Poonam Muttreja is the Executive Director of the Population Foundation of India (PFI) – a New Delhi-based NGO established in 1970 to promote population stabilization in India and global thinking on population and human development. She also serves as a member of the FP2020 Reference Group – a global initiative to develop a new global architecture for increasing access to voluntary family planning services.

Poonam has served on several government committees including the National Commission on Population chaired by the Prime Minister of India, the Advisory Group for Community Action set up by India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the Program Advisory Committee of the National Population Stabilization Fund. She also serves on the Governing Board of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and Grassroots Trading Network for Women (GTNfW), SEWA, Ahmedabad as well as on the Governing Board of ActionAid India.

Prior to joining PFI in 2010, Poonam served, for close to 17 years, as the Country Director of MacArthur Foundation in India. In the earlier stages of her career, she was instrumental in setting up of Ashoka Foundation, India (as its Indian Founder Director), Society for Rural, Urban and tribal initiatives (SRUTI) and DASTKAR – both based in New Delhi.  Poonam studied psychology and mass communications in Delhi University and public administration at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She has taught courses on development from a grassroots perspective in Amherst College and Earlham College in the United States.  She lives in New Delhi.