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Vineeta Gupta

Background

Raised in India, Vineeta carries forward a tradition of more than four generations of advocacy and action for social causes. Her great grandfather was a community leader. Her grandfather, founded a girls school that introduced STEM education in 1950s. Vineeta’s mother was the first science teacher recruited by her grandfather from another state to teach science. It was not common in those days for a single young woman to move far from home on her own. Vineeta’s parents, ahead of their times, were strong and passionate human rights activists.

Vineeta’s first successful social advocacy campaign was at age 7 to make a point to the police chief that she must be able to visit her mother, a political detainee, after school hours.

At 21, Vineeta joined the National Council of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), the governing body of India’s membership-based pioneer human rights organization. PUCL leaders included Gandhian leader Jaya Parkash Narayan, YP Chhibbar, Justice VM Tarkunde, Justice Rajinder Sachar, Arun Shourie, Arun Jaitley (Finance Minister of India), and Rajni Kothari.

Vineeta has shared the dais with Chief Justice Supreme Court of India (Fr) M.N. Venkatachaliah, Supreme Court Justice Kuldeep Singh, Justice Ajit Singh Bains, Minister of Defense (Fr) George Fernandez, Chief Minister of Punjab, Surjit Singh Barnala, “Bandit Queen” Phoolan Devi, and many other political and human rights leaders. Over the course of her career, she has spoken to a variety of groups, from a few rural women in Punjab to over 15,000 people at The Mall in Washington DC.

Education

Vineeta obtained a medical degree and a law degree in India and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a master’s degree in International Human Rights Law from Notre Dame University in the U.S. The common theme in her education and work – social justice, health equity, women’s leadership and empowered partnerships.

Advocacy

Vineeta brings a unique combination of expertise in nonprofit management, strategy development, clinical and public health, health equity approaches, and the ability to analyze, strategize, inspire, and drive action. She has led programs in more than 30 countries. She supported the capacity strengthening of over 140 nonprofit organizations and professional associations globally by facilitating self-developed multi-year plans to achieve organizational efficiency and sustainability.

Currently, Vineeta is the Director of the Secretariat of ACTION Global Health Advocacy Partnership, based in Washington DC. As head of the Secretariat team, she facilitates a fifteen-member governing body spanning five continents. With health equity at the core of all her work, she leads strategic communications, global program strategies, stakeholder engagement, and media advocacy.

Prior to that, Vineeta was director at the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, leading their work on the “Resolve to Save Lives” program. As Technical Director, Global Women’s Health at American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Senior Technical Advisor at University Research Corridor, she led global projects for maternal, newborn, and child health, integrated health equity into programs, improved quality of care, and built accountability platforms.

Vineeta developed capacity strengthening curriculum for Basic Emergency Obstetrics and Newborn Care and has co-authored many clinical and advocacy materials. Vineeta also held senior positions at the Global Fund for Children, the Global Campaign for Microbicides, the Global AIDS Alliance, and Global Action for Children.

As a leading global health expert and human rights advocate, Vineeta has conducted workshops on health policies and advocacy, empowered partnerships, and health equity. She has been invited to speak at over 60 universities across the U.S. and Europe. She is covered globally in print and online media including The Washington Post, Voice of America, NPR, The Economic Times, The Hindu, Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Daily Star, China Daily, U.S. News & World Report, Devex, The BMJ, The New Humanitarian, World Report, FOX News, and CNN.

She provides technical expertise to develop participatory investment strategies, resource mobilization, and strengthen health systems integrating rights approach. Donor experience includes USAID, U.S. Department of State, Inter-American Development Bank, Gates Foundation, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, UNICEF, Laerdal Global Health, Nike Foundation, John M. Lloyd Foundation, Moriah Fund, Johnson & Johnson, Adobe Foundation, Goldman Sachs Foundation, and Bloomberg Philanthropy.

Landmark Class Action Suit

Vineeta Gupta Vs State of Punjab

Using research, evidence, and a creative approach, Vineeta won a landmark class action case in Indian courts. She successfully argued in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to remove all instruments of torture from police stations, CIA staff offices, and interrogation centers. She spearheaded many other public interest litigation to see justice in violence against women and other human rights violations.

Vineeta released a report at the Chandigarh Press Club titled “Caged Human Rights” on human rights violations in high security prison in Punjab.

Awards

Vineeta was awarded the “Rotary Service to Humanity Award” in recognition of her work in human rights, advancing accountability, and the crusade against corruption. She received the award from the International Institute of Education to work on the World Bank accountability project at the Center For Economic and Social Justice in New York. Vineeta received a full scholarship under the Fellowship Award from The Klau Center for Civil & Human Rights from Notre Dame law School to study International Human Rights Law.

Close to her heart is the Sanghera People’s Appreciation Award for building an 18-month long campaign in rural India to seek justice for crimes against women. Many global organizations have cited her work, including Amnesty International, Physicians for Human Rights, National Human Rights Commission of India, Danish Immigrant Services, and the U.S. State Department.

