A Journey of Purpose, Partnership, and Empowerment

Dr. Deep Shikha’s Enduring Connection with the S M Sehgal Foundation

For more than two decades, Dr. Deep Shikha has remained a steadfast friend, advocate, and partner of S M Sehgal Foundation, drawn not only by its work in rural India, but by the values that guide it: dignity, partnership, and community-led change.

Her story begins in India, in a generation shaped by tradition and social expectations. Growing up, Dr. Deep Shikha witnessed firsthand the realities faced by women under deeply rooted societal norms. Yet within her own home, she found encouragement to choose a different path. While many young women of her generation entered early arranged marriages, her mother supported her pursuit of education, an opportunity that would ultimately shape the course of her life.

That support led her to study economics, driven by a desire to understand the systems and structures that create poverty and inequality. In 1976, she began teaching economics at Delhi University, launching what would become a lifelong commitment to education and women’s empowerment.

“Economics gave me a way to understand why poverty exists and why inequality persists,” Dr. Deep Shikha shared. “I wanted to understand the structures behind it—not just the symptoms.”

Later, she moved to the United States as her husband pursued research opportunities and as she worked toward a PhD. But beyond academics, the move also reflected a deeply personal aspiration: to create a world of greater choice and opportunity for her daughters and for women more broadly.

Over the next three decades, Dr. Shikha continued to teach at a college for women, St. Catherine University in the United States, helping generations of students understand economics not merely as theory, but as a tool for empowerment.  She brought groups of her students to India every other year to learn about the work of S M Sehgal Foundation and interact with the community members and changemakers. Whether discussing workplace inequities, poverty, or the challenges women face across cultures, she emphasized that many struggles, such as self-doubt and societal limitations, transcend geography.

Dr. Shikha’s connection with S M Sehgal Foundation began in 1999, when she first met Jay Sehgal, executive vice president of Sehgal Foundation, when the organization was still small, with just a handful of employees. During visits to organizations across India, including in Rajasthan and Jaipur, she encountered many different models of development work. What stood out to her about S M Sehgal Foundation was its philosophy: Rather than imposing solutions from the outside, the foundation worked alongside communities, listening first, building trust, and enabling people to lead their own progress. It focused on practical and lasting change: strengthening education, improving agriculture practices and water access, supporting women’s leadership, and building livelihoods through skills and local participation.

“What attracted me to Sehgal Foundation was that they never considered communities as passive recipients,” she said. “They work with people, respect local realities, and allow change to emerge from within the community itself.”

Over the years, Dr. Shikha watched the organization evolve while remaining true to its core values. As government policies changed, such as the introduction of quotas for women in local panchayats, S M Sehgal Foundation adapted by training and supporting women leaders so they could participate meaningfully in governance and decision-making.

Dr. Shikha’s engagement went far beyond observation. Through her academic work, she has introduced approximately 150 students from St. Catherine University to the foundation’s rural development programs. Many traveled to villages in north India, particularly in the Nuh district near Gurugram, where they learned directly from women and communities working toward change.

These visits became transformative learning experiences. Students explored different dimensions of empowerment - economic, social, educational, and cultural - gaining a deeper understanding that empowerment does not look the same everywhere. Instead, meaningful change emerges when communities define progress for themselves.

She also highlighted the role of volunteer engagement in sustaining this work. Supporters connected to the Sehgal Foundation Volunteer Group of Minnesota have helped sponsor schools and contribute to long-term rural development efforts in the region.

For Dr. Deep Shikha, the enduring strength of her relationship with Sehgal Foundation lies in its consistency of purpose. In a rapidly changing world shaped by technology, policy shifts, and large-scale development agendas, she believes real transformation still happens at the grassroots level, through people working together within their own communities.

“Real change happens on the ground,” Dr. Shikha reflected. “Not through grand promises, but through communities gaining confidence, skills, and the ability to shape their own future.”

Today, after more than 25 years of partnership, Dr. Deep Shikha continues to champion the importance of women’s rights, education, and community-driven development. Her journey reflects the very values that define Sehgal Foundation’s mission: that sustainable progress begins by listening, learning, and empowering communities to shape their own future.