Mr Avinash Datta, a leading development sector profession, serves as the Chairman of the EDR Foundation, which focuses on promoting outdoor learning for school students in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand which aims to educate students about natural and cultural heritage, as well as rural lifestyles and livelihoods. His work extends to social care and development, with a particular emphasis on education, primary health, age care, and improving the livelihoods of the rural poor.

Drawing from a diverse background in the development sector, he has been involved in institutional planning and restructuring of various non-profit organizations. Some notable organizations he worked with include the Tibet House Society, New Delhi, Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, New Delhi, UNDP/GEF (Global Environment Facility), World Pheasants Association, Mountain Indian People’s Forum and Help Age India

His educational background includes being an alumnus of St. Stephen’s College and the Law Faculty at Delhi University. Over the past thirty-seven years, he have provided advisory and consultancy services to several non-profit organizations. Some organizations include Help Age India, World Wildlife Fund-India (WWF), Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute (SICI), UNDP/GEF Small Grants India Programme, Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), and M.S. Swaminathan Foundation. He also held positions at the Pestalozzi Children’s Village (Bangalore), National Geographic Society in Washington, USA, and the Guinness Book of World Records. Within WWF, he served as a member of the Asia-Pacific International Programme Committee and Chair of the South Asia Programme.