Board of Directors

Mr. Jugal Kishore Pattnayak

Managing Director

Mr. Pattnayak is the co- founder of Mahashakti Foundation, a first growing livelihood promoting institution in Odisha. He is a pioneer in financial inclusion through livelihood financing in one of the poorest regions of the globe i.e. KBK districts of Odisha, India. As a Social Entrepreneur, Mr. Pattnayak has immensely contributed towards the development of impoverished section of the society, associating with multilateral agencies like UNICEF, DFID, Oxfam and CARE, in the last two decades. He developed his close association and inclination to the financial inclusion and development sector when he was working as a team leader in the CARE CASHE (Credit and Savings for House hold Enterprise) Project of CARE (DFID Supported) between 2000-2006. He is a post graduate in Political Science and Rural Management from Bhanja Bihar, Berhampur University. He holds a diploma in microfinance from Indian Institute of Banking and Finance, Pune, and also has a Certificate in microfinance from the prestigious Boulder Institute of Microfinance, USA. Mr. Pattnayak is a seasoned professional and thorough expert in the field of livelihood and cluster development, managing institutional relationships, technical assistance on SHG promotion, community based institution building and their strengthening

Ms.Gayathri Sakthirajan

A development sector professional playing diverse roles since 1997 in distinguished organisations in Government and NGO space in the areas of Micro Finance, Micro Insurance and Women empowerment; managed pan India projects, worked with diversified stakeholders in Government, banking, insurance sector and academic institutions, national and international network organisations, donor agencies and CSRs. Have expertise in the management of large scale, community based microfinance/ insurance programmes with specific expertise in product development, information systems, performance assessment and impact studies. Offered consultancies to national and international organisations including GIZ, Swiss Development Agency, CBM- Germany, GoMBRT, NABARD, SRIJAN, etc. Experienced in business analytics and statistical modelling in the areas of financial product development as well as for monitoring & evaluation of projects. Offered training to international participants as well as undertook international visits offering consultancy to organisations on community based microfinance and micro insurance/pension. She holds Bachelor of Science (Agriculture), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India. and PGP in Business Analytics from IIIT, Bangalore.

CA Nandan Singh Bisht

Mr. Nandan Singh Bisht is a Chartered Accountant by profession with 15 years of post- qualification experience of working with leading Microfinance Institutions, Development Institutions, NGOs, Investors and Technical Service Providers. Mr. Bisht has travelled extensively in India, South East Asia, Africa and Pacific Region on many technical consulting assignments to support micro-finance institutions. His core areas of expertise includes – internal control, finance, auditing, financial structuring, systems development & operational structuring and accounting. He is the founder director of Nimbus Consulting Private Limited, a consulting firm specializing in various functional areas in micro-finance, livelihood and voluntary organizations. Currently, Mr. Bisht heads “N S B & Associates, Chartered Accountants”, an audit firm.

Mr. Narendra Nayak

Mr. Nayak is a senior development professional having nearly 25 years of working experience in microfinance and non-government sectors in India and abroad. Mr. Nayak is well versed with the institutional assessment and business planning processes, partnership management and mentoring of CBOs, NGOs and MFIs. He has noteworthy contributions towards promotion, strengthening and sustainment of small microfinance institutions in Odisha through the CARE-CASHE project. He has also demonstrated his expertise in program development, resource mobilization, capacity development, advisory services, networking and policy advocacy while engaging with important stakeholders. He played an active role to operationalize the South Asian Microfinance Network (SAMN) by involving the National Networks of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for strengthening microfinance sector in the region. He has handled key positions during his association with national and international development organizations that includes CARE India, ACCESS Development Services, ACCESS-ASSIST, ACTED, AECOM etc. On the other hand, Mr. Nayak has worked in the post-conflict countries of Afghanistan and Iraq and gathered hands-on-experience on promoting microfinance in the conflict zone. He has pursued his M.Phil in Social Science and holds an MBA from Utkal University, Odisha.