Kalpana Jain is an award-winning journalist and author. She is the senior ethics and religion editor and Director of the Global Religion Journalism Initiative at The Conversation U.S., where she works with scholars to produce evidence-based commentary on religion.
She writes and reports on religion across the U.S. and Asia. Her work has appeared in Religion News Service, The Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Post, Vox, PRI’s The World, Sojourners, Harvard Divinity Bulletin, The Times of India, and The Wire, among others.
She authored a case study on grassroots leadership in India, centered on Gyarsi Bai, a rural woman whose work challenged local power structures. The case continues to be taught at the Harvard Kennedy School.
She holds a master’s in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School and a master’s in public administration from Harvard Kennedy School.
Earlier Work & Background
Kalpana Jain began her career as a health reporter and editor at The Times of India, where she reported on the emerging AIDS epidemic at a time when it remained largely invisible in public discourse.
Her early reporting on HIV/AIDS contributed to national visibility and policy conversations, with work that helped shape care frameworks and training initiatives across India.
Her reporting has consistently engaged with questions of social justice. Her investigations into corruption in the health sector contributed to the resignation of India’s health minister, underscoring the real-world impact of her work.
She has also worked to expand access to journalism itself, training rural girls in north India to find their voice through reporting and storytelling.
A Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, she later worked as a writer and researcher, and authored a case study on grassroots leadership in India that continues to be taught at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Kalpana Jain 