Karan is a climate, sustainability, and agri-food systems specialist with a background in think tanks, non-profit strategy, and startup leadership across India and the UK. He has designed and delivered complex multi-stakeholder programmes in energy access, sustainable land use, carbon markets, and policy innovation.
Before joining Engage, Karan advised state and national governments in India on climate-smart agriculture, co-authored strategic policy papers endorsed by the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and designed and evaluated the impact of food system innovations across the public, private, and development sectors.
He previously led partnerships and delivery for The Nudge/ Institute’s rural livelihoods programme, co-designing interventions that reached over 3,500 farmers and were adopted by the state government. Karan has worked with organisations including the Felix Project and CEEW (India’s leading energy and climate think tank). His multidisciplinary background enables him to navigate the intersections of policy, commercial delivery, and systems change; integrating regulatory understanding, user-centred design, and field-level operational insight.
Specialisms:
- Project management and delivery
- Climate adaptation and carbon markets
- Public policy analysis and advisory
- Stakeholder and partnership management
- Behavioural and participatory research methods
- Programme design, monitoring and evaluation
- Sustainable land use and food systems
Karan’s previous work includes:
- Co-authored a national agroforestry strategy paper endorsed by India’s Economic Advisory Council, leading to the identification of a $2 billion market opportunity and directly contributing to regulatory reforms.
- Led design and delivery of a rural livelihoods programme at The Nudge/ Institute, resulting in measurable improvements to farmer incomes and state government adoption, which expanded the programme’s reach.
- Delivered a flagship millet-focused advocacy project during India’s G20 presidency, convening chefs, policymakers, and grassroots voices, which raised awareness and informed national discussions on food security.
- Designed monitoring and evaluation frameworks that included surveys and data analysis, directly leading to a 25% increase in programme uptake through targeted improvements.
- Delivered last-mile field training via gamified workshops and adaptive learning methods, resulting in improved participant performance and reduced attrition rates amongst field staff.
Karan holds an MSc in Climate Change, Development and Policy from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, where his dissertation on agroforestry success narratives was awarded the second-highest grade in his cohort. He is passionate about embedding sustainability into systems and improving governance through data, empathy, and innovation.
