Rina Ray Email & Phone Number

Highly regarded professional with over 36 years experience in the Indian Administrative Service. My varied experiences took me from the rebuilding of Mizoram after insurgency in the North East of India, to the conduct of free and fair elections in Lesotho along with the Commonwealth observer mission. I had the privilege of creating and running some of the largest government programs in the world, that made opportunity and equity a reality for millions, especially children.My main passion is children, and I continue to strive for their welfare and rights, now in the non-profit, advocacy and policy domains. My contributions in the field include the Goa Children’s Act 2003, a pioneering act to protect children from abuse that later became the precursor to national legislation. Later, when I realised that many children, particularly girls, living in hard to reach areas were unable to go to school, I conceived and launched mobile schools that would go to them. These fully equipped buses, known as Chalta Firta Schools, took education and health facilities to many children. These efforts went hand in hand with an approach to innovate, informed by data and evidence. When it was realised that a large number of children were dropping out of school because they were failing the Class X national level CBSE assessment, I conceptualised and led an intensive program of child friendly, sensitive initiatives that over a few years led to a radical increase in the number of students who passed this exam. One of the most fascinating interventions followed the discovery that up to 20 to 30 marks (out of 100) worth of questions in the Maths paper required a geometry box to solve them but that most students, because of their economic background, did not have one and therefore could not even attempt to answer these questions. We immediately provided them with a geometry box so that they could answer all the questions and this simple but effective step was one of the major reasons that led to almost doubling the pass percentage over the next 3 years.I continue to be active in international and national policy circles, as an author, advisor, consultant, board member, director and a public speaker on a range of topics, with a focus on children, education, and women. I am a graduate in Political Science and have a Master’s degree in Sociology.