Sujata is an experienced development professional with 16 years’ experience managing development programs in India and nine years focusing on the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. Sujata excels at all aspects of project management throughout the program life cycle, having led several project teams on a range of development issues including women empowerment, local governance, microfinance, health, and WASH. Sujata is a skilled communicator and an effective trainer. She has experience interacting and liaising with grass roots, community-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as national and international agencies working in the field of social and economic development. Her ability to communicate and connect with a wide range of stakeholders has made her effective in the areas of advocacy, outreach, and training.  

Sujata joined Water For People in 2011 and is currently the Program and Partnership Manager, where she provides technical guidance, programmatic support, and manages the in-country Corporate Social Responsibility grants in India. Sujata engages with external audiences in presentations and events to disseminate knowledge from Water For People’s programs and advocate for Water For People’s Everyone Forever approach to mobilize more stakeholders and expand the organization’s reach, helping communities achieve sustainable access to water and sanitation services. With Sujata’s management and support, Water For People in India achieved 100% water coverage in two blocks (with a combined population of over 540,000 people) of South 24 Parganas in 2018. She also led the successful completion of a mini-piped water scheme with household water connections and metering system which reached 384 households.

Sujata collaborates closely with water committees, associations, and local government institutions throughout India, providing them with trainings on Water For People’s tools and resources (establishing community-based operations and management systems, costing tools, tariffs, monitoring, among many other topics) and supporting institutional capacity strengthening activities. Sujata also manages program learning and site visits and identifies and facilitates synergies between Water For People’s work and that of local institutions to meet community needs.  

Sujata holds a master's degree in Sociology from Calcutta University in India and a bachelor's degree in Sociology from Lady Brabourne College in Kolkata, India.