Speakers

Dr Kazushi Hashimoto

Adviser to the Japan Sanitation Consortium

Dr. Kazushi Hashimoto, a graduate of Faculty of Law, Tokyo University, joined the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF), an implementing body of Japan’s official development assistance, in 1978. Mr. Hashimoto used to be in charge of Japan’s ODA Loan operation, as Director General of OECF, then JBIC, now JICA. After retiring JICA in 2009, he joined Yachiyo Engineering Company and also took the position of the Councilor, Japan Water Forum, and the Advisor, Japan Sanitation Consortium (JSC), the knowledge hub for sanitation under the Water Knowledge Hub Initiative of Asia‐Pacific Water Forum. Recently, Mr. Hashimoto, as the advisor to JSC, is active in promoting the modern septage management in Asian countries.

Dr. Tetsushi Sonobe

Dean and CEO, ADBI

Dean Sonobe is the chief executive officer of the ADBI and has responsibility under the direction of the ADB President for the management of the Institute.

Before joining ADBI in April 2020, he served for six years as a vice president of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo.

He has more than 20 years’ experience analyzing the role of human capital, institutions, and management in industrial development in Asia and other regions.

Dr. Rajeswara Rao, IAS

Special Secretary, NITI Aayog

Dr K. Rajeswara Rao is currently Special Secretary, NITI Aayog. He leads the Urban Development (Managing Urbanisation) and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Skill Development, Labour and Employment verticals, among others.

He is a member of the Indian Administrative Service, Tripura Cadre, 1988 batch. Dr Rao has a PhD in social sciences, an MPhil in national security, masters in sociology, bachelors in basic sciences and a PG diploma in journalism.

Dr Rao’s career spans over 32 years as an administrative and development professional. He has worked with the Union Ministries of Women and Child Development, Food Processing, Railways, Health and Family Welfare, and Mines; as the Chief Vigilance Officer, CONCOR; and with the State Governments of Tripura and Andhra Pradesh, in sectors such as Urban Development, Education, and Social Development.

Dr Rao was also the Chief of the National Urban Health Mission and prepared the groundwork/guidelines for the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana between 2014 and 2016.

He has conceptualised and implemented several developmental projects, supported by bilateral and multilateral organisations, such as the ADB-assisted National Urban Health Mission, World Bank/GIZ-assisted environmental projects, DFID-assisted APUSP.

Dr. Roshan Shrestha

Deputy Director (WSH), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)

Dr Roshan is associated with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a Deputy Director, Global Growth and Opportunity Division, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WSH) team in Seattle, US. He joined the foundation in Nov 2012 as a Program Officer. In the past nine years, He got opportunities to make several strategic grants with several development partners including development banks, academic institutions, I/NGOs to scale and promote non-sewered sanitation, fecal sludge management, and citywide inclusive sanitation (CWIS) in South Southeast Asia and Sub Saharan Africa. He is now leading Asia (besides India and China) WSH program since October 2021. His focus areas are scaling CWIS, non-sewered sanitation, and introducing innovative transformic sanitation technologies in the region through demonstration, capacity building, advocacy as well as mobilizing resources from development banks and development partners.

He started his profession as a technician in a water analysis laboratory of DiSvi International Cooperation in 1988 then founded Environment & Public Health Organization (ENPHO) in 1990. He led ENPHO for fifteen years and established the organization as one of the leading NGOs in the water and sanitation sector in Nepal.

Ms. Alyse Schrecongost

WSH Senior Program Officer, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)

Ms. Alyse Schrecongost currently consults on number of international sanitation projects, with a focus on urban sanitation service delivery. She works as a Program Officer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She is a resource economist and policy professional with experience in global and domestic water, sanitation, agriculture, and health sectors. Currently collaborating with regulators, utilities, international finance institutions, and research organizations to strengthen public sanitation services in low-income urban areas. She has a master's degree in Agricultural and Resource Economics from Michigan State University.

Mr. Niladiri Chakaraborthi

Team Lead- CWIS, Trichy, Indian Institute for Housing and Settlements (IIHS)

Niladri is a development professional with more than 18 years of experience in the domain of WASH and public health. He has been part of designing and implementing large-scale WASH and public health programs in Indian states like West Bengal, Sikkim, Odisha, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. He did his Masters in Ecology and Environmental Science and Population Studies. At IIHS currently, Niladri is leading City-Wide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) in Trichy.

