Meet Our Team

Apurva Vurity brings over eight years of experience shaping strategy, narratives, and partnerships across the social sector in India. She has worked in community-based organisations, international NGOs, and political and social impact consulting, leading work grounded in the realities of communities most impacted by structural inequity.
She has led and managed initiatives in organizations like Dasra, Girl Effect, MTV Staying Alive Foundation, Prerana, and the Indian Political Action Committee, working on gender, youth, education, and social justice. Her motivation is rooted in an intersectional feminist lens, being attentive to caste, gender, sexuality, class, geography, and how they shape power, access, and outcomes. Her approach to program management and strategy prioritises community-led knowledge, grounded in the belief that those closest to structural problems are best placed to define solutions.
With an academic background in Literature and Women's Studies, Apurva brings a critical and reflective perspective to her work. She values empathetic listening, shared leadership, and collective responsibility, and aims to lead in ways that are ethical and politically conscious.

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Book Recommendation: Bell hooks, Savitribai Phule

She-ro: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin, In the Dream House by Carmen Machado

Christina is the co-founder and Co-CEO of Girl Rising. She came to this work as a documentary producer, serving on the team that created the original Girl Rising film. She served as a Supervising Producer, then Managing Director and CEO beginning in 2015, helping to architect the organization's global programming and leading its transformation from a film production company to a nonprofit in 2017.As Co-CEO, she co-leads the organization, guiding global strategy and execution, partnerships, and fundraising. Christina is passionate about narrative storytelling as an engine of social change, a commitment rooted in decades of documentary film and television experience. Christina holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Brown University and a Master's in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas, Austin—a unique combination that informs her approach to centering girls and the communities we work with and using media as a tool for global change. She lives in New York's Hudson River Valley with her husband and three children.

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Book Recommendation: Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

She-ro: My mom - the most competent woman I know, ready to roll up her sleeves and get to work, no matter the task at hand. Has walked 10,000 steps a day for more than 2 years straight. I hope I'm like her when I'm in my eighties! 

Cristina is responsible for overseeing the organization’s financial health and administrative operations. She provides strategic leadership in financial planning, budgeting, accounting, compliance, and internal operations to support the organization’s mission and long-term goals. Her experience includes working for over 6 years at Pro Mujer, a women’,s development, health and Microfinance nonprofit that provides its clients with a set of integrated services. Her latest position was as Finance and Grants Manager. Previously, she had worked as a Business Development Trainee at Citibank. Cristina holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Universidad Federico Santa Maria and a Master's in Marketing from Universidad Pontificia Comillas, ICADE. She is also fluent in Spanish and lives in Miami, Florida, with her husband and two daughters.

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Book Recommendation: Snow Flower and The Secret Fan

She-ro: Tránsito Amaguaña, she was an Indigenous Ecuadorian leader and social activist who fought for Indigenous rights, land reform, and education.

Cristina (Cris) is passionate about storytelling as a catalyst for social change and gender equity. With over seven years of experience in international development and fundraising, she serves as Development Director at Girl Rising, where she leads fundraising strategy and partnerships. She works closely with institutions, corporations, students, and individual supporters to advance the organization’s global impact. Central to her work is building long-term relationships and mobilizing resources to support girl-centered education programs and storytelling that reflect girls’ voices and lived experiences worldwide.
Raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, Cris brings a background in communications and international development. She holds an M.A. in Communication and Development Studies from Ohio University, with a focus on Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, and has led development efforts for nonprofits supporting initiatives globally.
In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading, journaling, and traveling.

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Book recommendation: All About Love by Bell Hooks

She-ro: Débora Arango Pérez - a pioneering Colombian artist whose bold, socially critical work challenged political, religious, and gender norms in 20th-century Colombia.

Kenny has over 7 years of experience providing database management and development support to educational nonprofits. He received his BA in Visual Media Arts from Emerson College, which, along with his previous work at organizations like the Tenement Museum in NYC, has given him a strong belief in the powerful roles that empathetic storytelling and education play in liberation. He lives in Los Angeles with his partner and their dog, Zeppo. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to ambient music, watching old movies, and walking to the farmers' market for some citrus and a spam musubi.

