Kirthika Shivkumar

Kirthika, an Engineering and MBA graduate with a Specialisation in the Philosophy of Education from the University of Edinburgh, UK, works at the intersection of civil society, institutional education and policy, grounded in the communities that governance is meant to serve. In 2019, she co-founded Arram Charity Trust, a six-pillar community ecosystem covering food, healthcare, education, employment, women’s empowerment and spiritual wellness, built from the ground up in rural and semi-urban Tamil Nadu. In six years, Arram has delivered 3.4 lakh meals, 86,500 healthcare consultations, 350 employment placements, and free NEET coaching that has sent 11 first-generation students to medical college.

As State Secretary of the BJP Tamil Nadu NGO Wing, Kirthika leads civil society initiatives in women’s economic empowerment and grassroots livelihoods across the state. She has been shortlisted to contest the Tamil Nadu State Legislative Assembly elections, marking the transition of her grassroots work into the domain of public and democratic accountability.She also serves as Executive Director of The Indian Public School, recognised as the Best International School by the Times Group for three consecutive years and among South India’s leading international school networks by the Global Schools Leaders’ Consortium.As former Chairwoman of CII Indian Women Network, Tamil Nadu, she expanded the network to 300 members across three new zones and designed programmes that reached 3,200 students across the state. She organised Australia-India: Mobilising Women in Business and hosted Australian Consul-General Ms Silai Zaki and Sarah Storey, First Assistant Secretary of DFAT, bringing Tamil Nadu’s women entrepreneurs into the conversation on the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement for the first time.