Vital People

Sharan was one of the first people hired to work on STOP, Vital’s tobacco industry watchdog, which aims to expose the tobacco industry’s tactics in hooking future generations of smokers. She is proud of having helped the project grow from an idea to a fully executed initiative.

Riksum Kazi’s work week never ends. On weekdays, he’s the Security and Operations Manager at Vital Strategies. On the weekends, he responds to crises, as the Disaster Action Team Program Lead in New Jersey for the American Red Cross.

While standing in the middle of one of the busiest intersections in Soweto at lunch time several years ago, Luyanda Majija had a revelation.

Claire Verhaeghe has a simple plan for her career: to enjoy her work and to make a difference, whichever direction that takes her.

Anushka Mangharam can pinpoint the moment that she awoke to the enormity of gender inequity. One of three girls, her family moved between Bangalore and Mumbai because of her father’s work....

In the 1980s, two American musicians left their homes and families to go play in the national symphony orchestra of Colombia. The musicians—one played…

Diego Santos, Vital Strategies Operations Manager in Brazil, was given two opportunities as a child growing up in Rio de Janeiro that later opened…

Purnima joined Vital Strategies in 2017 as Senior Finance Officer and became Deputy Director, Research Grants, in 2019. She mostly works on ensuring compliance to federal regulations and Vital Strategies policies, and strengthening systems within the research division, especially grants management.

Garland serves as the initial point of contact for the information technology support desk, helping to onboard about 100 new people, including interns, consultants and staff, over the past year and answering around 50 requests and questions from existing employees each week.

As part of her role as the India country lead for Vital Strategies’ Policy, Advocacy and Communication division, Vaishakhi develops testimonial campaigns that often involve broadcasting the stories of people harmed by tobacco.