Dilip Surkar

Age: 55

Home Town: Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Education: Bachelor of Engineering (Civil Engineering); PG Diploma in Financial Management; PG Course in Environment Education, International Course in Water & Sanitation Management (Lund University, Sweden); International PG Course in Environment Management (University of Birmingham, UK); EDP on Agribusiness (World Bank Institute, Washington).

Specific Field Interests: Environment education, climate change, biodiversity conservation, natural resource management, WASH, sustainable livelihoods, rural development, STEM education, science communication, low-cost housing, grants management, fundraising, monitoring & evaluation, strategic planning, networking

Placement: American India Foundation

Area of Focus: Sustainable Livelihoods, Natural Resources Management, STEM Education, WASH, Climate Change, Institution Building, Leadership Development

Quote: Organisation is as strong as its people, hence invest and take care of the team rather than building and procedures.

Highlights: Dilip Surkar has been working in the field of education, livelihoods and sustainable development for 33 years. He is a development professional with a vision to improve quality of life and create sustainable livelihood opportunities for communities. He is the Executive Director of Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre (www.vascsc.org) and the Director of VIKSAT (www.viksat.org) in India. Under his leadership, VASCSC received the ‘National Award for Science & Technology Communication’ from Govt. of India, and the ‘Times of India Social Impact Award for Education.’ He worked as the National Coordinator of the GEF UNDP Small Grants Program in India. He served as Co-chair of End Water Poverty (EWP). He is the Chairman of Society for Sustainable Urban Development (SSUD). He has been a Senior Fellow with American India Foundation (AIF). He is on the Boards of CEE, CHETNA, KHAMIR, and Paryavaran Edutech. He is a Board member of Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA).