Manu Gupta

Manu Gupta is a humanitarian worker, co-founder and executive director of SEEDS, a non-profit organization working in disaster risk reduction and post-disaster response and recovery in Asia. In his 25 years of experience, he has led response programs following major emergencies in the region – the Gujarat earthquake of 2001, the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 and a range of humanitarian situations including slow onset disasters, major catastrophic events, climate change impacts to technological hazards. SEEDS was awarded “Indian of the Year” in public service by CNN-IBN, in the year 2010. In 2016, SEEDS was recognized as  “Sendai Target Champion” for reducing disaster mortality by UNISDR.

Manu is passionate about enabling communities to actively participate and lead efforts in strengthening their own resilience. He holds a Doctorate degree in community based disaster management. He completed his Masters in Urban Planning and a Bachelors degree in Physical Planning. He has written several research papers and strongly believes in spirituality as a basis for good humanitarianism

Manu serves on the boards of nine global and regional organizations. He is founder member of the Asian Disaster Reduction and Response Network, an active network of national NGOs from over 20 countries in Asia. He is currently part of the Leadership Council of NEAR, a newly formed global network of southern NGOs. Member of Global Steering Committee member for UN-ISDR on the Resilient Cities Campaign. Chairperson, Advisory Board, Humanitarian Encyclopedia Project, CERAH, Geneva and member of the ISDR Asia Advisory Group.

 At the national level, Manu is the co-founder of the Alliance for Adaption & Disaster Risk Reduction, the Owner Driven Reconstruction Collaborative in India, and others. He serves on various national committees of the Government of India.