
Kurup, Ritika
PhD Candidate
Bio
Ritika Sharma Kurup, LISW-S is a practitioner-scholar with over two decades of experience in leading several collective action efforts in the U.S. and India.
As a community-engaged researcher, her scholarship is centered in understanding how community-led place-based practices can facilitate sustainable systems change. Ritika’s approach to her scholarship is guided by – (1) A focus on addressing the grand challenges that perpetuate structural inequalities in our world. (2) A commitment to center the voices of community residents and practitioners who are closest to these challenges. (3) A desire to advance practice and policy that tangibly improve opportunities and outcomes for marginalized communities.
During her time at the College, Ritika has served as a research associate on several projects including Immigrants Make Columbus, YS Equity – a place-based guaranteed Income Pilot, Ohio START, and the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund’s implementation of Community Collaborations to Strengthen and Preserve Families and Family Support through Primary Prevention program, a federal demonstration funded by the United States Children’s Bureau. Additionally, funded through a grant from the Office of International Affairs (OIA), Ritika led a research study to understand the evolution of place-based change in Canada and Australia. During the course of her OIA sponsored research, she spent time with over 300 place-based practitioners at ChangeFest 2024 in the Latji Latji Country in Mildura, Victoria as a visiting researcher.
Fueled by a commitment to translate her research to practice, Ritika continues to work as a practitioner and works as a facilitator, coach, and partner alongside several community-based, national, and international coalitions. Previously, Ritika served as Senior Director of Learning and Activation at StriveTogether, a national nonprofit network of 70 communities across the country. Before joining StriveTogether, Ritika was Director of Early Learning for Learn to Earn Dayton, where she led numerous community-wide learning initiatives and led the launch and development of the community’s education race equity agenda. She also established Dayton’s first out-of-school network, which served over 1,000 students, and led Montgomery County’s Grade-Level Reading Campaign, which was recognized as an All-America City Award winner in 2017.
Ritika was inducted in the College of Social Work’s Hall of Fame in 2021, and named a Children and Family Fellow by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in 2016. She has master’s degrees in social work from both the University of Delhi and The Ohio State University and a master’s in public policy from Ohio State.
Research Interests
Place-based change
Power and autonomy in economic-mobility
Community-ledchange
Collective impact
Systems change