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Deep research, qualitative analysis & systems thinking

Bringing depth to research and qualitative analysis by applying systems thinking to product-level problem-solving, supported by deep work driven by empathy, user understanding, and evidence-based insight.

4.5+ Years Experience
Creative Designer Portfolio
Product research and design
Social innovation analysis
Facilitation
Gender and mental health awareness design

Priyanshi Toshniwal

Product research and design | Social innovation analysis | Facilitation and design in gender and mental health

Priyanshi Toshniwal
India

With a strong background across social innovation, gender awareness and leadership building, empathy and mental health awareness, and corporate legal knowledge, I bring 4.5+ years of experience in the social sector through self-initiatives, fellowships, and large non-profits. My work sits at the intersection of mental health, gender, education and research, social innovation, and livelihoods. I specialise in deep research, translating insights through systems thinking, and designing and facilitating workshops rooted in empathy and meaningful understanding of people and contexts. While research holds a major space in my interests, I focus on shaping ideas that blend human-centered empathy, long-standing insight, and sharp analytical thinking. I remain committed to building work that is thoughtful, deeply grounded, and responsive to the people and systems it aims to impact. I like to explore beyond Job Descriptions, work beyond roles, and explore skill sets through learnings and trials.

Product Champion

Nudgestar 2025 (top 5 nominee, annual awards at The/Nudge)

Special Recognition, ELM Project

Young India Fellowship 2020

Best Presenter

18th Management Skills Orientation Programme, ICSI Indore Chapter

AIR-4 (StateRank-1)

CS Foundation, December 2014

Skills

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Years of Experience

+ Years
Key Skillsets
  • Strategic Research & Synthesis: Conducting deep-dive landscape research and distilling complex data into strategic outputs, including distillation reports and investability cases.
  • Program Design & Planning: End-to-end conceptualisation of initiatives, including interactive platforms, credentialing frameworks, and workshop curricula.
  • Project Execution & Operations: Establishing organisational "playbooks," SOPs, and M&E workflows to ensure smooth cross-functional collaboration.
  • Grant & Proposal Writing: Drafting multi-year action-research proposals and partner-identification strategies to secure funding and onboard strategic collaborators.
  • Operations & Ecosystem Audits: Co-facilitating ecosystem audits to identify growth opportunities and implementation barriers for ventures and challenge participants.
Thematic Exposure
  • Digital Economy: Skill mapping, task taxonomies, and digital literacy.
  • Sustainability: Food systems, waste and circularity, and climate impact.
  • Gender & Inclusion: Female labour force participation and youth leadership.
  • Governance & Business: MSME landscape research, corporate compliance, and investor engagement.

Professional Experience

Apr 2025 – Present

Senior Associate, Product Research & Design

The/Nudge Institute · Bangalore

Leading the end-to-end planning, conceptualisation, and execution of an interactive microsite to strengthen program visibility, transforming Prize from a challenge-focused initiative into a knowledge-driven platform by consolidating collateral, POVs, research, and process documentation into a long-living, accessible repository that enables continuous learning and stakeholder engagement

Co-leading a roadmap study with an external research partner to identify key problem areas in food systems and waste & circularity, resulting in five major problem statements to be launched as future grand prize challenges, each unlocking INR 6–10 crore in catalytic capital

Owned research on food systems and waste & circularity to assess climate-change impacts on India’s most vulnerable communities, particularly through loss of livelihoods, income, and opportunities, and authored the public-facing distillation report "One Crisis Away" on food systems

Directed a two-member team to create a robust, industry-mapped taxonomy of digital tasks and skills (being recognised by MeitY now, awaiting adoption), producing a credentialisation-ready framework that enhances fairness, transparency, and upward mobility in India’s digital work ecosystem

Product Strategy Research & Synthesis Team Leadership
Aug 2024 – Mar 2025

Senior Associate, Product Research and Design, Livelihoods Ecosystem

The/Nudge Institute · Bangalore

Orchestrated discussions and field visits with organisations working with women across digital value chains to deepen landscape understanding and identify actionable experiments to increase women’s participation across the value chain

Co-led the development of a 3-year action-research proposal for the Gates Foundation aimed at enhancing women’s participation in digital value chains. The proposal secured The/Nudge’s role as a core partner in Sanmati 2.0, with IFMR as the M&E partner, enabling rigorous insights into digital literacy, skills, readiness, and emerging digital work models

Developed the investability case for the AgWater sector through secondary and primary research with solution providers, farmers, and investors; built databases of AgWater startups and sector investors; analysed funding patterns and estimated capital needs; and co-authored an evidence-based report, informing sector-wide investor engagement

Directed programming for the high-visibility panel “Future of Women in Work: Improving Female LFPR by 2030” at charcha 2024 in Delhi, catalysing the soft launch of the distillation summary and the “Future of Women in Work” challenge series, currently featuring two live prize challenges

