Gaurav Gawande is a Research Scholar (PhD) with over 15 years of diverse experience spanning academia, agribusiness, corporate engagement, and development sector collaborations. His career reflects a unique blend of academic networking, institutional partnerships, corporate strategy, and grassroots research, positioning him as a versatile connector across education, industry, and government ecosystems.
He has built a strong reputation as a strategic facilitator, working extensively with universities, colleges, corporates, NGOs, and government bodies to create pathways for academic exposure, skill development, market insights, and student advancement. His professional journey combines academic collaboration with corporate expertise, enabling impactful initiatives across multiple domains.
With a network-driven leadership style and collaborative mindset, Gaurav brings strategic value to large-scale educational initiatives, agribusiness projects, corporate partnerships, and government research assignments. His ability to engage, influence, and communicate across diverse circles—academic, corporate, and grassroots—makes him a pivotal bridge between institutions, industries, and communities
Key Highlights of Experience
Professional Strengths
Shubhra Nayak is a Research Scholar (PhD) with 18 years of substantial experience in program management, field coordination, stakeholder engagement, and operational execution within academic and skill-development initiatives. She has played a vital role in supporting and executing multiple strategic programs including the MAST (Market Aligned Skill Training) initiative, Night College Survey, Certificate Program in Career Guidance & Counselling, and several large-scale outreach and mobilisation efforts aimed at improving learner access and career readiness.
She is known for her strong operational reliability, meticulous documentation, and ability to coordinate multiple program components simultaneously. Shubhra actively contributes to planning, scheduling, program logistics, stakeholder liaison, and ground-level implementation, ensuring smooth alignment between program objectives and real-time execution.
Shubhra’s calm execution style, attention to detail, responsiveness, and dependable work ethic have made her a trusted supporting pillar for institutional projects. She continues to contribute meaningfully to student-facing initiatives, engagement activities, and program facilitation tasks, enabling academic initiatives to scale effectively and reach broader communities of learners.
Her professional experience spans:
Arya Borkar is a media & marketing and sports management professional with hands-on experience across content production and live sports event operations. athlete branding, multichannel marketing. Trained through a Bachelor's in Sports Management from the International Institute of Sports Management and a Post Graduate Diploma in Social Communications Media from SCM Sophia, he brings together a strong foundation in both the business of sport and media studies.
Arya worked on athlete management and brand partnerships, identifying and pitching sponsorship opportunities and moving multiple deals through the commercial pipeline within a short two-month engagement.
He has operational experience through roles in high-pressure live event environments — coordinating VIP hospitality for 300+ guests per match across RCB's home fixtures at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium with DNA Entertainment Networks, and executing on-schedule award ceremonies for the Maharashtra State Olympics, a multi-day state-level sporting event.
Beyond operations, Arya has a strong creative and research portfolio built during his time at SCM Sophia. He produced a podcast series featuring acclaimed directors and worked on multiple campaigns; his research work includes an original study, Private Chats, Public Passion: examining WhatsApp sports fan communities and their impact on audience engagement and consumption behavior.
Ashutosh Medhekar is an analytically oriented professional with 5+ years of experience supporting research-driven educational initiatives, data-led program evaluation, and structured insight generation. He has contributed to multiple institutional programs through systematic data collection, behavioural trend mapping, performance analysis, and MIS-based intelligence, enabling more informed policymaking and measurable program outcomes.
With proven experience across research support and analytical interpretation, Ashutosh has worked extensively on processing participant data, tracking learning progress, building feedback-based improvement cycles, and preparing structured reports for decision-makers. He is adept at identifying patterns, deriving insights from data, and translating qualitative and quantitative findings into actionable recommendations.
With strong documentation capability, disciplined workflow management, and a detail-oriented analytical mindset, Ashutosh supports research credibility and process transparency across initiatives. His ability to transform raw data into meaningful insight positions him as a key contributor to monitoring impact, shaping intervention design, and guiding research-aligned implementation outcomes.
His analytical and research-focused contributions include:
Dr. Shilpa Joshi Borkar is a senior academic leader and strategic head with 30+ years of experience in training administration, institutional development, and program leadership. She serves as a key decision-maker and visionary driving student-centric, industry-aligned, and socially impactful initiatives across multiple skill-development and academic verticals.
She has successfully led and mentored teams across all major programs and field operations, including the MAST (Market Aligned Skill Training) program, Night College Survey, Certificate Program in Career Guidance & Counselling, and large-scale outreach and mobilisation frameworks that have significantly expanded student participation and career readiness.
As an experienced project head, she is responsible for program conceptualisation, strategic planning, curriculum and framework design, monitoring & evaluation (MEL), and implementation governance. Her leadership ensures that each initiative delivers measurable outcomes, sustainable results, and long-term skill-impact for beneficiaries.
Dr. Borkar has a proven track record of:
Recognized for her strong managerial oversight, vision-driven leadership, and deep commitment to student development, Dr. Shilpa Borkar continues to play a transformative role in advancing academic excellence, employability-based education, and skill-driven empowerment within the institution.