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Born in India, Mridu Shailaj Thanki has spent most of her adult life in the UK, bringing up two children and working as playgroup leader, equalities officer and senior manager with local government, teacher, and social researcher.  She has a Masters degree in social anthropology from SOAS, University of London, and a PGCE from the Institute of Education, University of London.  She has consistently worked for the supported the voluntary sector and set up several organizations, including Asian Women’s Forum and Refuge in London and for three years she was the Chair for a school in Dhaka for children living in slums.  Mridu has traveled widely and researched into issues of inequalities for several agencies including the United Nations Development Programme.  Mridu now lives and works in Edinburgh.

Jyoti Dhingra has extensive experience in the development sector, having worked with many NGOs in Bangladesh and India.  In her capacity as a manager and advisor she has had opportunities to analyse the effects of development initiatives.  She has been involved in research projects to examine the impact of many of these programmes.  Jyoti has a Masters degree in Child Development from Delhi University.  She has worked with children and on programmes related to children’s development.  For the past three years she has worked with a school for children from slums in Dhaka city.  This is her first effort in working on children led research.  Jyoti lives in Dhaka with her husband and daughter.