Ms. Kasturi Joshi

Senior Research Associate, CEPT University

Kasturi is working with CWAS as a senior research associate and is involved in planning and implementation of various activities in the field of sanitation. She has been primarily supporting implementation of city sanitation plans in small towns of Maharashtra which involved making cities open defecation free and implementation of fecal sludge and septage management programs. She has done her Masters in Planning (Urban and Regional Planning) from CEPT University, Ahmedabad and Bachelors in Architecture from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur.

Dr. Rajarshi Banerjee

Professor, CEUG&ID, Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)

Experienced professional with academic, scientific and administrative experience with a demonstrated history of working in Sanitation industry and Water Resources Management. Skilled in Operation, maintenance and monitoring of Decentralized Wastewater treatment systems and Fecal sludge/septage characterization. An efficient communicator with strong professional commitments towards capacity building and environmental advocacy to influence and promote Circular Economy.

Mr. Venkata Krishnan

Senior Program Officer, WSH team, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Mr. Venkata Krishnan is Senior Program Officer, WSH team, at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His primary focus is on commercialization and scale-adoption of transformative technologies in sanitation. He comes with a rich background in new product development and technology commercialization. He has worked across geographies, having been part of global renewable energy majors including SunEdison, Enphase Energy among others and helped launch premium technology solutions into emerging markets. His work experience spans applications, including grid-connected utilities, solar water pumps, rural micro-grids and residential solar. He is passionate about inculcating sustainability as the guiding mantra for corporates and government institutions, thus contributing towards global climate change goals.

Dr. Eva Mary

Program Coordinator, Faecal Sludge Management Alliance, Netherlands

Eva has worked in the WASH sector since 2012. She has 4 years’ experience in the non-profit sector and has a technical background, with a master’s in Chemistry from University of Mysore and her PhD work focusing on the biorefinery products from human faecal matter from University of KwaZulu Natal. She has previously had career roles in research, capacity building, project coordination and in policy dissemination spanning India and South Africa.

She has worked previously with CDD Society, India and Pollution Research Group, South Africa before joining the FSM. Alliance.

Mr. Rohit Kakkar

Director, CPHEEO Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, GoI

Mr. Rohit Kakkar, a graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay is a Deputy Adviser in Public Health Engineering, Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organization (CPHEEO). He is involved in major national projects such as Swacch Bharat Mission and Mission on smart cities.

Ms. Meghna Malhotra

Deputy Director, Urban Management Centre

Meghna Malhotra is the Deputy Director of Urban Management Centre. She is an expert on the design and operation of human centric infrastructure. Meghna is currently leading UMC’s partnership with Government of Odisha to implement the Garima Scheme program and ensure safety and dignity of sanitation workers. She is also instrumental to UMC’s comprehensive support to the Deendayal Antyoday Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM). Meghna has facilitated an emphasis on convergence between DAY-NULM, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and other flagship missions.

She is a visiting faculty at CEPT university. Since, 2005, she has been managing city-to-city partnerships programs between Indian and global cities to facilitate peer learning and collaboration. She holds master’s degree in Environmental Planning and brings a holistic approach to local development. She has developed courses that have reached government officials in over 400 cities.

Mr. Aasim Mansuri

Senior Program Lead CWAS, CEPT University

Aasim Mansuri is a Senior program lead at CWAS. He has over 12 years of experience in WASH sector for India and Africa . He has worked with governments and sector partners at all levels (national, state, city) for planning and implementation of WASH programmes. He leads CWAS's work in supporting implementation of sanitation programs in small and medium towns of Maharashtra with a focus on Citywide Inclusive sanitation (CWIS) and Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM). He is also providing technical support in implementation of Swachh Maharashtra Mission for Urban Areas. He also leads the capacity building activities undertaken by the center for various stakeholders like the Urban local body officials and sector partners. He is a member of the National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (NFSSM) Alliance that advocates for FSSM at national level in India. Prior to joining CWAS, he has worked in the construction industry. He is a technical and project management professional with an Executive Education from Harvard Business School with a Masters degree on Urban (Infrastructure) Planning from CEPT University and a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from Nirma University.

Ms. Namita Banka

Founder & MD, Banka Bioloo Private Limited

Ms. Namita Banka is a sanitation entrepreneur, scientific process developer, environmental activist, business consultant, speaker, mentor to women led enterprises who are committed to scale their businesses. Hyderabad Based, A B.Sc Graduate from Delhi University and a home maker for 10 years, founded Banka BioLoo in 2008, is the only lady to have successfully build sanitation business in India. She is an entrepreneur with dreams but is a visionary and has created new horizons for others to follow. Her focus is on providing sustainable solutions to the challenges of basic sanitation and hygiene needs. Namita has been recognized and awarded for her business model and innovation. she was conferred the Udyami Award by Shri. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India in December 2018. Cartier Awards winner in 2013 was her most prominent and rewarding recognition.

Mr. Srinivas Rao

Director, Meliorate Engineers Private Limited

Mr. Veeralakshmanan

Head Of Inclusive Business, Sustainability Covestro (India) Private Limited

Veeralakshmanan Bagavathi, Head of Inclusive business, sustainability - ISC & SEA working with Covestro India Private Limited. He has an experience of over 30 years with Chemical industry across the Asia Pacific region.

Inclusive Business, of Covestro primarily focuses on bringing the innovations of Covestro to the most needed people in this world. The activity of this group headed by Mr. Veeralakshmanan Bagavathi primarily addresses the basic need of people like Affordable Housing, Food Security, Portable Water.

Veeralakshmanan Bagavathi completed his Masters in Applied Science from Anna University, Chennai India, Masters in Technology from Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin India & Finance & Management from Charted Finance.

Mr. Veeralakshmanan Bagavathi has managed team across the Asia Pacific to execute projects along with varied stake holders including government and government agencies. On top of affordable housing we also address sustainable economic transformation of farmers and fisherman with post-harvest mitigation measures.

Mr. Sasanka Velidandla

Adviser, Water Sanitation and Hygiene Institute (WASHi)

Sasanka Velidandla has more than 20 years of industry and development sector experience and has been working in the sanitation sector for the past 12 years. He has wide ranging experience in designing sustainability solutions for affordable housing sector, as an entrepreneur in Solid Waste Management, and as an executive leading a non-profit organization. In the Sanitation sector Sasanka demonstrated business models for Solid Waste Management which were incorporated into policy. He has managed wastewater and FSM infrastructure projects across India, and in Nepal and Bhutan. He has conducted feasibility assessments, managed design and engineering, devised business models and procurement strategies, and developed Quality Assurance manuals for wastewater and FSM projects. Sasanka has been a part of the National project management unit supporting the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation as a sanitation expert.

Sasanka is an Advisor and Program Management at WASH Institute and has master’s degrees in engineering and Business Management.

Mr. Praveen Nagaraja

Program Manager, Water Sanitation and Hygiene Institute (WASHi)

Praveen Nagaraja is the Program Manager in Water Sanitation and Hygiene Institute. He had previously worked in CDD Society. He extensively worked in capacity building and developed a manual for co-treatment, which is about to get published.

He has Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and MBA in Rural Management.

Mr.K. Srikar

Director, Revolve Engineers

Srikar Katragadda is a Post Graduate Engineer from New York University in the field of Water Resources Engineering. Now heading 80+ freshwater, sewage and effluent recovery and recycling projects. He works with his team of 30 young engineering graduates providing end to end water and wastewater distribution, treatment and reuse solution. He has supported stakeholders in the MEP industry for the past 5 years in various aspects of plumping. He is also an IGBC Accredited Professional and a member of IPA.

Dr. Bipalb Patnaik

Founder & MD, Life Link Eco Technologies Pvt Limited

Dr. Patnaik is the patent holder of Soil Bio Technology. He authored more than 10 international and national referred journals and publications on topics related to Water, Sanitation and Wastewater Engineering.

He was honored by World CSF day as 50 Most impactful leader in Water and Water Management

Ms. Sonal Tickoo Chaudhari

Senior Research Consultant, BBC Media Action

Sonal Tickoo Chaudhuri, is a senior research consultant at BBC Media Action. Her research repertoire includes work on social issues such as health, gender, climate change, as well as strategic initiatives for brands. She has more than 12 years of research experience across both agency and programme-side and has strong applied knowledge of SBCC research. In her current role, she supports research across various projects at BBC Media Action, with primary responsibility on research related to the sanitation portfolio.

Ms. Reethira Kumar

Senior Project Manager, BBC Media Action

Ms. Reethira has over 12 years of experience in communications and advertising and has been working closely with partner organisations at the NFSSM Alliance to assess communication needs in urban sanitation.

