POWERED BY WOMEN
We are proud to be a female-led organization, providing compassionate solutions to break the cycle of trauma, and establish a new cycle of trust, well-being, choice and independence.
Sarah Symons
Founder & Executive Director
Sarah founded HFC in 2005 with her husband John Berger. Formerly, she was a composer of music for TV and film, and before that, a counselor and art teacher at Creative Arts Workshops in New York City. Sarah is the author of THIS IS NO ORDINARY JOY and co-author of STANDING IN THE WAY. You can view Sarah’s TED Talk about Living Heroically on YouTube. Sarah is passionate about empowering survivors to be changemakers in their families and communities.
Nafiza Khatun
Country Director
Nafiza oversees all HFC programs and partnerships in India. She has a degree in Business from Chandra Chowdury College and is passionate about commerce and education as the means for uplifting vulnerable women. Before coming to HFC, she worked as a community liaison, computer skills tutor, and counselor at Apne Aap and Uddami.
Amanda B. Cunningham
Managing Director
Amanda is responsible for keeping all of HFC running like clockwork. She manages our campaigns, organizes our everyday, designs our brand, facilitates our group trips to India and, she makes sure WE make the biggest impact possible! Amanda has a Business degree and Masters in Teaching. She is a 500 E-RYT yoga instructor with Yoga Medicine® and serves on their executive team managing the Seva Foundation, a partner of HFC.
Maura Hurley
Education Program Director
Maura has been living and working in Kolkata for the past 20 years, as an art teacher and translator. She is passionate about helping provide top quality education to all children, regardless of their background or economic circumstances. Maura was invited to represent Her Future Coalition at the Obama Foundation’s Girl’s Opportunity Alliance summit in Athens, Greece in 2023.
Sumaiya Khatun
Assistant Country Director
Sumaiya first crossed paths with Her Future when she joined our Jewelry Program in 2010. She spent 10 years designing and making jewelry and proved to be a hard working, independent, joyous woman. She speaks 3 languages and her smile brightens any room. In 2022 Sumaiya joined our management team. She helps manage operations at our Learning Center and other Kolkata programs.
Soma Seal
Project Manager - Kidderpore
Soma provides counseling, life skills training, and social work support to women and girls in all our Kolkata programs. She serves on the Executive Team, and as a translator for our English speaking volunteers and interns. Soma has a Bachelor degrees in Sociology, is a certified nurse and is currently taking classes in mental health programming.
Sonali Biswas
Teacher & Youth Mentor
Sonali first joined the HFC family as a program participant, growing up in a shelter home in Kolkata. After graduating high school, she joined our jewelry program and became an expert goldsmith while also working her way through college. She recently graduated from Netaji Open University with a degree in Liberal Arts with Bengali Honors.
Katie Groetzinger
Development Manager
Tish Roy
Wellness Advisor
Tish looks after HFC mind-body health with a cool head + a warm heart. She spearheads Mental Health Programming through a trauma sensitive lens, builds collaborative relationships with mental health practitioners, provides Wellness Coaching for staff, facilitates processing on HFC service trips + actively leads Trauma Sensitive Programs on the ground in Kolkata, India. Tish has 40 years of experience empowering others, fostered by a professional degree in Social Work alongside MBSR Jon Kabat Zinn Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Training, 500 RYT, and certifications in Yoga Therapy + Meditation.
Toby Banks
Institutional Giving
Toby Banks has over 20 years experience raising millions of dollars for a wide range of nonprofit organizations around the globe. As a fundraising and nonprofit management consultant, she forged partnerships that resulted in significant organizational growth for clients such as Thomson Reuters Foundation, the Asia Society, and the Malave Leadership Academy. Toby has supported organizations on five continents, allowing them to expand their work in areas ranging from women’s rights to environmental conservation, education to health, and the performing and visual arts among many others. She received her BA from Cornell University.
Suchismita Ghosh Pal
Consultant CFO and Advisor
Suchismita is a Chartered Accountant by profession and a social activist by passion. She has been associated with HFC for over a decade. Her strong acumen of finance, compliance, strategy and social networking has positively contributed in the journey and growth of HFC in India. She takes deep interest in animal welfare and is actively involved in sustainable development activities for differently abled persons too.
John Das
Program Director - Learning Center
Catherine Wanjohi
Senior Advisor - Kenya and Leadership
Catherine Wanjohi is the founder of Life Bloom, an HFC partner organization. She is providing insight and advisory services for programs in Kenya, as well as leadership coaching to our team and girls. Catherine is a certified Transition Coach and member at ICF, Personal Leadership Mentor, professional Counsellor, organizational expert, journal writer, Trainer and published Author.
In loving memory of
Minu Chetri, Community Organizer
Part-Time, Advisory & Volunteer Staff
Robin Singer – Freedom School Tutoring Manager
Sarah Annay – Photography
Paul Chelmis – Photography
Nancy Edwards – Jewelry Trainer/Designer
Lauren Bridgewater – Youth Liaison & Head of UCLA Nepal Farmhouse Project
Geeta Chaudhry – Equality Special Advisor
Kimberly Brown & Maxanne Most – Felix Fellows
Joani Brown & Susan Baer – Bay Area Jewelry Party Team
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MBA, MPP, is owner and principal at Mission Spark, a management consulting firm dedicated to leading organizational change and improvement in complex and often resource-constrained settings. Kara has led award-winning community collaboratives; designed, managed, and evaluated multiyear social change initiatives; and provided in-depth consulting services to more than 100 nonprofits, social enterprises, corporations, and philanthropic foundations.
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As an arts program manager for multiple nonprofits, and a New York City public school teacher, Shira has dedicated much of her life to art education and community development through the arts. She has been passionate about the power of arts to heal and transform lives, including her own, since childhood as the daughter of an artist. She has been working in the field since she was 16.
Two-time Emmy Award winning consumer and investigative reporter. Producer – RealDeal Productions, Columnist – MarketWatch. Jeanette made a documentary short film about Her Future Coalition in 2011, and is currently running a highly successful jewelry party program for us in the Bay Area.
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Danielle traveled with Her Future Coalition on a service trip to India and has been dedicated to the work ever since. She comes to HFC with over 20 years of experience working with non-profits and community organizations. She is a realtor by profession and also offers interior design.
Jenny has worked in nonprofits for 30 years, in program planning, development and executive leadership. She is currently President of the Berkshire Natural Resources Council in Pittsfield, MA, and prior to that she led the North East Community Center in Millerton NY for 17 years. Jenny earned her BA from Yale, and her Masters in Public Administration from the Univ. of Connecticut She writes about film and dance, studies improv theater, and has been friends with HFC founder Sarah Symons since the sixth grade.
Anila Narayana is an undergraduate at the University of Colorado Boulder with a degree in Geography. She is passionate about understanding how people’s social and physical environments influence their health and well-being, manifesting in her desire to eventually practice medicine as a physician, while also contributing to sustainable research initiatives and programming. Anila admires that, in order to break the cycle of exploitation and poverty that is often linked to human trafficking, HFC provides the very educational and social resources that have been systemically withheld from marginalized youth in India and Nepal.