Licenses and Certifications

• Medicine and Surgery License, Punjab Medical Council, India
• Grants Performance Management, Graduate School USA, January 2017 - No Expiration Date
• The Effective Grants Manager, Graduate School USA, January 2017 - No Expiration Date

Boards & Memberships

• Board Member, Conveners.org
• Board Member & Regional Director, Asian Pacific Alumni (APA), University of Notre Dame
• Founder and Secretary General, Insaaf (Justice) International
• National Council, People's Union for Civil Liberties
• Board Member and Program Chair, Center for Economic Justice (CEJ)
• Board Member, 50 Years Is Enough
• Volunteer, Shakti: Collective Strength (formerly Stop HIV/AIDS in India Initiative)
• Secretary General, International Commission of Jurists - North India                  

Publications

• “America And The TRIPS Waiver: You Can Talk The Talk, But Will You Walk The Walk?”, Health Affairs Blog
• “Assembly Elections 2002: Under the shadow of fear”, Contributor Report, Indian Social Institute
• “Avoiding the Colonization of Health Equity”, Devex
• “Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC), A Training Package for Healthcare Workers”, RHITES- EC
• “COVID-19 response allowing epidemics like tuberculosis to mount a comeback”, BMJ Global Health Blog

• “Female Infanticide”, Encyclopedia of Genocide & Crimes Against Humanity, Macmillan Reference, USA
• “Globalization and Increasing Gender-selective Female Feticide: Is the Girl Child Becoming a Commodity Nobody Wants?”, Center for Civil and Human Rights, Notre Dame Law School
• “The Pandemic Has Been Devastating for Food Insecurity in India, Especially for the Youth”, International Policy Digest
• “Caged Human Rights: Conditions in Prisons”, Insaaf International & Human Rights Lawyers
• “Complicated Labor and Birth, a training module for healthcare providers”, ACOG-Jhpiego
• “Influence of Initial & Subsequent Motivation on Case Holding in Rural Punjab”, Indian Journal of Tuberculosis
• “Results of Treatment of Microscopy Negative Symptomatic Patients with Radiological Evidence of Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Rural Punjab”, Indian Journal of Tuberculosis
• “The Professional Association Strengthening Project: Module 3 - Strategic Planning”, Survive & Thrive Global Development Project
• “The Professional Association Strengthening Project: Module 8 - Resource Mobilization”, Survive & Thrive Global Development Project
• “There are a billion reasons Elon Musk is not going to end world hunger”, The New Humanitarian
• “The World’s Children Are Starving. Here’s How The World Bank Can Help”, Global Affairs
• “Washington Is Missing an Opportunity to Prioritize Health Equity”, U.S. News and World Report
• “World Bank Funded Healthcare”, Center for Economic Justice & Insaaf International

Public Speaking

• “Protecting Health for Women & Girls in Afghanistan” ACTION Global Health Advocacy Partnership - Washington DC
• “Regional and Global Advocacy for Health Equity: A Dialogue” ACTION Global Health Advocacy Partnership - Washington DC

• “Rights-Based Policies for Tackling Malnutrition and Advancing UHC” 2021 Nutrition for Growth Summit (Tokyo, Japan)
• “An Informal Talk with Dr. Vineeta Gupta” Sipher Health News
• Association for India’s Development (AID) - College Park, Maryland Topic: Current situation on the inclusion of data exclusivity to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act (DCA) of India. Update on the international advocacy in the ongoing Novartis case.
• Congressional Briefing Office of Rep. Henry Waxman - Washington, DC Topic: The current development on Patents Act of India, the issue of data exclusivity patenting regulations pushed by pharmaceutical companies USTR, and the Novartis patent lawsuit against the Indian government.

• “Continuum of Care in RMNCH” RMNCH Task Force, Uganda
• “COVID SOS: India to the World” ACTION Global Health Advocacy Partnership - Washington DC
• “COVID19 Surge in India: What can you do to fight the Crisis”

Good Day LA

• “Access to Healthcare and Medicines: Corporate Responsibility” The Interfaith Centre on Corporate Responsibility Conference - New York, New York Topic: The successes and challenges facing prevention, care and treatment programs for HIV/AIDS in India.
• “Access to HIV/AIDS Medications: Local & Global Dimensions” University of Chicago - Chicago, Illinois Topic: The current situation of India-manufactured generic medicines.
• “Access to Medicines: Borderless Disparities” Emory University - Atlanta, Georgia Topic: Global access to medicines and highlighted disparities. (As part of a speaker’s tour with Matt Kavanagh, Executive Director of Global Justice coordinated by the Student Global AIDS Campaign)

• “Access to Medicines; Crisis Policy, Action” Kefa Café - Silver Springs, Maryland Topic: The HIV Crisis in India as well as international and Indian policies affecting access to generic medicines.
• “Developing Real Interventions for Real People”

University of Michigan Medical School - Ann Arbor, Michigan Topic: Domestic and international HIV/AIDS issues and interventions.

