About
I work on the structures beneath ordinary life
I am Shambhavi, a social science researcher and practitioner based in Bengaluru. For fourteen years, I have worked across gender equity, livelihoods, public health and financial inclusion in South Asia and East Africa.
Across this work, I have returned to the same question: how do systems distribute work, opportunity and voice, and what disappears when we measure only the visible result?
I now build public-facing research, tools and stories at the intersection of social design, AI and unpaid care. Seenathome is the first of these. It maps who does the doing, who carries the planning and how work is shared at home.
For me, technology is not only a question of what can be built. It is a question of who it works for, what it fails to see and where human judgement remains essential.
Background
Research, strategy and institutions
Most recently, I was Chief of Staff and Head of Communications and Partnerships at Includovate, where I led work on impact, organisational systems, partnerships and AI integration.
Before that, I built and led research at Sattva and worked on financial inclusion at IFMR LEAD at Krea University. My earlier work included women’s health at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, migration and identity at the University of British Columbia, and feminist advocacy at Saheli in Delhi.
I trained in cultural and social geography at UBC, after studying international relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University and political science at Lady Shri Ram College.
Selected publications
Research made public
A selection of work across unpaid labour, financial inclusion, livelihoods and social protection
- Gender divide in unpaid labourThe Hindu, 2025
- Gold as a Financial Inclusion ToolIIMA, featured in CGAP Microfinance Gateway, 2017
- Role of the Microfinance Sector in Disaster Risk ReductionPreventionWeb and UNDRR, 2017
- Solutions for Young People of IndiaUNICEF YuWaah and Sattva, 2020
- Respond, Solve, EvolveSattva and the Kamonohashi Project, 2021
- Study on Over-indebtedness of Microfinance Borrowers in IndiaIFMR LEAD and SIDBI, 2016
Work with me
Research, strategy and collaboration
I am available for selected research, commissioned writing, strategy, speaking and collaborative work.
hello@shambhaviwork.com