A graduate of Environmental Science and a Masters’ degree holder in Forestry Management from IIFM (1997), Shailesh started his professional journey with Foundation for Ecological Security, working closely with the village community in the remote area of Munsiari, Uttarakhand on strengthening the institution of Van Panchayats, facilitating community management of natural resources and related livelihoods. In 2000, Shailesh moved to Rajasthan to help the team of Udaipur in its nascent stages to gain ground and work in the domain of Joint Forest Management, conservation and rural livelihoods. Later, he joined the regional team of FES in Rajasthan and led on project designs, implementation support, research and networking with other NGOs, government and donor organizations.

With 10 years of deep implementation experience behind him, Shailesh pursued MPhil in Environment, Society and Development at University of Cambridge and published his thesis on Biofuel Policy in India. Soon after, he undertook research at the University on South-South Cooperation between India and Africa in the sphere of biofuels.

Upon return from Cambridge, Shailesh joined NR Management Consultants and formed part of the small team contributing to its growth story by playing different roles in business development, sectoral assessments, programme design, implementation support and, monitoring and evaluation covering a multitude of thematic areas including climate change, child rights, gender, public policy etc. He has core expertise in and currently leads on Natural Resource Management & related sustainable livelihoods, circularity in Agriculture and, programme and
policy evaluation domains in the organization.

Given the multidimensional nature of his work, Shailesh has worked closely with a range of clients from different sectors and geographies – bilateral/multilateral donors, UN Organizations, International NGOs, NGOs, State and Central Governments, Corporate Foundations and Academia. During the course of his work, he has authored and co-authored several reports and papers. Shailesh is an avid traveller and reader who gets excited with talks of new places and perspectives.