Sujeet Kumar, The Dynamic Young in RS
Bhubaneswar (Reporters Today Bureau): Sujeet Kumar is a youth leader and entrepreneur of Odisha, India. Hails from Bhawanipatna of Kalahandi district, he is an Engineer, Lawyer and a Policy maker. He serves as Officer Special Duty (OSD) and Special Secretary of the Odisha State Planning Board, a senior policy planning position with Government of Odisha. He is now elected to Rajya Sabha as a BJD candidate.
Kumar completed two Bachelor Degrees from India in Engineering from Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology and LLB from Sambalpur University. He worked as a software engineer for two years with Infosys Technologies Ltd. Later he shifted to the development sector and worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). At the UNDP, Kumar led its ICT for Development Project in Odisha, working to bring digital technology to the poorest people.
He received the inaugural Skoll Scholarship for Social Entrepreneurship to support his MBA studies at Oxford University.. Immediately after completing his Oxford MBA, he joined the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Geneva as a Global Leadership Fellow (GLF). His responsibilities included identifying, selecting and managing the Community of Young Global Leaders (YGLs) from Asia and the Middle East, and managing the education task force, which engages these YGLs in promoting new educational models for rural schools in developing countries. Kumar left the WEF to study for a mid-career Master in Public Administration (MPA) at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Upon returning to India he founded a social enterprise, Kalinga Kusum Foundation (where he serves as an advisor now) and a startup consulting firm LexMantra (where he is a mentor). LexMantra is a legal and business consulting firm focusing on developing entrepreneurial spirit among the youth especially women and encouraging them to create startups. Kalinga Kusum Foundation is an NGO, think tank and advocacy platform, which has worked with UNICEF to orient Odisha Legislative Assembly members, in the areas of budgeting, child rights, and ease of doing business.
Sujeet has taken leadership in conceptualizing and driving the Child-Friendly Constituency (CFC) at Kalinga Kusum Foundation (KKF). He, in collaboration with UNICEF, has been pro-active in promoting the idea of child-friendly constituencies across the state. In collaboration with Unicef, Kalinga Kusum and local MLA Anubhav Patnaik, the first Child-Friendly Constituency (CFC) project in India has been implemented in Khandapada Constituency of Nayagarh district of Odisha. To promote a startup culture in Odisha, he continues to engage and train students and professionals in areas of Intellectual Property , Arbitration, Skill Odisha, Zero Defect Zero Effect (ZED), and Taxation and Finance.
He received many awards for his record works. The following are some among them. Odisha Youth Inspiration Award 2017, Odisha Diary Foundation Mason Scholar and Hauser Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School, 2010-11. Asia Pacific Leadership Fellow (APLP) at East West Centre, Hawaii, 2009-10. Global Leadership Fellow, One of twenty fellows selected by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Switzerland from about 3000 odd applicants, 2006. Received Inaugural Skoll Scholarship for Social Entrepreneurship to study for my MBA at University of Oxford, 2004-05.
