Tushar has four years of experience in the nonprofit sector as an LGBTQ youth rights activist, and earned a Bachelor’s in Mechatronics Engineering from Manipal University, India. He is the co-founder of QueerCampus, India’s first support group dedicated to LGBTQ youth, which was established in New Delhi in 2010, where he keeps engaging with Queer and questioning youth as a peer educator and counselor. Tushar is the Operations Head for the Equal India Alliance, a nonprofit which is working towards increasing awareness about and acceptance for LGBTQ people in India at workplaces and universities, and is currently spearheading the “I, Ally” campaign, which aims to record messages of support from straight allies from across India. Tushar worked as an advisor to the Diversity in India Network, a collective of diversity and HR professionals of multi-national corporates based in India. He is trained in Theatre of the Oppressed, a powerful line of theatre that he uses constantly in his workshops with youth. He has also dabbled in spreading awareness through regular school teaching, and is an active member of many Indian and Asia-Pacific level coalitions of youth activists working with sexual and reproductive health and rights and LGBTQ issues. He is also a published journalist, an award winning filmmaker, and a travel buff.
Host Organization: Human Rights Campaign
Role at Host Organization: Tushar will be a part of the HRC’s global engagement program, which works to advance equality for LGBT people around the world. Tushar will be researching how HRC can empower LGBT leaders.