Simran is an accidental public policy professional who found his calling in the energy sector. His professional journey in the domain of development and clean energy culminated in the inception of CEEP. Here, he strives to build an organisation that challenges normative narratives which are entrenched in historical and systemic inequities, facilitates the expansion of human and democratic values, and fosters the next generation of change leadership.

Trained as an engineer, he had the privilege of being mentored by pioneers in the domains of sustainable energy, human rights, and organisational development. His experience spans from building massive oil and gas infrastructure in the Middle East to solar microgrids and off-grid systems in many remote villages. Pivoting from his exciting technical career, he is on a journey to find balance within himself and outside.

Nicole is a Programme Associate in the Energy Transitions team at The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). Her work focuses on collaborating with ecosystem players, including renewable energy (RE) companies, financiers, policymakers, regulators, and others, to adopt, implement, encourage, and/or support the responsible deployment of RE projects. Land siting, identification of dependents, procurement and compensation play a critical role in project deployment. In recent years, she has actively partnered with RE developers and state governments to identify sustainable solutions that ensure shared benefits for local communities

Prior to joining CEEW, Nicole worked with the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office, NITI Aayog where she supported Ministries in developing M&E frameworks and strengthening their data governance systems. She also worked to develop new frameworks for evaluation, build partnerships and organised capacity development programmes at NITI Aayog and state governments. Nicole has also worked at Mission Measurement, a Chicago-based company focused on benchmarking and standardisation of outcomes in the social sector.

Nicole has a master’s in Public Policy from Georgia State University, Atlanta and a post-graduate diploma in Economics from Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics, Mumbai.

With over fifteen years of experience in the bioenergy sector, Debee Prasad Mishra has been at the forefront of developing sustainable biomass supply chains and advancing India’s bioeconomy. As Vice President and Head of Energy Farming at Biofuel Circle Pvt. Ltd., a Pune-based digital marketplace for biomass, he leads initiatives to strengthen circular, transparent, and decentralized biomass networks. Under his leadership, Biofuel Circle has established over 65 biomass banks across India — sourcing agri-residues such as paddy straw and cotton stalks — with plans to expand to 165 banks by March 2027.

His work focuses on leveraging degraded and marginal lands for energy farming, promoting species such as Napier grass, Pongamia, cactus, and bamboo through sustainable agricultural practices. These initiatives not only provide feedstock for biofuels and biogas but also create livelihood opportunities, restore underutilized lands, and contribute to land-use resilience in the clean energy transition.

Currently, he is spearheading captive energy farming models for compressed biogas (CBG), solid biofuels, and liquid biofuels — advancing the nexus between land governance, renewable energy, and rural economic transformation.

Bhargavi S. Rao works at the intersections of community action with law, policy, planning and governance. She has about 30 years of experience across research, advocacy, campaign and teaching in a variety of human rights, governance and people-centred initiatives, and in advancing environmental and social justice. She is an Independent Researcher/Educator, Experiential Learning Designer, Facilitator, Outdoor pedagogue and a Visiting Senior Fellow (Honorary) at the Impact and Policy Research Institute.

She is passionate about driving climate action and raising awareness about the pressing challenges of our time. Her efforts focus on amplifying solutions to the climate crisis while advocating for the needs of the most vulnerable communities. Committed to fostering resilience, equity, and sustainable development through collaboration, innovation, and grassroots engagement.

Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava is a social entrepreneur who specializes in innovative methods for accountability and equity-based research. He is the founder of Land Conflict Watch, a pioneering data research initiative that tracks land and environmental conflicts in India. In the past, Kumar served as India Research Lead for Princeton University’s Digital Witness Lab and was an AI Accountability Fellow with the Pulitzer Center.

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