Team : GFI India

Sneha Singh

General Manager

Sneha is a CIPD qualified HR professional from Manchester Business School, and has worked as an HR professional in the UK for eight years. Before joining GFI, she was the strategic and operational HR Lead for London Wildlife Trust, developing and implementing robust HR policies, ensuring best practice HR and driving organisational change. Sneha is passionate about all things nature conservation, sustainability and climate change, which led her to working for GFI -- as she continues on her journey of shaping the workforce for the greater good!

Harini Shanmuga

Operations Associate

Harini is a Dairy Technology graduate who developed her passion for food tech during her schooling. Graduating during COVID-19 was a blessing in disguise for Harini, as she was introduced to the world of smart protein through the India Smart Protein Innovation Challenge 2020. She transitioned her career from Dairy Technology to Management Consulting, where she discovered her interest in Human Resources before joining GFI India as Operations Associate. Being a nature lover and a sustainability enthusiast, she is excited to expand her horizons in the field of HR and Operations by acting as an enabler in helping GFI propel its mission in India and beyond.

Mansi Virmani

Communications Manager

Mansi holds a Master's in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and has over 9 years of experience in Communications, Business Development, and Management. A rank holding Political Science graduate from Miranda House, she started her career with the World Health Organization and other nonprofits working for women's education, health, and reproductive rights. As someone who ran her own vegan restaurant, Mansi is no stranger to the world of smart protein and has previously steered marketing for plant-based brands and the Singapore Vegan Festival. An animal welfare advocate, Mansi takes a values-first approach in leading Communications at GFI India. Passionate about innovation in food and environmental justice, and deeply moved by GFI's mission, she drives critical conversations around building a better, more just food future.

Jaanvi Parekh

Communications Associate

After earning her degree in business management from NMIMS, with a specialization in marketing, Jaanvi worked in the field of PR and communications. Her enthusiasm for driving positive change led her to focus on building brands with a powerful emphasis on environmental responsibility. Channeling her passion for planetary and human health, she went on to briefly set up a plant-based food brand. Her innate commitment towards sustainable practices ultimately brought her to GFI India as a Communications Associate. Leveraging her experience of over 5 years, Jaanvi works towards building GFI India’s visual assets and amplifies the teams’ efforts towards a more equitable and sustainable food system.

Nicole Rocque

Senior Innovation Specialist

Nicole leads strategy and ecosystem development-related initiatives at the Good Food Institute India (GFI India), working closely with the private sector to drive investment, accelerate innovation, and scale the smart protein ecosystem. As an expert advisor to startups, investors, corporates, and scientific researchers she works to develop and support forward-thinking plans for new foods, technologies, and growth in the good food space. As part of GFI India’s Smart Protein Corridors initiative, she works to develop and leverage cross-country relationships among universities, businesses, and governments to accelerate bilateral knowledge sharing and technology transfer into the Indian ecosystem. Nicole regularly writes thought leadership pieces, presents at various domestic and international conferences, and engages with the media on the growing need for smart proteins to future-proof food systems in emerging markets. She brings experience in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and technology commercialization to promote the growth of the sector in India.

Devika Suresh

Innovation Specialist

A civil engineer from National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Devika was a finalist at GFI India’s flagship event, the India Smart Protein Innovation Challenge. Drawn to the sector through her own explorations with a plant-based diet and seeing the immense scope for innovation within it, Devika finds the future of food to be an exciting realm that marries her interest in technology and sustainability. Along with strategic advisory to startups and building the enabling ecosystem for smart protein, she leads the talent and workforce development initiatives at GFI India - seeding smart protein education, research and innovation at universities and helping center young Indians in the food systems conversation.

Poorvasha Kar

Innovation Associate

Poorvasha leads the GFIdeas India Community, a sector-wide initiative to foster community engagement and collaboration in the smart protein industry. With a background in risk advisory and investigations, at GFI India, Poorvasha works with investors to support their exploration of investment routes in the Indian smart protein landscape. She also works closely with early stage entrepreneurs to support them on their journey of scaling up and fundraising to develop innovative technologies and products. Passionate about building sustainable and accessible food systems, Poorvasha’s work has been previously featured by the Green Queen Media, The Times of India, The Weather Channel and the Saïd Business School, Oxford University.

Chandana Tekkatte

Science & Technology Specialist

At the Good Food Institute India, Chandana actively engages with the academic and scientific communities to build and foster a robust alternative protein research and training ecosystem in India. She comes with more than a decade of R&D experience in stem cell biology and bioengineering from reputed institutions such as the University of Sheffield and the University of California, San Diego. Passionate about solving for the world’s most pressing problems related to climate change, Chandana yearns to apply her scientific acumen to GFI’s global mission of building sustainable and just food systems. At GFI India, she uses her unique set of skills and expertise to analyze key knowledge gaps in the science behind cultivated, fermentation-derived, and plant-based proteins. In an effort to leave a lasting positive impact on human and planetary health, she also helps unlock key funding opportunities to nurture India’s smart protein R&D ecosystem.

