Tarakaram Reddy

Rural development and program professional with a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering and professional experience spanning grassroots development, community engagement, project coordination, fundraising, business development, talent acquisition, and operations. Currently completing the SBI Youth for India Fellowship with BAIF Development Research Foundation, where I have worked on a community-driven water and renewable-energy intervention from problem identification and field research through project design, fundraising, stakeholder coordination, implementation, governance, and sustainability.

Fellow — Rural Development Associate at SBI Youth for India Fellowship (Partner NGO: BAIF Development Research Foundation) (2025-08 – Present)

• Completed a three-month community immersion in Shenit village, living with a local family, learning conversational Marathi, and observing community life before defining the intervention.
• Engaged students, teachers, school leadership, village elders, farmers, women, and households to understand development priorities and identify WASH, sanitation, water-access, energy, and safety gaps.
• Led the design and implementation of a community-driven solar-powered lift-water and energy intervention at Raja Harishchandra Secondary School, serving 65 students and 15 staff, alongside 20–22 tribal households representing 60+ residents.
• Worked with BAIF's technical team, the solar vendor, the Headmaster, School Management Committee leadership, and village elders to design the intervention and coordinate implementation.
• Coordinated installation of a 1 HP solar DC submersible BLDC pump, two 540W mono-crystalline solar panels with MPPT controller, a 400-metre uphill HDPE pipeline, elevated storage, filtration, handwashing and washroom connections, and a community water point.
• Designed the system to deliver approximately 1,000 litres of water per day to the school in 1–1.5 hours of sunlight, using a three-day community storage cycle to reduce dependence on daily solar output.
• Supported well desilting and structural repair, groundwater recharge measures, a safety pulley system, and extension of the water network to the school nutrition garden.
• Developed and implemented parallel hygiene, nutrition, seasonal-illness, wellbeing, and behavioural-change activities, including peer-led hygiene teaching, sports and drawing activities, and a student plantation drive.
• Authored the project proposal and donor-facing fundraising narrative, converting community needs and field evidence into a structured investment case with quantified outcomes and an itemized project budget.
• Mobilized project financing through a fellowship grant, an online crowdfunding campaign, community contributions, and Shramdaan (voluntary labour).
• Coordinated across institutional, technical, school, community, and funding stakeholders to move the project from assessment and planning into implementation and handover.
• Established a School-Community Water User Group involving school, women, teacher, and student representatives to oversee upkeep, chlorination, water testing, and local caretaker coordination.
• Supported a local maintenance model including a trained caretaker and a monthly household contribution from participating tribal households to sustain the system beyond the fellowship period.
• Eliminated the daily water-fetching burden for 65 students, restoring school water access and reducing instruction time previously lost to water collection.
• Enabled functional school washrooms, a dedicated handwashing station, filtered drinking-water access, and a separate community water point.
• Supported solar lighting and fans in two classrooms and helped retain full attendance through harvest season.

Primary Sports Organizer & Business Development Executive at First Mile — Champions Start Small (2025-02 – 2025-07)

• Served as primary point of contact between clients and internal teams, identifying prospects through research, networking, cold calling, email, LinkedIn, and marketing leads.
• Conducted product and service demonstrations and supported lead conversion through client-focused communication and proposals.
• Developed and executed growth strategies, managed collaborations and alliances with external partners, and researched market trends, customer needs, and competitive conditions.
• Coordinated with external sports clubs, trainers, and agencies to organize annual sports days, inter-house tournaments, workshops, and special events.

US IT Staffing (Bench Marketing) at Datics Inc. (2023-02 – 2024-12)

• Sourced and attracted candidates through job boards, social media, and referral channels; screened resumes and applications against client requirements.
• Conducted phone, video, and in-person interviews to assess candidate skills and cultural fit.
• Coordinated with hiring managers and internal teams to maintain effective communication and candidate flow throughout the recruitment cycle.
• Extended offers, negotiated terms, supported onboarding, and maintained recruitment metrics and reporting.

Invoice Processor at Vector97 Pvt. Ltd. (2021-06 – 2022-12)

• Implemented invoicing procedures across client accounts, tracking, reviewing, and approving invoices.
• Developed and managed invoicing databases and calculated and converted invoice totals for further processing.
• Communicated with clients to handle billing requests and resolve discrepancies.

Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering – DRK College of Engineering and Technology (JNTU Hyderabad) (2015 – 2020)

Intermediate in MPC – Narayana Junior College (2013 – 2015)

Secondary School Certificate in SSC – Narayana Concept School (2013 – 2013)