Work Preference
Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Accomplishments
Certification
Declaration
Timeline
Generic
Kavin Gokul A

Kavin Gokul A

Social Impact| Sustainability| Development Professional
Palakkad

Work Preference

Desired Job Title

Program Lead – Corporate SustainabilityProgram ManagerSenior AssociateProject Development OfficerYoung Fellow

Work Type

Full TimeContract WorkConsulting

Location Preference

On-SiteRemoteHybrid
Location: Palakkad, INChennai, TN
Open to relocation: Yes

Salary Range

75000/yr - 200000/yr

Important To Me

Career advancementWork-life balanceCompany CultureHealthcare benefitsTeam Building / Company RetreatsPersonal development programs

Summary

TISS alumnus and social impact professional with 10 years of experience driving large-scale programs and corporate sustainability initiatives. Proven expertise in managing multi-crore portfolios, including a 2.5 Crore award from NITI Aayog’s Aspirational Districts and high-value CSR handholding. Exceptionally adept in leading cross-functional teams and fostering industry-government collaborations to institutionalize measurable social change. Currently spearheading sustainability and social innovation projects for Kumaraguru Institution through design thinking framework, focused on translating complex community needs into scalable, compliant frameworks and solutions.

Overview

3
3
Language
3
3
Certifications
11
11
years of professional experience

Work History

Program Lead – Corporate Sustainability

Kumaraguru Institutions
12.2025 - Current
  • As Program Lead for Corporate Sustainability at Kumaraguru Institutions, I ideated end-to-end a pioneering Employee-Led Handholding initiative providing pro-bono technical consultancy to tribal micro-enterprises on Kurumba Painting, Kota Pottery and Lantana art.
  • Designed and executed the 2026 Nilgiris Impact Challenge Hackathon, a first-of-its-kind competition, part of Nilgiris Economic Dialogue. Managed the end-to-end lifecycle, including partner outreach (CII, District Administration, Industry), Expert panel coordination for the Impact Challenge, and high-level policy reporting.

Program Manager

Piramal Foundation
09.2023 - 04.2025
  • Spearheaded system-strengthening projects across Aspirational Districts as State Lead at Piramal Foundation, overseeing 2.5 Crore INR budgets annually and managing high-performing teams to meet rigorous impact metrics.
  • Oversaw multi-sectoral leadership in concurrent initiatives in Education, Water Conservation, and Women’s Empowerment, ensuring 100% regulatory compliance and data-driven results to the funding partner.
  • Led two Aspirational districts teams with one focused on Education, Water conservation and women empowerment initiatives in the other with clear focus on capacity building and system strengthening processes through a team of 20+ team members.
  • Strategically aligned Piramal Foundation’s campaign with the National Foundational Learning Mission by formalizing Government Order’s (GO) with State secretariat and District Administration; successfully scaled impact through the training of 2,500+ middle managers, ensuring long-term program sustainability and policy integration.

Senior Associate

TechnoServe
02.2021 - 04.2023
  • Spearheaded the implementation of the Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project (TNRTP), World Bank & TN Govt. Funded, focusing on rural enterprise development and market-led interventions. Managed the end-to-end project lifecycle to meet World Bank-mandated impact benchmarks.
  • Social Enterprise & Value Chain Design: Facilitated the registration and strategic scaling of a women-led Farmer Producer Organization (FPO) with 320+ shareholders. Optimized the goat-rearing value chain by integrating better market linkages and institutional frameworks, making the FPO operations sustainable business.
  • Strategic Capacity Building & Roadmap Design: Designed and executed a comprehensive training roadmap for 70+ Farmer Interest Groups (FIGs) and 60+ SHGs. Collaborated with the District Institute of Education & Training (DIET) to standardize curriculum and delivery, ensuring scalable knowledge transfer across the district.

Project Development Officer

S3IDF
10.2019 - 02.2021
  • Strategic Fundraising & CSR Partnership Alignment: Orchestrated a high-level CSR Symposium, successfully securing ₹5 Crore for institutional sanitation infrastructure.
  • Urban Micro-Enterprise Incubation: Spearheaded business development for women entrepreneurs in urban resettlement colonies (Perumbakkam). Facilitated ₹35 Lakhs in CII-supported funding to seed micro-enterprises, focusing on sustainable livelihood models for marginalized communities.
  • Grant Management & Social Inclusion: Managed an NSKFDC grant dedicated to the rehabilitation of 250+ manual scavengers. Successfully transitioned beneficiaries into self-employment through intensive skill-building and integration into formal banking systems, ensuring 100% financial inclusion for the community-based organization, Thamate.

Young Fellow

Ministry of Drinking Water & Tata Trust
11.2017 - 02.2019
  • Led a team of 20 Block Coordinators to deliver the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) across Salem District, achieving a 97% completion rate in sanitation infrastructure. Managed large-scale operations to align district-level outputs with national WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) goals.
  • Conceptualized and executed a high-visibility social awareness campaign, resulting in a Guinness World Record for the Largest Hand Hygiene Lesson. Mobilized 3,000+ students, demonstrating an ability to design and lead massive outreach initiatives that drive tangible behavioral shifts.
  • Strategic bridge between the District Administration and Tata Trust Negotiated resources and aligned diverse stakeholder interests to ensure the seamless delivery of mission-critical sanitation and public health targets.

Program Associate

TISS (Tata Trust Funded Project)
05.2015 - 07.2016
  • Inclusion & Livelihood Transition: Spearheaded a social action-cum-research initiative to design and implement alternate livelihood frameworks for the transgender community; successfully facilitated the transition of 50+ individuals into formal sector employment, effectively substituting traditional subsistence methods with sustainable, dignified career paths.

Education

Master of Arts - Social Work

Tata Institute of Social Science
Mumbai, India
04.2001 -

Bachelor of Arts - Financial Accounting

University of Madras
Chennai, India
04.2001 -

Skills

Team Leading

Programme Implementation

Stakeholder Engagement

MS Office

System Thinking

Social Impact Assessment

Program Management

Strategic Partnerships

Grant Writing

Stakeholder Management

Corporate Social Responsibility

Government Liaison

Accomplishments

  • Fund Raising: Instrumental in raining funds to tune of 35 Lakhs for the Urban poor and small micro entrepreneurs of Perumbakkam tenements, a program supported by CII.
  • Cycled from Mumbai to Bengaluru in a span of 4 days to raise awareness against child abuse and raised funds to the tune of 5 lakhs for a SARAS NGO.
  • High-Value Fundraising: Organized a CSR Symposium, raising ₹5 Crore for institutional sanitation systems in Salem as District Young Fellow.

Certification

Completed MEAL and Project Management certification from Disasterready.org

Declaration

I hereby declare that the aforesaid details are true to the best of my knowledge. Place: Palakkad, Kerala Date: 2025-04-06

Timeline

Program Lead – Corporate Sustainability

Kumaraguru Institutions
12.2025 - Current

Program Manager

Piramal Foundation
09.2023 - 04.2025

Senior Associate

TechnoServe
02.2021 - 04.2023

Project Development Officer

S3IDF
10.2019 - 02.2021

Young Fellow

Ministry of Drinking Water & Tata Trust
11.2017 - 02.2019

Program Associate

TISS (Tata Trust Funded Project)
05.2015 - 07.2016

Master of Arts - Social Work

Tata Institute of Social Science
04.2001 -

Bachelor of Arts - Financial Accounting

University of Madras
04.2001 -

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Kavin Gokul ASocial Impact| Sustainability| Development Professional