The WRAG Team
FOUNDER MEMBERS AND PRESENT BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Our organization was founded by three women living in Mumbai – Vahida Nainar, Seema Kazi and Razia Patel. They founded WRAG in 1993, by forming a public trust, and were the initial trustees. Subsequently Razia Patel and Seema Kazi resigned from trusteeship, and new trustees were added, including Ms. Saeeda Khan and the late Ms. Vipula Kadri. Members of the present Board of Trustees are: Ms. Nasreen Mohammed, Ms. Noorjehan Safia Niaz, Ms. Vahida Nainar, Dr. Varsha Rajan Berry and Dr. Vibhuti Patel.
Ms. Nasreen S. Mohammed is the Managing Trustee of WRAG. She holds a Masters Degree in Social Work from the College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan. She has worked closely with community groups and NGOs in Mumbai city, India and the South Asia Region. Her subject areas include: poverty, gender, peace and conflict studies, education advocacy and non-formal adult education. She is a General Body Member of YUVA (Youth For Unity & Voluntary Action) and the Peace Mumbai Alliance. She currently works in freelance capacity for programme development, proposal writing, documentation, training material development, training facilitation, and information-communications. She is a visiting faculty with the College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan. She actively participates and works on civil society campaigns and capacity-building around the above issues.
Noorjehan Safia Niazis a trained social worker from the Tata
Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, where she graduated in 1992. She
has worked as a Development Officer with Mahila Arthik Vikas
Mahamandal - a Maharashtra State Government Corporation - working
for the economic development of women, and with Anjuman-e-Islam,
an institution working for the educational development of the Muslim
community. She has also worked with YUVA as a Project Coordinator.
Noorjehan has spearheaded our organization’s campaign for reform of
Muslim family law from a gender perspective, and collaborative work with Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA). She worked as Co-Director of WRAG from
2003 to 2008.
Ms. Vahida Nainar has been working on women’s rights / human rights
issues for the past 18 years. She was the Founder-Director of Women’s
Research and Action Group, Mumbai and continues to remain involved
as member of the Board of Trustees. She is the former Executive Director
of the Women’s Caucus for Gender Justice, New York that worked to
include a gender perspective in the International Criminal Court. She
has been closely associated with Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice,
The Hague; the Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights, USA & Kenya and International Solidarity Network of Women Living Under
Muslim Laws, London. She was an Adjunct Professor of Law at the
International Women’s Human Rights Clinic, CUNY School of Law, New York. She is a
life member of the Indian Association of Women’s Studies. She works nationally and
internationally on issues of justice, human rights, gender and conflict.
Dr. Varsha Rajan Berryjoined Focus India Programme in 1999 as a
Research Associate. She has done her post-graduation in Political
Science from Delhi University. She has also done her masters in
philosophy from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi in
International Politics. She has been awarded doctorate on ‘Women and
War in the experience of American Women since World War II’. She
had also visited the United States in 1997 on University Scholarship for
the successful completion of her doctorate. She coordinates the Security
programme of Focus on the Global South, India. She joined WRAG as a
trustee in July 2007.
Dr. Vibhuti Patelholds a Doctorate in Economics. At present, she is
Professor and Head of P.G. Department of Economics; Director,
Department of Post Graduate Studies and Research and Director, Centre
for Dr. Ambedkar Studies of SNDT Women’s University. She is also an
Academic Advisor of Sophia Center for Women’s Studies. She is a
member of subgroup on Gender and Agriculture of the 11th Five Year
Plan, Planning Commission, New Delhi and also a member of the Expert
Committee for School of Gender and Development and School of
Gandhian Studies at Indira Gandhi Open University, New Delhi. She
is a life-member of Indian Association of Women’s Studies, Maharashtra Association of
Women’s Studies and Gujarat Association of Women’s Studies. She was also a founder
member and an active member of Forum against Oppression of Women (1980-1992),
Women’s Centre (1982-1992) and Forum against Sex Determination and Sex Pre-selection
(1982- 1992). She is a trustee of Anusandhan Trust, Vacha, Institute of Community
Development and Research and Olakh.
Ms.Vipula Kadri
who tragically passed away on 24/4/2007 was our trustee for the last two years and made a very valuable contribution to our work. We will miss her.
WRAG makes a tribute and acknowledges the guidance and support of Saeeda Khan who served WRAG as a trustee for many years.