Welcome to the Transform Impact Series, where we share the stories of people and organizations making a real difference in the world of work. The ones whose actions leave a mark, creating better workplaces, stronger communities, and a future where business and purpose work together. Each feature takes you inside their journey. You’ll see the challenges they’ve faced, the choices they’ve made, and the people whose lives have changed because of their work. Let’s hear from Sahana Mukherjee, Founder & President at Unveiled, to see how they’re making their mark on the world.
About Founder & President Sahana Mukherjee
Sahana Mukherjee is the Founder & President of Unveiled: Bridging the Gap to Sponsorship, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to enabling equitable access to career advancement by reimagining how sponsorship, visibility, and opportunity show up in the workplace. Boldly disrupting how career development happens by operationalizing sponsorship in ways no other organization has, Unveiled is the first and only platform intentionally designed to transform sponsorship from a behind-the-scenes privilege into a structured, accessible pathway.
Through groundbreaking programs like Unwind with Unveiled, one-of-a-kind masterclasses and workshops, and cross-sector collaborations, Unveiled is pioneering a new model for equity-driven leadership development, one rooted in community, visibility, and intentional sponsorship.
Sahana founded Unveiled with the belief that proximity to power should not determine access to opportunity, and that real collective change requires innovative, structural solutions.
Let’s hear from Sahana, to see what makes Unveiled’s work stand out!
Impact Vision and Inspiration
Transform: What inspired your organization to pursue this specific social impact initiative?
Sahana: Bridging the Gap to Sponsorship was born from a deep recognition that the rules of advancement were never designed for everyone. I saw too many brilliant individuals being over-mentored, under-sponsored, and structurally overlooked. Yet there wasn’t a solution in the market that was focused on operationalizing equitable access through sponsorship in the workplace. Unveiled is a response to this inequity – a bold reimagining of how access, opportunity, and influence can be redesigned to work for those feeling excluded.
Transform: How have your personal or professional experiences influenced your approach to making an impact?
Sahana: As a first-generation leader raised by a mom who taught me to fight for my values and a dad who modeled principled leadership, embedding a strong sense of agency in going after my goals, I’ve always lived at the intersection of resilience and responsibility. In founding Unveiled, I combined that lived experience with executive insight along with my learning of both engineering and human capital to architect something different – equity that’s not performative, but operationalized.
About Your Impact Project
Transform: Can you describe your project in your own words? What is the main issue it addresses?
Sahana: Unveiled is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ecosystem focused on turning potential into power by bridging the gap to sponsorship, the only organization with this focus and solution in the market. We design programs and experiences – like our flagship cohort-based program ‘Unwind with Unveiled’ based on our signature framework, CareerGPS masterclasses and workshops grounded in the real world, fireside chats, members-only events, flagship events, and more – that help talent build influence, visibility, and access. At its core, Unveiled addresses the structural exclusion embedded in career mobility systems by empowering the people who are trying to break those invisible barriers with practical toolkits and actionable strategies.
Transform: Why is this particular cause or social issue significant to you or your organization?
Sahana: Because it is tiring to be invited to the table only to be muted. Unveiled is significant because it dares to reframe the narrative: we move beyond inspiration to infrastructure – offering the tools, networks analyses, and strategies people need to rewrite their own leadership stories. We are addressing a critical area of the career path that remains a gap in the rest of the market.
Transform: How do you measure the success or impact of your initiative?
Sahana: We track the ripple effect: promotions, role appointments, funded ideas, speaker invitations, new partnerships sparked by our sessions, and people finally being seen as leaders – not just doers. Impact isn’t just in numbers – it’s in trajectory shifts and people achieving the goals they set for themselves. We also measure community growth, member satisfaction, and how many former beneficiaries become sponsors themselves. That’s the cycle we’re building.
Journey and Milestones
Transform: Share a standout moment or milestone that affirmed you’re on the right path in creating meaningful impact.
Sahana: Even as a pilot program, the response we received when we launched Unveiled as a community network, with the Unwind with Unveiled cohort program, demonstrated the need for this gap to be addressed in a real way. In our 3rd year of the cohort program, we continue to see the participants go after, and achieve, the goals they set for themselves, with much more intentionality than when they started with us. At one of our other events, a participant said, “This is the first time I’ve heard someone put words to the silence I’ve been carrying for years.” That moment reminded me we’re not just building programs – we’re building language, belonging, and bridges.
Transform: What challenges have you encountered during your journey, and how did you overcome them?
Sahana: Building a movement without institutional funding or a blueprint was daunting. But we leaned into community power. Every volunteer, advisor, and cohort member chose to show up. Our strategy is to co-create, listen deeply, and lead from integrity – even when it’s not easy. Everyone volunteering their time and expertise to Unveiled is doing this because they are passionate about our mission and the difference we make in people’s careers. We are writing our own playbook, which unveils the way career advancement works, so that individuals can navigate their career trajectory with informed strategies. However, creating a nonprofit and setting goals for our growth is completely new, so welcoming input from people who have insight and taking their guidance, learning at every step, has been instrumental in our continued impact and growth efforts.
Team and Community
Transform: Who are some of the key people who have been instrumental in bringing your impact project to life, and why?
Sahana: Our board, cohort advisory committee, and program support are all volunteers – proof that when people believe in the mission, they bring their whole selves. Every strategic advisor who lent their credibility, every member who chose vulnerability, every individual who donated to further our mission, helped turn Unveiled into a movement.
Transform: How has community involvement shaped the direction or success of your project?
Sahana: Unveiled is community-built. Their needs shaped our programs, their feedback refined our strategy, and their advocacy expanded our reach. We don’t just build for people – we build with them.
Transform: How do you build and maintain enthusiasm within your team and community for ongoing social impact efforts?