• Ecumenical Advocacy Conference - Arlington, Virginia Topic: US support on HIV/AIDS issues vital to the world’s poorest children.
• “Global Access to HIV/AIDS Medications: Local and Global Dimensions”

Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine - Blacksburg, Virginia Topic: The crisis of AIDS in developing countries, focusing on the influence of governmental policies on HIV control and research. (As part of HIV/AIDS lecture series and the Virginia Tech Women’s Month celebration)

• “Global Access to Medicines” Guilford College - Greensboro, North Carolina
• University of North Carolina - Durham, North Carolina Topic: Global access to medicines and highlighted disparities. (As part of a speaker’s tour with Matt Kavanagh, Executive Director of Global Justice coordinated by the Student Global AIDS Campaign)
• “Global Combat Against AIDS”

University of California at San Diego - San Diego, California Topic: Panel discussion organized by Udai, a student organization at UCSD

• “Global Health Equity” RESULTS International Conference
• “Global Trade and Access to Lifesaving Drugs” AIDS Healthcare Foundation - Washington, DC Topic: How to ensure that global trade agreements protect intellectual property and medical innovation, without placing barriers on access to lifesaving medicines and becoming a hindrance in the fight against global epidemics, such as HIV/AIDS.
• “Has the Response to HIV/AIDS Done More Harm or Good?” The Lancet, XVI International AIDS Conference - Toronto, Canada Topic: Panelist with David Barr, the Tides Foundation; Ambassador Mark Dybol, PEPFAR; and David Wilson, World Bank.
• “Health Care Systems in India and Access to Essential Medicines” University of New Orleans - New Orleans, Louisiana
• “Health Care Systems in India and Access to Essential Medicines” Florida State University - Tallahassee, Florida Topic: HIV/AIDS issues and the importance of making comprehensive primary care the top priority in local, national, and international policy-making.
• “Health Care: Women & Access”

University of Maryland - College Park, Maryland Topic: Access to health care and the barriers women face

• “Health for All is a Global Call” University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• “HIV/AIDS and Economic Development” Group Against Poverty and AIDS (GAP-A) - Washington, DC Topic: HIV/AIDS and its impact on poverty and economic development.
• “HIV/AIDS in India, Crisis, Policy and Action” Marquette University - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• “HIV/AIDS in India: Local and Global Dimensions”

University of Notre Dame Law School - South Bent, Indiana Topic: The magnitude of the HIV/AIDS problem, causes (national as well as international such as privatization of health by World Bank mandate), implications for rest of the world, international financial institutions and access to medicines/affordable health care in developing countries (recent changes in Patents Act in India), and right to health perspective.

• “HIV/AIDS in India: Local & Global Dimensions.” University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Michigan Topic: The international and domestic response to HIV/AIDS in India.

• “HIV/AIDS and the Looming Crisis of Access to Medicines” The Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University - Durham, North Carolina Topic: Access to HIV/AIDS medicines, second-line treatments in Africa, patent laws affecting access to medicines, and her advocacy efforts on the issue.
• “Integrating Maternal & Newborn Health: Need, Challenges and Opportunities” Annual Advanced Practice Neonatal Forum - Washington DC
• “Intellectual Property Rights & Access to Essential Medicines: Indian Patents Act.” Johns Hopkins University - Baltimore, Maryland
• “International HIV Problems & Intervention”

University of Michigan Medical School - Ann Arbor, Michigan Topic: The scope of international HIV problems and interventions.

• Keynote National AIDS Conference, Minnesota
• “Policy debate about supporting low-prevalence countries” Children & HIV/AIDS: Action Now, Action How - An International Symposium - Mexico City, Mexico
• “Professional Association Strengthening” Women Deliver 2016 - Copenhagen, Denmark
• “Quality Healthcare in Developing Countries: Sustainability, The New Imperative” University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business - South Bent, Indiana Topic: How to be more effective in delivering health care to the poor who suffer from HIV/AIDS, malaria and other serious illnesses and spoke to an audience of 40 students.
• Session “Perspectives on Borderless Health Disparities” American Medical Student Association’s 57th Annual Convention “Health Care Justice: Pursuing the Dream of a Healthy Society” - Arlington, Virginia Topic: Health disparities and HIV/AIDS global response.
• “The International Response: Global & Local Dimensions” South Asian Studies Conference “What’s Indian about HIV/AIDS in India?” - Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia Topic: The link between economics, culture and systems of representation and how they converged to shape HIV/AIDS in India. The “Indian-ness” of HIV/AIDS and explored comprehensive, context-sensitive responses to public health threats.
• “The International Response to HIV: Gender Implications”

Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine - Blacksburg, Virginia Topic: Gender-based inequalities as common practice in the support provided to AIDS patients. (As part of HIV/AIDS lecture series and the Virginia Tech Women’s Month celebration)

• “Working Towards Vaccine Equity in Immunization Agenda 2030” Gavi CSO Constituency
• UNICEF and Global Action for Children (GAC) Children and AIDS Advocacy Summit - Brussels, Belgium Topic: Develop a joint advocacy action plan

• “Universal Access to Treatment: What Will it Take?” University of Florida - Gainesville, Florida Topic: Global access to medicines and highlighted disparities. (As part of a speaker’s tour with Matt Kavanagh, Executive Director of Global Justice coordinated by the Student Global AIDS Campaign)