Suchitra Sarda
Cohort 1 Alum - 2018-2019

Suchitra Sarda is the Founder of Compassionate Learning Communities (CLC) in India and a Compassionate Systems Master Practitioner with the Center for Systems Awareness at MIT. She holds a Master’s in International Education Development from Teachers College, Columbia University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Suchitra has extensive leadership experience across K–12 and higher education, teacher coaching, and education consultancy. At Teachers College, she explored compassion, mindfulness, social emotional learning (SEL), and systems thinking in schools and development contexts. While pursuing her master’s, she also completed a yearlong certificate in Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL), deepening her understanding of equity and mindful education. Her research on the Compassionate Systems Framework examined participant experiences across global hubs, offering insights for future implementation.

In India, Suchitra has led strategic school transformation efforts, including transitioning a low-income private school from the state curriculum to the International Baccalaureate (IB) and IGCSE, promoting inquiry-based learning. She has also taught and managed an English Language Institute and served as a trustee and consultant supporting educational innovation and system reform.

Her international experience includes working with the International Rescue Committee as Lead SEL Teacher for the Refugee Youth Summer Academy, a Research Fellowship with the Lemann Foundation in Brazil, and consultancy for SEE Learning India. In 2021, she founded CLC to expand the reach of Compassionate Systems education, fostering mindful, equitable, and compassionate school communities.