Shruti Parija

Co-Chair

Shruti is currently pursuing her Masters in Social Work at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She is an engineer by education and has volunteered at several organizations in the social space, prior to moving to Mumbai. She was a Microsoft Student Partner in college, during which she coordinated with several engineering institutions, and went on to build a MS Student User Group of 300 members. She has worked with The New Indian Express, Bhubaneswar and has covered various features for their weekly supplements.

She is currently working on a book on social entrepreneurs in India and strongly believes in the idea of sustainable businesses. During this remarkable journey of interacting with social entrepreneurs, she realized the importance of connecting with like minded people and a common platform for doing so, came in the form of the Mumbai chapter of Acumen Fund.

In her spare time, Shruti loves to read, write short stories and poems and travel.

Nidhi Trehan

Co-Chair

After completing her post graduation in Management from the Indian School of Business Hyderabad in 2011, Nidhi joined HDIL’s Strategic Planning Department. Prior to moving to Hyderabad, she volunteered with the American India Foundation Young Professionals New York Chapter (AIF-NYYP) where she was a Marketing Coordinator and subsequently a Chapter Coordinator. While giving back to the community had always been a passion, her time at AIF helped her channelize energy in the right direction in addition to providing her with a platform to network with like minded people. On returning to India, she was eager to connect with individuals who shared her passion and joining the MUMBAI+acumen chapter has helped her realize that.

Nidhi is an absolute foodie and so when she is isnt savoring different cuisines, one can find her running or swimming to burn those calories!

Erin Little

Steering Committee Member, Fundraising

Erin Little is a LGT Venture Philanthropy fellow with Aangan Trust to expand their Fundraising and Marketing initiatives. Prior to her move to Mumbai, she was the Co-Founder of Portapure, an affordablewater purification device manufacturer based in Chicago as well as Founder and Co-Chair of the CHICAGO+acumen community.

Prateek Kanwal

Steering Committee Member, Fundraising

Prateek completed his Bachelor in Commerce (Hons.) from NMIMS University, Mumbai. After graduating, he went on to work as an Analyst with CRISIL Ratings and evolved the methodology and assessment model used for grading various programs including MBA, PGDM and PGP programs. He is currently a Fellow with Teach for India and is working to transform the lives of 32 under-privileged students. His interest in social entrepreneurship and confidence in market based approach towards poverty alleviation made him join MUMBAI+acumen.

Prateek is an ardent cricket fanatic and loves visiting tiger reserves across India.

Purnota Dutta Bahl

Steering Committee Member, Marketing 

A Senior Marketing Professional with a career spanning over a decade in Conventional and New Media. In her latest stint she was heading Marketing for India’s largest Matrimonial Service. A role she thoroughly enjoyed for changing millions to lives with sheer power of innovation, creativity and technology.
Purnota completed her MBA from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad with dual specialization in Marketing and Strategy. While at Business School, she was the President of Women in Business club that strived to celebrate and empower women to advance in their future careers. Currently on a brief sabbatical she has been keen to contribute to a social cause and has found a perfect match at Acumen.