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Book Recommendation: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

She-ro: Clara Lemlich - labor organizer, suffragist, and lifelong activist

Khuzama Khan is the Director of Programme Quality and Learning at Girl Rising, where she brings together educational programming and monitoring, evaluation, and learning to strengthen how evidence informs program design, assessment, and continuous improvement.
With over 20 years of experience in international development, Khuzama has worked across child protection, gender equity, life skills education and youth development, and women’s economic empowerment in both development and humanitarian contexts. She brings a feminist, systems-thinking lens to strategy, learning, and research. A firm believer that “soft skills” are the real drivers of lasting impact, she is often found balancing spreadsheets with stories.
Khuzama holds a Master’s degree in Psychology from Pakistan and a Master’s in Development Studies from the University of Melbourne. Outside of work, she finds clarity on sunrise hikes or reading in a quiet park, gentle reminders that slowing down can sometimes be the fastest way to see the bigger picture.

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Book Recommendation: Manto Nama by Saadat Hassan Manto 

She-ro: My mother, who inspires in me respect, tolerance, and perseverance. My sisters and friends, who reinvented themselves with incredible strength and dignity once they realized they deserved better

Naomi Ramos Imuro is a Programme Manager at Girl Rising, where she has led and supported initiatives across multiple regions, including Mexico, Guatemala, and Ghana. She played a key role in developing the latest update to Girl Rising’s curriculum, RISE. She currently collaborates with the Girl Leadership Programme as a community engagement manager.
With a background in social and clinical psychology, she specializes in socioconstructivism and narrative therapy, exploring how the stories we tell shape our sense of self and our relationships with others. Her professional experience spans international education, nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing women’s rights, and teaching at universities in Mexico. In addition to her organizational work, she maintains a small private therapy practice supporting women through narrative-based approaches to healing and growth. She has designed, facilitated, and contributed to workshops and programs addressing topics ranging from body image and self-perception to territorial defense and community leadership.

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Book Recommendation: Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

She-ro: Olimpia Coral Melo, Mexican activist who spearheaded the criminalization of digital sexual violence

Nidhi is a global gender equity leader with over 25 years of experience advancing the rights of women and girls across health, education, and social justice. Her work spans Asia and Africa, with a strong focus on addressing systemic gender inequities and supporting marginalized communities, including people living with HIV and religious and sexual minorities.
She has led and shaped high-impact advocacy and behavior change initiatives, including projects supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID, and previously served as Senior Vice President at Global Health Strategies, overseeing multi-country programs focused on women’s sexual and reproductive health. Over the past decade at Girl Rising, Nidhi has been at the forefront of gender-transformative work, designing community-based interventions, strengthening adolescent girls’ leadership, engaging families to champion girls’ education, and guiding impact evaluation strategies to understand what works and inform action. As Co-CEO, she helps steer Girl Rising’s global strategy and programs toward lasting, community-led impact so every girl can thrive. When not working, Nidhi loves the mountains, long walks and reading.

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Book Recommendation: The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, Educated by Tara Westover, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

She-ro: 

BIO TO COME!

Previously, Shankar has worked as a District Resource Person with Bandhan Konnagar, where he supported the Satat Jeevkoparjan Yojana (SJY)—a government-led graduation program for ultra-poor households in Bihar. In collaboration with BRLPS JEEViKA, he has provided district-level technical assistance and helped strengthen program implementation.

Shankar contributed to livelihood planning and facilitated access to key entitlements for more than 3,200 households. Under the “Lakhpati Didi” initiative, he mentored over 500 women, supported the rollout of a ₹70 crore government grant, and trained more than 200 field staff and community cadres. His work played a significant role in improving program delivery, strengthening data systems, and enhancing coordination among multiple stakeholders and institutions.

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Book Recommendation: Manthan

She-ro: My mother, Pushpa Devi, helped my father complete his PhD

Tammy is a philanthropic leader whose entire career has uplifted girls. She co-founded She’s the First, serving as CEO/Co-CEO for 16 years. She’s also the author of "Impact: A Step-by-Step Plan to Create the World You Want to Live In." Tammy’s passion for building girls’ power traces back to being voted “Most Shy” in her high school yearbook. She became a first-generation graduate, and later a Trustee, of The College of New Jersey. Prior to her nonprofit career, she was the first-ever social media editor of Seventeen magazine and led innovative girl-centered projects for Hearst Digital Media. Tammy is a DVF (Diane von Furstenberg) People’s Voice Award winner, a three-time TEDx speaker, a former International Women’s Forum Leadership Fellow, and a member of the Women’ and, later, a Trustees Forum of New York.

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Book Recommendation: The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré

She-ro: Gloria Steinem