Dr Sangeetha Purushothaman has a Ph.D. in Urban planning and master's degrees in economics and urban policy.  She has over 25 years of experience in research and teaching in the USA and India. As Founder-Director, of Best Practices Foundation (BPF), she has been involved in the documentation, dissemination, innovation, and evaluation of best practices, she has led cutting-edge action research in the fields of gender, livelihoods, energy, development, and governance and been acknowledged for this through an award.

Over the last two decades, Sangeetha has been involved in multiple evaluations both national and international in partnership with organizations like SSDS, commissioned by DFID, Ford Foundation, HIVOS, CARE, USAID, and GRET.  These evaluations have assessed the impact in multiple areas and initiatives including building civil society, gender, sexuality, livelihoods, energy, microfinance, nutrition, and health.  This included both quantitative and qualitative impact assessments.

She worked on a project with the Fair Climate network on building the capacity of their partner NGO staff, carbon credits, and livelihoods.  She has evaluated SSP’s work, particularly looking at energy products marketed by Sakhi Retail, examining livelihoods, credit linkages, and women’s empowerment-related issues.

She is the author of several books on development, environment, and gender including The Empowerment of Women in India: Grassroots Women’s Networks and the State published by Sage, and two books specifically on international best practices on women and community development.  She has written articles, documents, and reports for international organizations based on primary and secondary research focused on best practices on gender, the environment, energy, the peri-urban interface, governance, community development, and participation.  She has led teams of scientists, management professionals, and civil society on new innovations for livelihoods for the poor.  She produced and disseminated the first book in India on the peri-urban interface and held state, national, and district launches of the book to raise awareness among a range of stakeholders, particularly the government.  Additionally, she has conducted in-depth longitudinal studies on natural resource management, gender, livelihoods, and microfinance.

As founder-director of the Best Practices Foundation, she has coordinated multi-institutional, international, and local projects.  In this capacity, she has overseen the production of several books, articles, reports, evaluations, annexes for main reports, three films, and communication products for projects, workshops, and events.  As a member of international grassroots networks from 1989 onwards, GROOTS International and later on the Huairou Commission (HC); she has been involved in several global campaigns and programs.