Professional Experience:
I am currently , Program Manager – Karnataka Lead & Vocational Training Initiatives (VTI), South Region at QUEST?Alliance, Bangalore, spearheading skilling interventions across southern India with a data-driven and multi-stakeholder approach. In Karnataka, I lead a dedicated seven-member team managing programs across more than 140 government-run Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), achieving training outcomes for over 13,000 students while maintaining a placement commitment of 50%. This role demands close collaboration with government departments, regular on-site ITI supervision, performance monitoring through robust data analytics, and co-leading strategic events like Industry–ITI roundtables and leadership workshops for ITI principals.
Simultaneously, I oversee the VTI portfolio across Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala, managing partnerships with 20 sub-grant NGOs operating across 30 training centers. These centers serve over 2,500 students annually, with impressive placement rates exceeding 70%. I oversee the partner lifecycle—onboarding through MoUs, conducting regular center visits, facilitating structured reviews, and anchoring civil society and alumni engagement meetings while maintaining strategic oversight through discussions with CSO leadership.
I also manage an annual subgrant budget of over ?1?crore, consistently delivering against key performance indicators, including training completion and placement via our digital learning platform, the QUEST App. My responsibilities include coordinating third-party audits, preparing timely donor reports, co-leading project review discussions with funders, and contributing to proposal development and budgeting.
My engagement extends to government bodies such as the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation and Karnataka Skill Development Corporation, where I ensure implementation of short-term vocational training initiatives, including the flagship Naan Mudhalvan program. To ensure quality and impact, I lead Training-of-Trainers programs and develop post-training support systems, integrating stakeholders such as parents, employers, and alumni into the process.
Within QUEST Alliance, I contribute to leadership-level strategy discussions and have grown through diverse roles—beginning as a Facilitator and advancing through Program Officer, Coordinator, and Associate Manager—before assuming my current leadership role.
Before joining QUEST, I worked with ETASHA Society in Jaipur (December 2014–January 2016) as a Facilitator, where I delivered employability skills training in government ITIs and managed relationships with institute leadership to ensure effective training delivery and successful student outcomes. I also collaborated with CSO partners to facilitate training and job placement.
My career began at Teach For India in Mumbai (May 2011–January 2012) as a Fellow, teaching Mathematics and English to primary school students in low-income English-medium schools, aiming to improve their learning outcomes and academic foundations.