Rani Anbazhagan

project director

Rani is the director of Hope Public Charitable Trust (hopechennai.com, Regd. No. 1125/2007) in Chennai, India, which provides specialized education and training to children with disabilities; Rani also runs a full-time home for youth with disabilities who are without a safe place to live. Priyam Global was founded to work in partnership with Hope Trust to support and empower the mothers of children in Hope’s special education school. As the project co-founder, Rani is the program director and oversees budgets, planning, and project implementation.

Michaela Cisney

technical advisor

Michaela founded Priyam Global in 2014 with the aim of supporting global efforts to improve the daily lives of children with disabilities in resource-poor communities. In 2016, she co-founded Priyam Global’s current women’s empowerment program with Rani Anbazhagan in Chennai, India. Michaela advises on Priyam Global’s organizational strategy, program design, and long-term development. She holds a master’s degree in public health and has worked as an independent consultant in public health program design and communications in the United States, Egypt, Uganda, and Haiti.

Advisory board

Catherine M. Sherwood-Laughlin, PhD, MPH Clinical Professor at Indiana University; Director of MPH Program at Indiana University-Bloomington

Beth Gazley, PhD, Professor of Nonprofit Management at Indiana University; Director of Master of Public Affairs (MPA) Program

Linda Henderson, MS Community relationships specialist at Indiana University School of Public Health, former State Representative for Indiana, 2016 candidate for Senator

Joshua Cisney, MPA/MSES Project analyst at Hoosier Energy

Michaela Cisney, MPH Priyam Global founder and program advisor