Biography Archives - Page 12 of 17 - The Wellbeing Project

Madhavika Bajoria

AVPN

Singapore

Madhavika Bajoria joined AVPN in October 2021. Maddy brings significant experience in multi-sectoral partnerships, program management, and advocacy to advance knowledge and implementation in public health nutrition, gender equality and social protection. She previously served as the Global Policy & Engagement Manager and India Program Manager at Swiss-based think-tank Sight and Life. In this role, she led the creation of India’s first-ever platform, IMPAct4Nutrition, to engage the private sector in the government’s National Nutrition Mission. She was the architect of the platform’s growth to 200 companies actively investing in improving workplace nutrition for 10 million employees. IMPAct4Nutrition was awarded AVPN’s prestigious Constellations award in 2021. She also helped the Government of India gain multi-stakeholder buy-in for the implementation of large-scale staple food fortification, which is significantly reducing the burden of malnutrition in the country. Globally, she drove the introduction and scale-up of prenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation in 10+ low & middle-income countries and successfully led efforts to change WHO’s policies in support of maternal nutrition. Driven by a commitment to translating science into practice and policy, Maddy has presented at various international and regional fora and co-authored several publications on large-scale policy change and public-private partnerships. She has also worked with J-PAL, CARE and the ILO on catalyzing partnerships and policy change in a variety of sectors. She holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Columbia University, a BA in International Relations & Economics from Bryn Mawr College and a General Course diploma in International Relations from the London School of Economics.

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Riyaz Gayasaddin

Camelback Ventures

Colorado,
United States

Born and raised in the Midwest, Riyaz cherishes his Asian-American identity and his journey to continuously better understand and live into that hyphen between Asian and American. His journey has taken him to his parent’s home country of India, classrooms in Baltimore, the chilly winters of Minnesota, and currently the snow-capped peaks of Colorado. He is passionate about developing individuals and teams, building culture, and shaking up the status quo by nurturing developing leaders who work through an equity lens to become the change agents of tomorrow. Outside of work, Riyaz is a foodie. He approaches food as he does life – seeking diversity, opportunities to connect with others, and a chance to have a good time over a shared meal. Riyaz was lucky enough to attend Macalester College and Johns Hopkins University and strives never to stop learning and growing.

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Camelback Ventures

Vanessa Stevens

Director of Innovation and Influencing

Global Fund for Children

Washington, D.C.,
United States

Vanessa Stevens is passionate about sparking collaborations that strengthen trust, learning, and equity in philanthropy, civil society, and communities. As the Director of Innovation and Influencing at Global Fund for Children (GFC), Vanessa enjoys creating influencing strategies and collaborative learning spaces with youth leaders, local partners, and sector peers. Prior to GFC, she designed capacity development initiatives with social entrepreneurs and NGOs with Impact Hub in Malaysia and CIVICUS in Argentina. Vanessa began her career with AmeriCorps VISTA at the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, growing into roles focused on resource development, program management, and advocacy for immigrant rights. In Alabama, Vanessa realized the power of wellbeing at work and for social change, especially in an organization working with survivors of violence and with community members facing multiple sources of oppression. She organized a committee of team members to find affordable ways to strengthen wellbeing, from celebrating work anniversaries to a yoga class. She later nurtured this passion through a fellowship with Impact Hub Kuala Lumpur where she learned about The Wellbeing Project.

Vanessa is excited to continue to foster spaces for wellbeing with GFC’s team and community of global partners. Vanessa received her bachelor’s degree in International Studies and her master’s degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University. She enjoys life most when she can be in nature, feel like a kid on her bike, explore somewhere new (whether near or far from home), cook a delicious meal while listening to a podcast, and do special things that show her love for friends and family.

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Global Fund for Children

Dominic Regester

Program Director

Salzburg Global Seminar

Salzburg,
Austria

Dominic Regester is Director of Education and Director of the Center for Education Transformation at Salzburg Global Seminar, where he is responsible for designing, developing and implementing programs on the futures of education, with a particular focus on social and emotional learning, education leadership, regenerative education, and education transformation. Prior to this he worked for the British Council for 14 years on global citizenship education, teacher professional development, and education collaboration.

He works on a broad range of projects across education policy, practice, transformation, and international development, including as a Director at the Amal Alliance and as a Senior Editor for Diplomatic Courier. Since 2021 he has also served as the Executive Director of Karanga: the global alliance for Social Emotional Learning and Life Skills. He holds Masters degrees in Chinese studies from the School of Oriental and African studies in London, and in Education and International Development from the Institute of Education at University College London.

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Salzburg Global Seminar

Karanga

Stephanie Wong

Director, Leadership Development

Teach for All

Rachel Brody

Head of Inclusive Education and Programmatic Partnerships

Teach for All

Leslee Udwin

CEO

ThinkEqual

John Gasko

Chief Well-Being and SEL Officer

Uplift Education

Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell

Associate Research Professor, Global Health

Duke University

Greta Rossi

Recipes for Wellbeing

Brisighella,
Italy.

Greta is a changemaker involved in multiple not-for-profit initiatives. She is the co-founder of Recipes for Wellbeing and ChangemakerXchange and the lead facilitator for the WISE Emerging Leaders Program. Greta holds a BA (Hons) in International Relations and is a qualified coach, facilitator, and fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). She has hosted workshops, events, and summits in over 20 countries collaborating with organisations such as Ashoka, Climate-KIC, and Google. Greta also enjoys sharing her ideas with the wider public and has written several blog posts as well as delivered talks at stages like TEDxBologna2016, TEDxPwCMilan2017, The Women Power Summit 2018, the Social Innovation Summit 2019, and the European Social Economy Summit 2020. What makes her heart truly sing is working with young people to guide them through a process of self-transformation to become effective changemakers.

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