Basel, Switzerland
Janani
Sridharan
Independent consultant helping civil society organisations navigate technology with purpose.
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Basel, Switzerland
Independent consultant helping civil society organisations navigate technology with purpose.
I am a technology strategist, learning facilitator, and independent consultant dedicated to making digital tools work for social change. Over the past 15 years, my career has spanned the entire civil society ecosystem — from rural activist collectives in India to international NGO boards in the UK and policy spaces in Switzerland.
Whether advising a Swiss foundation on secure, open-source AI adoption or auditing an INGO's global tool stack, I ensure technology aligns with organisational values and data sovereignty. My past work includes leading a full digital maturity assessment across 30 global leaders at VSO, and designing capacity-building programmes that reached over 58,000 women at the grassroots level.
As an independent practitioner, I move fluidly between two worlds: providing high-level strategic consulting to institutional partners, and remaining an active ally to unfunded movements. I am the founder of AI Circle Basel and am actively convening a consultative process to bring frontline civil society insights to the upcoming UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva.
Tech and Arts for Society.
I work with NGOs, INGOs, coalitions, and rights-based movements across Europe and beyond. Here are the three ways organisations typically engage me.
"Our tools have grown faster than our strategy. Nobody knows what we actually need."
I embed with your team — one day per week over three months — to audit your internal and external digital tools, take a pulse of your staff, and deliver a concrete roadmap: what to keep, change, and drop.
Based on a framework I developed across 30 global organisations at VSO.
"We want to use AI but our data is sensitive. We can't just hand it to ChatGPT."
For humanitarian teams and rights organisations handling sensitive data, I run a focused 3-day Sovereign AI Readiness Check — mapping your current data privacy rules and identifying secure, open-source AI tools you can deploy locally without compromise.
Grounded in my experience with digital rights, data protection, and humanitarian programme design.
"Our staff are already using AI tools on their own. We have no idea how to guide them safely."
A 2-day workshop for non-technical civil society teams. We map your day-to-day tasks, identify safe and ethical AI use cases, and co-create a practical internal AI Code of Conduct — bridging technical efficiency with your organisational values.
Draws on over a decade of large-scale capacity building across India, the UK, and Switzerland.
Participating in Basel's leading international governance conference, bringing a civil society technology perspective to conversations on collective action and institutional accountability.
Join us for our second gathering of AI practitioners, researchers, and curious minds in Basel. A space for honest, grounded conversation about AI and its impact on society.
Get tickets →Participating delegate, with a focus on amplifying civil society and Global South voices in international AI policy processes. Preparatory consultation work is underway — if your organisation wants to feed concerns or experiences into this process, get in touch.
Founder. First meetup sold out. Growing practitioner community exploring AI and society in Basel.
Participating delegate, Geneva, July 2026. Representing civil society and Global South perspectives.
Co-authored article on technology in social outcomes programming, published by Bond UK — the leading UK civil society network.
Featured in Janani (dir. Flavien Kressmann) — an award-winning short film on activism, identity, and motherhood. Watch →
Writings from a personal newsletter I ran in 2022–2023, during a more contemplative phase. Originally written for subscribers navigating technology, activism, and life.
A question I return to constantly in my consulting work. Technology is never neutral.
Read → Civil SocietyThe tension between institutional funding and movement autonomy is real — and worth naming.
Read → Digital SafetyPractical notes from years of facilitating digital safety conversations with activists and NGO workers.
Read →I'm a trusted partner to organisations that need someone who truly gets it — the technology, the politics, the people, and the constraints. Whether you need a tech audit, a training programme, a research collaborator, or simply a senior advisor who can hit the ground running — I'd love to hear from you.
Not sure yet? That's completely fine. An informal conversation costs nothing — I'm happy to talk through your situation before you decide anything.
📍 Basel, Switzerland · Working on projects worldwide