Mr. Tamseel Hussain

Founder & CEO, People Like Us Create (PLUC)

Tamseel Hussain is the Founder and CEO of Pluc.TV - a start-to-finish creator economy platform, which hosts award-winning shows and episodes. He uses storytelling and technology for creating immersive virtual narratives and is building solutions to enable more people to enter the creator economy. Tamseel has previously worked with global tech companies and nonprofits.

You can also find his writing and interviews on the latest creator economy trends in publications like TechCircle, LSN Global, CXO Outlook, Media Brief. His stories have also featured in CNN International, Guardian, Channel News Asia and National Geographic.

Mr. Ramkrishna Paul

Senior Consultant, Athena Infonomics

Ramkrishna’s interests include WASH and public health. With a background in civil engineering, Ramakrishna’s career began with CDD Society, designing decentralized wastewater treatment plants. Later, he worked on projects addressing issues related to effective fecal sludge management. Following this, he was associated with BORDA, supporting the development of city sanitation plans for 31 municipalities in Bangladesh. He holds a postgraduate degree from UNESCO-IHE, Netherlands in water management and governance, and completed his thesis on water governance in small towns at the rural-urban intersection in Uganda.

Mr. Abhishek Nath

Managing Director & CEO, Ixora Corporate Services Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Abhishek is a leader with innate passion on technology brings over 17 years of experience from FM Industry. Previously was associated with OCS group UK as Director – iFM. Abhishek played a very vital role during Radiant acquisition. Being an honored owner of various awards all along his professional path, his recent wins of 2016 have been Cleaning Leader of the Year (Clean and Green India by Singex) and FM Thought Leadership Award (FM Worldwide).

Mr. Madhava Kumar

Economical & Financial Adviser, National Mission for Clean Ganga

Mr.Madhava Kumar is a Senior Professional working as Economical and Financial Adviser in National Mission for Clean Ganga. He with his team have introduced HAM model in the O&M of treatment infrastructure in Ganga Basin.

Mr. Manas Rath

CEO, LEAP Cities

Mr. Manas Rath, has 17 years of experience in starting, managing, and advising businesses and non-profits. His skills lie in fundraising, green technology, management, non-profit development, operations management, and strategy development in social, sanitation and water sectors. Currently he is working as CEO of Blue Water Company which treats sewage and sells, it also reduces pollution and increases water security and LEAP cities.

Ms. Sujatha Srinivasan

Senior Research Fellow, Krea University

Sujatha Srinivasan is a Senior Research Fellow who is responsible for the design and delivery of key strategic initiatives related to public infrastructure and basic services through a combination of research, outreach and policy advocacy.

Her research interests and portfolio span a range of sectors (include Water and Sanitation, Solid waste management, Energy, Public health, Financial inclusion, Livelihoods), across various policy and governance reform areas (public finance management, public-private partnerships, inclusive business models, e-Governance, monitoring & evaluation). She leads a range of research-policy partnerships with central/sub-national governments in India.

Sujatha is an experienced management professional with over 10 years of multidisciplinary, global experience across practice areas such as Public Sector and Social Sector Development, Banking and Financial Services. Prior to her current position, she worked for State Street Corporation (USA), Raytheon (USA) and Citibank (India). Sujatha holds an MBA from Suffolk University, Boston and an undergraduate degree in Science from the University of Madras.

Mr. Sanjay Deshpande

Executive Director, Clearford India Private Ltd

Mr. Deshpande’s leadership and 24 years of experience working in diverse fields has enabled him to help Canadian, American, Australian, Italian and Indian multinational corporations identify appropriate opportunities to target in the Indian market. He is a Member of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) National Committee of Water and the CII Northern Region Committee of Water, but his contributions do not stop there. Mr. Deshpande is currently developing total sanitation projects in the Indian market using the innovative Clearford One technology, which allows all domestic wastewater to be collected, transported and treated regardless of whether the available water supply is too low or variable for conventional sewers to work.

Prior to Clearford’s presence in the Indian market, there was a gap between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) objectives and effective locally sustainable technologies. Mr. Deshpande, along with the rest of the Clearford team, have built a lasting positive change that has bridged the gap. This is a continuous journey that has inspired employees like Mr. Deshpande to provide innovative water management technologies and solutions for long-term sustainability, and commit to establishing CSR projects in communities worldwide.