Tavleen Singh

Project Lead, Chandigarh Microsite

Growing up across different states in the country, Tavleen was always eager to meet new people and learn about diverse cultures. Her curiosity to explore the natural world around her from a young age pushed her to pursue microbiology in her undergraduate studies. However, working at the doctor-patient interface in laboratories and hospitals, she began to notice grave systemic inequalities in the access and quality of healthcare services.

In order to look at a more holistic understanding of health, from a framework of social determinants, she joined the Master's program in Social Work (Public Health) at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. This was her entry point into exploring the various intersections of the development sector. Along with a theoretical understanding of public policy and governance, she was also engaged in extensive fieldwork with varied stakeholders, including civil society organizations, government bodies and citizen movements working with vulnerable populations on their most pressing challenges, which solidified her resolve to work in this sector.

She went on to work with the Chief Minister's Office of Haryana to support the district administration in the implementation and monitoring of flagship government schemes across nutrition, education, health, public service delivery and farmer welfare. She also initiated a project that brings comprehensive sexual health and adolescent mental health education into government school classrooms and carried out a research study to understand the landscape of reproductive health care services.

Through all these experiences, she understood the importance of a critical, multi-sectoral and people-centric approach towards governance and public service delivery. At IIC, she joins the Development Innovation Lab, working towards building evidence based and contextual interventions at scale.