BENGALURU: Arghyam Foundation announced that Rohini Nilekani has decided to retire from the foundation on September 30, 2021, as Chairperson and Member of the Board.
Sunita Nadhamuni, currently Member of the Board at Arghyam and Head of Digital LifeCare, Dell Giving and Social Innovation at Dell Technologies, has been appointed to the position, effective October 1, 2021.
Rohini Nilekani has been the Founder – Chairperson of Argyham, a foundation she set up in 2001 as a vehicle for her personal philanthropy, and which, since 2005, has been working exclusively on water sector issues.
Talking about her retirement, Rohini Nilekani said: “Every organization needs a churning of its leadership to stay energetic and to bring innovation and new wisdom to its work. I have immense gratitude to the Board, the team, and to every one of our partners in civil society and in the government, for all we have worked on together. I hope I will always remain a spokesperson for better equity and sustainability in water. I am also delighted that the Board has appointed Sunita Nadhamuni as the next Chairperson of Arghyam.”
Sunita Nadhamuni has been associated with the Foundation over the years as a Trustee and was the first CEO of Arghyam in 2005. Sunita is a technology professional with a decade of IT experience in the Silicon Valley, followed by a decade as a social entrepreneur in the development sector in India. She is currently the Head of Digital LifeCare, a social impact initiative of Dell Technologies driving digital transformation of public health services. As partner to Government of India for the Ayushman Bharat NCD (Non-communicable Diseases) program, their technology platform has been deployed in 28 states with 100 million people enrolled across the country.
Commenting on her appointment, Sunita said: “I am privileged and humbled to take on the role of Chairperson of Arghyam succeeding Rohini. Under Rohini’s committed and visionary leadership, Arghyam has built up a rich body of work in diverse communities across the country through a strong network of partners and Government. I thank her deeply for her trust in me and look forward to working with the Board, Mala and the team as Arghyam continues its mission of equity and sustainability of water for all.
Talking about the transition, Mala Subramaniam, CEO of Arghyam Foundation said: “Rohini’s vision and passion for equity and justice in water has been embedded deeply and firmly in what we do as Arghyam. It has been a shining light guiding us for all these years and I have no doubt that it will continue to drive us into the future. I welcome Sunita and together, we look forward to building on this foundation to enable more people toward better water security in the country.”
About Arghyam Foundation
Arghyam (https://arghyam.org) is a registered public charitable foundation that has been working on safe and sustainable water for the last 16 years. It was started with an endowment from Ms. Rohini Nilekani. With over 150 projects on multiple thematic areas on water, including groundwater, water quality, springs, sanitation, Arghyam has presence in 110+ districts spread across 22 States of India through its network of partner organizations. Digital technology that can enhance participatory approaches is at the center of its current work. With a mission to enable the ecosystem to ensure water security for 100 million people of the country by 2023, Arghyam has been collaborating with government, civil society and market actors to strive for water security at scale.
