About US
We are a group of social architects, determined to take matters into our hands and progressively contribute to the development of a great society by imparting the "kind of education that matters" to underprivileged children. Our group constitutes of successful and experienced professionals, educationalists and social activists.
We believe quality education should be accessible to all, so we decided to form a NOT-FOR-PROFIT organization. We are registered as EK ASHA TRUST (Regd# 41131705998 / 2017; PAN# AAATE9020G) effective 4th Aug 2017 under the INDIAN TRUST ACT at Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
EK ASHA TRUST Certificates:
Regd# 41131705998/2017 12A/10AC# AAATE9020G22HY01
PAN# AAATE9020G 80G/10A# AAATE9020G24HY01
Darpan# OR/2019/0242443 CSR1# CSR00022657
OUR FOUNDER
SAMBIT KUMAR DAS
Founder, Managing Trustee
Sambit is an educationalist and information technologist who is passionate about using education to bring social transformation. He returned to India from the United States in 2014 to work in the education sector for the needy. He was a Chief Architect (Director Technology) at Cognizant Tech. Solutions, USA.
Sambit quit his job in 2017 to found EK ASHA TRUST, a nonprofit organization that provides holistic and child-centric education to children in rural and tribal areas of Odisha.
In his words, "For a society to rise, every single individual in it must rise first!". Social transformation is possible through transformed individuals (social change agents) and the goal of education has to produce such personalities who are critical thinkers, capable, sensible, and responsible. He feels education has to be such that reflects in character where character building gets precedence over competence and seeking becomes the way of life. He is committed to providing underserved children with the opportunity to reach their full potential.
He believes the world has plenty of sensible and capable human beings wanting and waiting to contribute to society but often unsure of the direction. They need to be connected and provided with platforms to meaningfully contribute and take active participation in the journey of bringing social transformation. He is a passionate advocate for transformation, and he is working to create a more just and equitable world through education. Here are a few of his blogs...
OUR TEAM
TRUSTEES
Mr. Manas Ranjan Mohanty (Chairman)
An Additional Director at the Centre for Advanced Financial Research and Learning (CAFRAL), RBI and an Independent Director and Consultant in the BFSI sector. A career central banker, he has held key position in the Reserve Bank of India, including Head of Currency Management and Managing Director of BRBNMPL.
Mr. Mohanty is passionately involved in education and environmental causes. He founded the Blossoms Education Society and has helped established libraries in schools for former child labourers. A poet and public speaker, he believes every child is born with innate knowledge and that society must nurture this potential with care.
At Ek Asha Trust, he brings vision, compassion and decades of experience to drive meaningful transformation.
Mr. Gautam Kumar Pradhan
(Treasurer)
Managing Trustee of Harsha Trust
Regional Head, Odisha & Jharkhand Selco Foundation.
Dr. Bibhu Prasad Nayak
(Trustee)
Associate Professor, TISS Hyderabad,
Chairperson, School of Public Policy and Governance.
He has been associated with professional associations like the Indian Society of Ecological Economics (INSEE), Odisha Economics Association (OEA), and several academic networks like South Asia Network for Environment and Development (SANDEE); Laboratory for Comparative Social Research (LCSR); Ronald Coase Institute Alumni Network, among others.
Mr. SAMBIT KUMAR DAS
(Managing Trustee)
Former Chief Architect / Director Technology at Cognizant USA.
Sambit quit his job to pursue Ek-Asha fulltime educate needy children.
Mr. Sabyasachi Dash
(Trustee)
IT Infrastructure Specialist,
Gatwick Airport, United Kingdom
Advisors
Mr. Kumarendra Mishra
(Dir. Communication, USA)
Program Lead, Department of Education, State of Oklahoma, USA
PROGRAM LEADS
The team of program leaders brings experience from diverse fields, from education, research, and livelihood to IT and consulting. They are dedicated to leading the organization toward our goal of reaching the unreached and working towards the transformation of society through the transformation of individuals with the help of education.
Manashi Mishra
Online Thinking Class (OTC)
Bijay Sahu
Chatashali & Sustainability
Ramakanta Sahoo
Pedagogy
Pallipuspa Samal
Partnership & Stakeholder Relationship