Mukesh Shende has done his masters in Social Work from TISS, Mumbai. He works for strengthening local self-governance system and livelihood of The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers through implementation of “The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. He is associated with Amhi Amchya Arogyasathi and currently monitoring projects on “Promotion of Sustainable Tribal Livelihood programme” supported by SWISSAID India and “Employability and Skill Enhancement of the Persons with Disabilities” supported by Paul Hamlyn Foundation, UK. His interest areas are empowering critical communities and leaders to protect and govern their resources. He is involved into research, documentation, program planning at the organisational level. Also he writes about issues of indigenous peoples and issues of development.