SafeOrissaForHer was founded in 2018 as a citizens' collective, emerging from the personal struggles of its co-founder, Pranay Manjari Samal, and her campaign ‘Daughter Forever’. The initiative was inspired by the SheCreatesChange program. From 2019 to 2022, SheCreatesChange Odisha Chapter engaged 69 changemakers from 20 districts through 3 learning labs, laying the foundation for future advocacy.
Over the years, the organization successfully supported campaigns such as ‘Toilets For All’ - advocating for public toilets for transgender individuals. Key victories included Ranjeeta Priyadarshini’s successful advocacy for ‘Paid Period Leave’ and Bideshini's ‘Road for Food’ campaign, advocating for all-weather roads in remote Sundargarh villages.
The tragic 2020 incident involving a tribal minor girl raped in police station catalyzed the formal establishment of Safe Odisha For Her. What began as a one-woman effort quickly evolved into a movement for women’s rights, particularly for marginalized groups lacking access to services. In August 2022, SOFH was selected for the NSRCEL-IIMB’s Women Startup Program, and in 2023, it registered itself as a Section 8 organization.
After three residential boot camps to validate its program, the first fellowship programme on gender and entrepreneurship ‘BAULA’ began in Feb 2024. A key impact of 2024, was a Cafe started in Borbhata village, Kalahandi, as the first of its kind, offering safe space for women and an entrepreneurship hub managed by Manju Patra, a Baula fellow. From 2018, till date, we are connected in **26 districts and 33 blocks of Odisha**.
Core Team
Pranay Manjari
Co-founder, Director
Pranay Manjari
Pranay Manjari has dedicated twelve years to leading a Section 8 organization that has impacted over 15,000 children and women through education and livelihood initiatives. As a member of the inaugural "She Creates Change" cohort in 2017, she championed gender-based advocacy with campaigns like "Daughter Forever," raising awareness about the financial responsibilities of married daughters. She has supported and mentored over 100 women and transgender changemakers in Odisha to drive policy changes that ensure vulnerable communities access their entitlements, including initiatives like paid period leave, transgender access to public toilets, the "Road for Food" campaign, improved public transport, and adding Odia language to Google Translate. As the founding director, she co-initiated Safe Odisha For Her, building a strong sisterhood network to create safe villages, and towns, while overseeing operations, outreach, program design, and fundraising.
Sarita Barpanda
Director
Sarita Barpanda
Sarita Barpanda has been working in the development sector for the last twenty-five years and has wide-ranging experience in the fields of Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, HIV/AIDS, Public Health Population Development, Gender Justice, and Human Rights at State, national, and international levels. She has worked as an advisor to the State Government of Odisha and the Government of India in the expansion of HIV&AIDS programme implemented through NACPII&III. She is currently leading the reproductive rights initiative in the Human Rights Law Network, a network of activists, lawyers, and researchers.
Anu Bhatnagar
Co-founder
Anu Bhatnagar
Anu works extensively in the area of menstrual health and is building a movement for health equity as a vital means to achieve gender equity. She brings the skills she learned in her 25-year-long career as an internationally reputed leadership and brand visibility expert in the fields of health, technology, hospitality, and nonprofits. She serves as an advisor and mentor for women founders and leaders who wish to amplify their voices and impact. An expert in nonprofit strategies, operations, and impact building, she is also a healer and a coach. A creative impact builder, she has successfully organised over 50 campaigns in gender equity and youth development, public outreach, community education, and scientific health conferences. She is also a G100 Country Chair for Health and Wellness and the founder of Women Healing Circles.
Sonali Priyadarshini
Lead-Youth Initiative
Sonali Priyadarshini
Sonali Priyadarsini is a feminist leader, youth mentor, and community weaver working at the intersections of gender, caste, climate, culture and youth leadership. Rooted in Odisha, she has led and contributed to initiatives that center the voices of women and gender diverse individuals, especially from historically marginalized communities. She is deeply committed to nurturing spaces that are grounded in local wisdom and lived realities. Through Odisha Manaska, All Things Odisha she actively weaves a community of storytellers, thinkers, and changemakers who are deeply connected to Odisha - its culture, memory, everyday life, and future. From co-creating inclusive fellowship models to curating safe leisure spaces through her community of practice ExtraOdinari at Safe Odisha for Her, Sonali brings a deep commitment to social change that is locally grounded and systemically informed. Her work spans grassroots mobilization, policy influence, and storytelling, with a vision to shift power and possibilities in the hands of those often left out of dominant narratives.
Ideation Team
Pranay Manjari
Educationalist, Campaign Strategist
Pranay Manjari
Pranay Manjari has dedicated twelve years to leading a Section 8 organization that has impacted over 15,000 children and women through education and livelihood initiatives. As a member of the inaugural "She Creates Change" cohort in 2017, she championed gender-based advocacy with campaigns like "Daughter Forever," raising awareness about the financial responsibilities of married daughters. She has supported and mentored over 100 women and transgender changemakers in Odisha to drive policy changes that ensure vulnerable communities access their entitlements, including initiatives like paid period leave, transgender access to public toilets, the "Road for Food" campaign, improved public transport, and adding Odia language to Google Translate. As the founding director, she co-initiated Safe Odisha For Her, building a strong sisterhood network to create safe villages, and towns, while overseeing operations, outreach, program design, and fundraising.
Lipsa Bharati
Strategist, Safe space facilitator
Lipsa Bharati
Meru Vashisht
Human centred Designer
Meru Vashisht
Mishika Singh
Advocate, Founder of Neev Foundation for Legal Aid
Mishika Singh
Meenakshi Gandotra
DEI Expert, Community Organiser
Meenakshi Gandotra
Dr.Sambit Dash
Academic & Policy Analyst
Dr.Sambit Dash
Shilpashree J.
Journalist, Community Catalyst
Shilpashree J.
Bideshini
Community Correspondant, Grassroot Journalist
Bideshini
Board of Advisory
Sameet Panda
Independent Researcher and Right to Food Campaigner
Sameet Panda
Meghana Sahoo
Founder - Third Gender Welfare Trust
Meghana Sahoo
Durga Nandini
Impact Shaper, Media Professional
Durga Nandini
Anshul Tewari
Founder and CEO, Youth Ki Awaaz
Anshul Tewari
Meenakshi Gandotra
DEI Expert, Community Organiser
Meenakshi Gandotra
Somesh Kumar
Core member of Odisha Rainbow Collective
Somesh Kumar
Geeti Mahapatra
Assistant Professor of Law | PhD Scholar
Geeti Mahapatra
Hena Nayak
External Consultant of Internal Committee of SOFH
Hena Nayak
Celebrity Ambassador
Rhea Resam Bari
Fashion Model & Tribal Rights Advocate
Rhea Resam Bari
Naisha Bhargabi
Multifaceted Artist, Model
Naisha Bhargabi
Philosophy
To build a violence-free village, we start by listening to the pain, the silence, and the hopes of the people who live there. We believe that real change comes when women from the village rise, when they are heard and trusted. We facilitate safe spaces led by women, for difficult conversations with family members and neighbourhood people. We recognise oppression, challenge what’s considered “normal,” and create spaces of safety and respect. It’s not about interventions from outside, but about growing a community from within that refuses to accept violence as a way of life—and instead chooses care, dignity, and collective strength.
