Our Team
Rishika is a Political Science and English undergraduate at Ashoka University and leads Young India Foundation as the CEO. She is motivated by bridging the gap between India’s vast youth population and their representation in India’s democratic institutions. She has been actively involved in various youth-centric initiatives, such as serving on the Youth Board of the Indian School of Leadership or working with Young Leaders for Active Citizenship—aiming to ensure that young people in the nation are adequately provided with platforms that build them into active political agents.
Parth Gaikwad
Technology Consultant
Shefali Gupta
Head of Operations
Shefali (she/her) started her journey with oppressed communities in Kutch as a freshly-graduated college student. After experiencing the stark contrasts across cultural, social and economic ecosystems around the country as a research fellow, she aims to understand and address gender disparities and under-representation in data and policy. She has been awarded the India Fellow Social Leadership Program, and has an undergraduate degree in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College for Women in Delhi, along with a micro master in Data and Economics from Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab.
Currently, she is a Senior Program Manager with Young India Foundation and handles operations for their #Why25 campaign, facilitating workshops and events bringing together students and other non-profit organisations in India towards a synchronised youth movement. She is also part of the Centre for Youth Policy, that analyses electoral data and disseminates it, creating pathways for young voters to engage with their democratic rights to vote.
Shefali Gupta
Head of Operations
Sudhanshu Kaushik
Founder
Sudhanshu Kaushik is a MBA Civic Scholar of the Univeristy
of Chicago, graduate of the University of Oxford (MSc). and
New York University (BA) where he researched young people
and electoral politics. He is the founder of Young India
Foundation, a trust that works to increase youth political
participation.
Sudhanshu has previously worked with the Permanent Mission
of India to the United Nations and CNN with Fareed Zakaria.
He was named for two consecutive years on International
Literary Association's 30 Under - 30 list and Washington
Square Park's 2016 Up and Comers. He is also a recipient of
a fellowship from the South Asian Journalist Association and
the Gallatin Human Rights Fellowship. He is the author of
The Future is Ours, forthcoming by HarperCollins coming out
in late January, about the youth right’s movement in India
and the state of young people.
Sudhanshu Kaushik
Founder
Rikit Shahi
Election Data Head
Rikit is a lawyer by qualification and works with a Delhi based law firm. Having graduated in 2022 with a dual degree in bachelor's in arts and law, he has been associated with YIF since 2020. At YIF, Rikit tracks and researches on elections. In the past, he was co-incharge of the Local Representatives Program. A little birdie has it that Rikit wanted to be a part of YIF since 2018 and his efforts materialised after sliding into the DMs of Sudhanshu Kaushik, the founder of YIF.
Rikit Shahi
Election Data Head
Amal Saji
State Coordinator (Kerala)
Amal Saji (he/him) is currently the State Coordinator in Kerala for Young India Foundation. He is a dedicated social worker and educator who established Kerala's first Child Library in his village Karuvatta. He served as an Additional Private Secretary to the Member of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), holding the rank of Secretary of the Government of India at the age of 21, and worked with the Minister of State at the age of 19. With a background in various administrative roles within Government departments, he brings a wealth of experience to his work. Recognized for his commitment to youth empowerment, Amal was nominated for the National Youth Awards in 2017 by the District Administration. He serves as a youth advisor for Yuwaah, UNICEF INDIA(2023-24), and has contributed to mental health counseling initiatives with the Kerala Health Department. Amal is widely respected in Kerala for his advocacy and contributions to child rights.
Amal Saji
State Coordinator (Kerala)
Mrinal Sharma
General Counsel
Mrinal Sharma is a lawyer and an intersectional feminist, currently based out of Mumbai. She graduated with a gold medal and distinction in business and law honours from Jindal Global Law School and with a masters in law from the University of Cambridge. She’s working extensively in M&A advisory and public policy with top law firms in India. She has a flair for fashion, fitness, travel, nature and mentoring young lawyers. In her free time, you will find her lending pro bono assistance to survivors of domestic violence, briefing counsels on custody battles and property matters. She’s thrilled to aid YIF with her expertise.
Mrinal Sharma
General Counsel
Alice Tobias
Program Manager
Alice Tobias (she/her) finds her interest anchored in research, and advocacy, particularly in the realm of gender, youth, and democratic participation. Soon graduating with honors in Philosophy from Hansraj College, University of Delhi, her focus is rooted in socio-political issues. Working under Dr. Prannoy Roy she focused on understanding how triangulation of electoral data strengthens public knowledge. Collaborative research findings and opinion features in print and podcast by The Economic Times have further allowed her to take meaningful conversations beyond her immediate practice. While navigating through her college years, she has learned from conversations and curated them into socially conscious narratives. As Alice prepares to graduate, she strives to tailor her work toward fostering informed citizenship and empowering the next generation of leaders in India.
Alice Tobias
Program Manager
Darsh Vatsa
Lead, Creative
Darsh (he/they) is an outgoing high school senior working on creatives, design, data visualization and research for Young India Foundation and the Centre for Youth Policy. He also leads ResistTwo, a Delhi-based youth environmental research and advocacy group, as its Executive Director. Darsh has been actively involved in the social justice and civic engagement space for the past four years including as an Assistant Editor at Mumbai-based sustainability and science communications magazine, Talk Dharti To Me. He has worked with GirlUp Sonepat and Youth for Climate India in the research and outreach domains, and with The Energy and Resources Institute as a Youth Representative for their annual World Sustainable Development Summits between 2020 and 2023.
Darsh Vatsa
Lead, Creative
