Shimona Chadha

Development professional with 8+ years of experience advising organisations on strategy, funding, and impact, spanning institutional fundraising, stakeholder and client relationship management, programme design, and monitoring & evaluation. Experienced in translating needs into structured proposals and frameworks, engaging senior stakeholders across donors, corporates, government, and grassroots communities, and leading end-to-end programme design and implementation across women's empowerment, agriculture & climate resilience, livelihoods, financial inclusion, healthcare, girls' education, and sports for development. Comfortable operating as a bridge between funders, implementers, and communities to design solutions that work in practice as well as on paper.

Fundraising & Communications Consultant - Mann Deshi Foundation - Mumbai

(2021-01)

• Client & stakeholder engagement: Acted as the primary relationship lead for institutional donors, proactively building, nurturing, and sustaining long-term partnerships from first proposal through multi-year renewal.
• Business development & proposals: Translated donor and organisational priorities into structured, fundable proposals, developing theories of change, log frames, budgets, and technical proposals for 70+ institutional grants, mobilising ₹7+ crore in funding.
• Advisory & due diligence: Led organisational readiness for funder due diligence and field visits across multiple fundraising rounds, presenting programme design and impact evidence to senior donor stakeholders.
• MEL framework design: Designed MEL frameworks, indicators, and data collection tools across agriculture, healthcare, education, sports, and livelihoods programmes, building reusable systems (Kobo, CommCare, Google Forms, Excel/MIS dashboards) later adopted across programme teams.
• Capability building: Trained programme teams on MEL, data management, and impact reporting, embedding consistent practice across a multi-sector portfolio.
• Ground-level insight: Spent over two years based in a remote village to understand community needs directly, informing programme and monitoring design that reflected on-the-ground realities.
• Authored the Foundation's Annual Report for three consecutive years, compiling programme data, donor communications, and impact insights for external stakeholders.

Project Manager & Fundraising Consultant - Sophia Akash Foundation

(2020-01 - 2021-12)

• Advisory engagement: Brought in as an external consultant to design and stand up the organisation's fundraising strategy from scratch, building its first fundraising database and securing its first external institutional funding.
• Research & diagnostics: Conducted agricultural value chain research to inform programme strategy and support institutional proposal development and donor engagement.
• Programme & MEL design: Managed implementation of a sustainable agriculture programme and developed M&E frameworks, data collection tools, and dashboards to strengthen programme performance.

Scouting, Communications & Incubation Intern - UnLtd India

(2018-01 - 2019-12)

• Built partnerships with universities across India, generating 300+ applications for the national incubation programme, an early exercise in cross-institutional relationship building.
• Created content and marketing strategy to attract social entrepreneurs to the incubation programme, meeting a target of 300 applicants.
• Created organisational decks and annual reports for fundraising purposes.
• Managed logistics and communications for UnLtd India's flagship annual event, 'The Huddle'.

Marketing Intern - Ruas India Social Enterprise

(2017-04 - 2017-05)

• Worked with the founder of Ruas to create marketing strategies for spreading awareness about the impact of the bran while increasing sales
• Gained a great sense of knowledge about the priorities of a social enterprise
• Conducted product photo shoot and implemented marketing plans to create a community of artists

Voluntary Assistant Teacher - Aseema Charitable Trust

(2017-04 - 2017-05)

• Taught Math and English to 2nd grade students from underprivileged backgrounds
• Created materials, fun activities and learning aids for the students

Master of Science - Development Studies - SOAS University of London (2019-01 - 2020-12)

Bachelor of Arts - Economics & Sociology - St. Xavier's College, Mumbai (2015-01 - 2018-12)

Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) - Maneckji Cooper Education Trust School Mumbai