Suchitra Sarda
Graduate Student, Community and Applied Developmental Psychology
Psychology
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About
Suchitra Sarda is a Ph.D. candidate in Community and Applied Developmental Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), where she conducts research in the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Research Lab under the mentorship of Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl. Her research examines the role of mindfulness, compassion, contemplative practices, and flourishing in education, with a particular focus on the feasibility and outcomes of contemplation-based approaches for promoting student well-being in higher education. Her broader research interests include whole-school and systems approaches to social and emotional learning, Compassionate Systems Leadership, and educational transformation.
Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Suchitra spent more than two decades in educational leadership, teacher development, and systems change across India, Canada, and the United States. She is the founder of Compassionate Learning Communities (CLC), an educational consultancy that supports schools and districts in implementing Compassionate Systems, social and emotional learning, and contemplative approaches to education. She has also served as a research consultant with the Human Early Learning Partnership at the University of British Columbia, where she led the development of a province-wide Theory of Change and Evaluation Agenda for British Columbia's Compassionate Systems Leadership initiative.
Suchitra holds a Master's degree in International Educational Development from Teachers College, Columbia University, a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and is a certified Master Practitioner in the Compassionate Systems Framework through the Center for Systems Awareness at MIT. She has taught undergraduate courses in resilience and human flourishing at UIC and has contributed to multiple research projects, publications, and international conference presentations focused on contemplative education, compassion, prosocial behavior, and educational systems change.