineer before transitioning to the field of public policy.

His research interests lie in the areas of education, gender, and social protection.

Sohini Mookherjee is a Lead at CLEAR/J-PAL South Asia in the training vertical. She works with various stakeholders like the government (central and state level), civil society, donors and multilateral organisations to build a strong monitoring and evaluation ecosystem in South Asia. In this role, Sohini also works closely with The CLEAR Initiative, a global capacity development program coordinated by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) at the World Bank, to foster a culture of evidence based decision-making in South Asia.  

She has previously worked with Lokniti- Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in New Delhi, with research vertical of J-PAL South Asia on the non communicable disease and as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the Department of Political Science at Georgia State University, where she has taught courses at the undergraduate level. Prior to joining J-PAL South Asia, Sohini completed her PhD course work from the Department of Political Science at Georgia State University Atlanta, USA where she was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year award. Sohini holds a BA (Honors) in Political Science from Presidency College, Kolkata and MA (First Class) and MPhil (First Class) from Center for Political Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Sourav is a Training Manager at J-PAL South Asia where he assists in the coordination and execution of capacity building engagements, providing technical advisory services, and strengthening relationships with J-PAL’s government partners, clients, and stakeholders.

Prior to J-PAL South Asia, Sourav was engaged with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a Data Analytics Officer. He has been closely involved in the conceptualisation, development, and publication of India’s first National Multidimensional Poverty Index with NITI Aayog, Government of India and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. He has also worked extensively with the SDG Vertical at NITI Aayog in efforts towards localisation, adoption, and monitoring of the SDGs in India’s States and Union Territories.

Sourav is trained in economics and holds a master’s degree in Development Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

Sruti Srinivasan is a Senior Communications Associate at J-PAL South Asia. She assists with the formulation and execution of CLEAR South Asia and J-PAL South Asia's external communications strategies. She also provides internal communications support to the Policy, Training, and Research verticals at J-PAL South Asia. 

Sruti holds an MSc in Media, Communications and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She also holds a BA in Media and Communications from School of Communication, Manipal University.