Padma Ishwarya S

Science & Technology Specialist

Padma holds a Masters and PhD in Food Technology from CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru, and has over a decade of experience in academia and the food industry. At GFI India, Padma brings her complementary experience to her work exploring diverse plant resources for smart protein applications. She has over three years of postdoctoral experience at reputed Institutions such as IIT Madras and is also an established author of several scholarly publications and books in the field of Food Science & Technology. Passionate about the sector, Padma aims to apply her research expertise across the areas of functional food product development, soft food materials, encapsulation, and food industry side-stream valorization to build a sustainable food system for the future.

Astha Gaur

Policy Specialist - Regulatory

A law graduate from Symbiosis Law School, Pune, Astha practiced before the Mumbai and Delhi courts for 7 years where she specialized in dispute resolution and supported clients by providing advisory on complex legal issues, litigation strategy development, and compliance. Astha is deeply invested in environmental sustainability and the rights of all human and non-human animals and as a result, was drawn to GFI India's work that advocates for a sustainable and just food system. As a part of the policy team at GFI India, she is focused on employing tools of policy-regulatory advisory, capacity building, and knowledge dissemination to build policy and regulatory pathways for smart proteins in India.

Radhika Ramesh

Policy Specialist

Radhika holds a degree in law, having completed her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law with Political Science and International Law Honors from Alliance University, Bangalore. As a student she interned in several litigation firms, but deepened her passion for climate change and environmental protection after working with climate think tanks and the Asian Nature Conservation Foundation where she studied the human influence on urban, rural and wildlife geographies, and worked on analyzing animal protection laws and suggesting reforms. Radhika's keen interest in international trade law, nutrition, sustainability, and policy led her to GFI India where she actively works to increase the policy pathways for the emerging area of food and biotechnology innovation in the smart protein sector. Passionate about creating opportunities for a just transition in India's protein transformation, she believes that GFI India's work will bring India to the forefront of sustainable nutrition and a powerhouse of alternative protein production.

Divya Saravana

Corporate Engagement Specialist
- Marketing and Distribution

As a passionate food systems professional, Divya’s career spans a diverse trajectory as she went from being a trained chef to a food systems economist. Divya earned her Bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts and Food Business Management from The Culinary Institute of America, where she found her career been driven by one core question - “how do we drive the demand and uptake of foods, practices and policies that lead to a sustainable, equitable, just and healthy food system?” To answer this, she worked at a Michelin-starred restaurant kitchen focussed on local sourcing, then went on to do research in behavioral economics and food choice architecture at Google Food and marketing at PlantBased Solutions. Divya holds a Masters in Agriculture, Food and Environment (Economics and Policy) from Tufts University - Friedman School. After her Masters, Divya worked at the Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) engaging with the Tamil Nadu Government to evaluate the impact of social welfare policies in public health, nutrition and agriculture. At GFI India, Divya resonates with the promise of alternative proteins for a sustainable food system and uses her multidisciplinary background to advance the space in product development, opening up channels for adoption and positioning for consumers.

Rajyalakshmi G

Market & Consumer Insights Advisor

Rajyalakshmi is a marketing professional with over 15 years of experience in Consumer and Business Insights, Data Analytics, and Marketing Strategy. Before joining GFI India, Raji worked with stalwart consumer brands such as Unilever, McDonalds, Aditya Birla Retail, and Nielsen. In her previous stints, she has focussed on Business and Brand Strategy driven by consumer insights, business and financial goals, macro trends, and competitive forces. At GFI India, Raji focuses on creating and executing consumer research that can meaningfully drive the smart protein market forward.

Husain Kurawadwala

Research Associate

Husain holds a Master's degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Through his experiences with organizations like the World Wildlife Fund and Soybean Innovation Lab, Husain has worked on international research projects to understand the impact of food production and consumption from a holistic perspective (environmental, economic, and health). Husain's passion for finding solutions across the food system has led him to GFI India, where he hopes to use his research and analysis skills to help India become a leader in the alternative protein industry.

Team

Core team

Sneha Singh

General Manager

Harini Shanmuga

Operations Associate

Mansi Virmani

Communications Manager

Jaanvi Parekh

Communications Associate

Nicole Rocque

Senior Innovation Specialist

Devika Suresh

Innovation Specialist

Poorvasha Kar

Innovation Associate

Chandana Tekkatte

Science & Technology Specialist

Padma Ishwarya S

Science & Technology Specialist

Astha Gaur

Policy Specialist - Regulatory

Radhika Ramesh

Policy Specialist

Divya Saravana

Corporate Engagement Specialist - Marketing and Distribution

Rajyalakshmi G

Market & Consumer Insights Advisor

Husain Kurawadwala

Research Associate

Advisors

Hon. Smt. Poonam Mahajan

Hon. Shri. Pinaki Misra

Dr. Anand Bang

Corporate Engagement Specialist
- Marketing and Distribution