Spearheaded landscape research on female labour force participation in India, culminating in a distillation summary report that served as the foundation for a roadmap study with an external partner. This work generated five problem statements, two of which are currently live as prize challenges

Jul 2023 – Aug 2024

Associate, Challenge, Prize, Livelihoods Ecosystem

The/Nudge Institute · Bangalore

Established and documented team-wide processes and playbooks, including cross-functional collaboration workflows, research-to-problem-statement development, and Monitoring & Evaluation practices, inducements, and post-challenge governance

Supported landscape research for the development of problem areas and problem statements in rural water governance and urban water management; along with co-managing external research agency for roadmap study and problem statement thresholds

Designed post-challenge metrics and process to engage with challengers (challenge participants) in their journey beyond the challenge

Drafted a Project Report for Ashirvad Water Challenge to document end-to-end journey of the challenge and way forward

Led operations for grand finale event in Delhi for the Ashirvad Water Challenge, managing internal and external stakeholders for the event

Jul 2022 – Mar 2023

Fellow

The Gender Lab · Mumbai

Enabled 260+ adolescent girls in Mumbai to help understand gender issues and build leadership skills through a workshop based service-learning model

Mentored 40+ community projects from initiation and planning to impact oriented actions

Worked with stakeholders in 11 schools for scheduling, coordination, and program governance

Oct 2020 – Apr 2022

Founder

In-mind

Shaped the idea of promoting Mental Health Awareness among children through engaging activities and conversations

Conducted a series of 3 workshops with 150 students at The Vidhyanjali International School, Indore

Designed and hosted a workshop for primary students around self-awareness and well-being with School of Life, Indore

Drafted an activity based curriculum for school children to promote Mental Health Awareness

Held over 15+ virtual workshops during 2021 for multiple age groups on different concepts around well-being and mental health awareness

Nov 2020 – Jan 2021

Assistant Manager – Community Development

LetsEndorse Development Private Limited

Designed 20+ instructor session plans for Entrepreneurship Development Program for a target base of 300+ MSMEs

Drafted a master SOP for MSME compliance and registration requirements reducing business establishment time by 50%

Onboarded and led a team of 10 in researching and developing 10 key business SOPs to simplify business initiation for MSMEs

Aug 2020 – Nov 2020

Content Writer

LetsEndorse Development Private Limited

Executed lead generation via cold-emailing with a leading Copywriter for international clients

Designed a marketing pitch for a Bhubaneswar based firm to capture premium brands for a shopping mall project resulting in a 40-50% increase in queries

Internship Experience

Sep 2019 – May 2020

Student Intern, DeHaat

Conducted Primary and Secondary Research related to agri-value chain financing to understand availability of basic finance to farmers and accessibility of government schemes in 10 villages in Bulandshahr (UP) Implemented a pilot program with a projected market value of INR 6 crores for financial strengthening of 500 farmers in 5 villages Developed a Business Model considering the impact of Covid to support farmer families through multiple agri-based income sources.

Product Strategy Research & Synthesis Team Leadership
Oct 2017 – Nov 2018

Management Trainee - Secretarial Department

National Steel & Agro Industries Limited

Practiced quarterly and annual corporate compliances under the Company Secretary of a BSE-NSE listed company Drafted Annual Report for the Board of Directors, senior management, investors, financers, and other stakeholders Assisted in holding Annual General Meeting and managing 100+ stakeholders along with pre/post-meeting compliances

Product Strategy Research & Synthesis Team Leadership

Volunteering

May 2020 – Oct

Para-Counsellor

Sang: a Youth Organisation by Young India Fellows

Led a fundraising campaign to raise INR 1 lakh for a family of 5 hit by Delhi riots (February 2020) to restart their lost livelihood Arbitrated the legal and financial aspects for the impacted family by engaging with lawyers, insurance officers, and auto-financers

Product Strategy Research & Synthesis Team Leadership
Dec 2018 – Jan 2021

Listener

The Wall and Us Foundation

Coordinated organisational and management activities for team building and enhancing on-boarding/exit processes Volunteered for 500+ hours in listening to over 100 people as part of the community Mentored 4 new recruits to familiarise them with the platform and train them as listeners

Product Strategy Research & Synthesis Team Leadership
Dec 2019 – May 2020

Community Engagement Head

The Wall and Us Foundation

Conceptualised the Community Engagement Team for engaging volunteers virtually through activities and events Designed the master plan integrating challenges and solutions, on-boarded members, and led the team to reduce the volunteer churn rate by 60%

Product Strategy Research & Synthesis Team Leadership

Education & Qualifications

PG Diploma in Liberal Studies (Young India Fellowship)

Ashoka University

2019-2020

Company Secretary (CS)

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI)

2014-2017

BBA

Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV)

2014-2017

Contact

Let's Connect

Happy to learn more about your work, share my skills and experience, and explore alignment.