Sonali Khan

Biography

Sonali Khan leads Sesame Workshop’s educational mission in India to create innovative and engaging content that maximises the educational power of all media to help kids grow smarter, stronger and kinder.
As Managing Director of Sesame Workshop India, Sonali spearheads Galli Galli Sim Sim, a multi-platform initiative that combines the power of mass media with educational outreach to prepare children for school and life. Under her leadership, the organisation develops and implements ground breaking programs to reach children everywhere – especially those who need it most.
Sonali is a global advocate for human rights and for ending violence against marginalised communities, with an emphasis on girls and women. Her work has focused on promoting gender equity in education, empowerment of adolescent girls, along with ending domestic violence, sexual harassment and early marriage. She began her career as a television journalist covering politics and business and has since worked for a variety of organisations that harness the power of media for social change.
Prior to Sesame, she was the Director of Knowledge Creation and Dissemination at Dasra, a leading strategic philanthropy foundation, where her work covered areas including urban sanitation, adolescent girls’ rights, and democracy and access to justice. Previously she has also served as the Vice President and then India Country Director for Breakthrough, where she spearheaded large-scale program implementation, numerous multi-platform campaigns promoting gender equity, developed M&E practices and supported global fundraising and partnership development. She also served on the Boards of Plan International and MenEngage.
Sonali is a proud recipient of the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskar (Women’s Empowerment Award) from the President of India. In 2016, she also received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship for her work in ending child marriage.