Heather Targosz
Manager, Global Operations & Communications
Heather joined the Upaya team as the Marketing and Communications Manager in 2017. She manages Upaya’s web and social media presence, oversees the blog and newsletter, and is responsible for Upaya’s communications calendar and donor relations.
Prior to joining Upaya, Heather served a variety of nonprofit clients as an Account Executive at the marketing agency, Masterworks. Her experience includes managing a wide array of multi-channel marketing and fundraising campaigns, engaging and connecting donors with organizations that match their philanthropic goals.
Heather holds a BA in Communications and Psychology from Augustana College, IL.
Heather’s Writing
Jayanti Mahapatra started her business, Manikstu Agro to create local jobs and improve farmer incomes in Odisha, India. Her mission is to change the landscape of goat farming to keep farmers from migrating in search of work.
Yogesh Kumar left a career in engineering to start a company that’s fighting gender inequality and poverty by giving women access to jobs traditionally reserved for men.
Ketan Parmar, founder of Krishi Naturals, believes organic farming can be a solution to the insufficient incomes and poor milk yields faced by small-scale dairy farmers in India today.
Priyanka Khandelwal started her company, Abira Creations, with one sole purpose in mind: empowering women. She employs traditionally marginalized women in the slum regions near Pune, India, to create jewelry and fashion accessories.
Abhinav and Vasanthi share a passion for local crafts and nature-inspired design and together started their apparel brand, Peoli, to create livelihood opportunities for the women in Almora.
Sumanth and Sonali, had a vision to create a sustainable pottery in rural India and the drive to empower the underprivileged rural community in the process.
Manan Majithia’s company, YouCare, provides training in caregiving services to young and low-income women and connects them with jobs as medical attendants and nannies.
Western Odisha Is one of the poorest regions of India. But that’s what drew Ambika Satapathy and Sadananda Satapathy to the region to empower small scale farmers and tribal women in the region.
Dr. Kavitha Sairam has had a passion for science since a very young age. That’s why she’s on a mission to use science to address global farming problems, particularly the issues surrounding biofertilizers.
Umang Shridhar grew up in a small village in Madhya Pradesh, and decided to use her commerce degree to start a company, KhaDigi, to employ and empower local artisans after seeing the poor conditions and poverty they face.