Sahana: We celebrate small wins as loudly as big ones. We spotlight community stories, elevate emerging voices, and create space for reflection and realignment. Most importantly, we always go back to our “why.”
Innovation and Strategy
Transform: What innovative approaches or strategies have you used to enhance the effectiveness of your social impact?
Sahana: We blur the lines between content, coaching, and community. From our “From Silent to Seen” masterclass to exclusive cross-industry cohorts, we embed equity into career navigation tools – translating insight into influence. And we do it all with high production value, because excellence is our fulfillment. Especially with our collective drive in volunteering our time and expertise beyond our ‘day jobs’, every person is focused on driving real impact in helping others navigate their careers with success and transparency to own the game.
Transform: How do you stay informed and adapt your strategies to maintain relevance and effectiveness?
Sahana: By listening deeply. We host strategic advisory meetings, scan trends across sectors, and keep a pulse on policy shifts. And I personally stay active in leadership networks, conferences, and collaborations that stretch my thinking and fuel cross-functional learning.
Transform: Can you share a surprising insight or learning you’ve discovered through your work on this initiative?
Sahana: One surprising insight: People don’t just want safe spaces – they want brave ones. The vulnerability we see in our programs is not weakness – it’s strategic, healing, and catalytic. While not surprising, it validates what I had hoped for – people want real, practical ways to dismantle barriers. Everything we do is based on research and data, but the difference we are making is translating it into a blueprint that people can apply in their context.
“Impact is sustained by relationships, not just ideas –
change moves through people.”
Lessons and Advice
Transform: What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned from leading a social impact project?
Sahana: You don’t need permission to build what doesn’t exist yet. Start where you are, build with what you have, and let purpose outpace perfection.
Transform: What advice would you offer others who want to start or grow their own social impact initiatives?
Sahana: Build for impact, not applause. Stay close to the community you serve. And remember, credibility comes from consistency – especially when no one’s watching. Our focus from Day 1 and almost 3 years into our journey has been on impact – how many people showed up with more confidence and impact in telling their story, and whether they are able to strategically navigate their network to gain access to opportunities they want. Whether it is impacting 1 person or 100 people, it makes a difference because it’s changing that person’s career trajectory, their life.
Transform: How do you navigate setbacks or difficult moments in pursuing meaningful social change?
Sahana: By anchoring in mission. I return to our origin story, I look at the faces of those we’ve impacted, and I remember: slow progress is still progress. And most importantly, I lean on my community, ask for help, and magic unfolds in the way everyone shows up for each other.
Future Vision
Transform: Where do you see your impact project in one year, and what are your long-term goals?
Sahana: In one year, we’ll have published our first book, scaled our membership tiers, introduced mission-aligned programming, and expanded our masterclass offerings through strategic partnerships. Long-term, we envision an equity-centered leadership accelerator that redefines what it means to rise, integrating the understanding of sponsorship and equitable access in mainstream dialogue to help everyone drive change in their own sphere of influence.
Transform: Are there new projects, partnerships, or initiatives you’re excited about launching soon?
Sahana: Yes – we’re exploring cross-sector strategic partnerships to embed our offerings into various communities and organizations along with preparing to launch a behind-the-scenes experience for our book. We’re looking at strategic collaborations to scale our offerings for our members, while continuing to raise funds to make resources accessible to a wider population. We’re also building a speaker series amplifying community thought leaders and have an exciting pipeline for this year!
Transform: How do you envision your impact evolving to continue making a difference?
Sahana: We’re evolving from a grassroots network into a replicable model of equitable leadership development – scaling not just reach, but outcomes. The goal is to democratize access to influence. While we have paid memberships, we continue to have ways to register for various offerings for non-members along with a lot of free events to ensure people have access to understand and feel empowered to operationalize sponsorship for career advancement.
Personal Reflections
Transform: What personally motivates or drives you in your day-to-day work creating social impact?
Sahana: I think of my parents, who never let me forget that standing up for others is a daily choice, who always embedded a sense of agency in me that if I want to do something, I should go for it. I’m driven by the belief that systems can be reimagined, and that I have the tools and strategies to architect that change.
Transform: How do you maintain balance, resilience, and motivation amidst the challenges of impact work?
Sahana: I surround myself with people who remind me who I am and the impact we drive. I take intentional pauses, practice storytelling as reflection, and treat gratitude as a strategic advantage.
Engaging Others
Transform: How can our Transform community best support your impact efforts?
Sahana: Amplify our story. Donate to our mission. Become a member and shape our next chapter with us. Share our book when it’s out. Invite us to speak, to collaborate, to co-create. And if you lead or work in an organization, bring our offerings to you to explore what equitable access could look like with us.
Transform: Can you share a memorable interaction or story that resulted directly from your social impact work?
Sahana: Several alums have shared that after going through Unwind with Unveiled, they finally had the courage to ask for what they wanted – and got it. People in our community even beyond the cohort program have shared how Unveiled has heightened their observation on sponsorship and helped them tell their story with more confidence and purpose. They credited our focus on intention, frameworks, and creating a supportive community. That’s the impact we live for.
About the Reader
Transform: Describe how an individual or organization might look or behave differently one year after engaging with your initiative.
Sahana: They’d have more clarity, more confidence, and a stronger network of purpose-driven peers. Organizations would move beyond performative equity into measurable action. Individuals would speak up more, sponsor others, and start to lead with intention – not just ambition.
Transform: After learning about your impact project, what’s one tangible step a reader could take immediately to support or replicate this impact?
Sahana: Sponsor someone. Advocate for them in rooms they’re not in, give them a chance to shine. And follow Unveiled – we offer practical, actionable ways to do that well. Better yet, get involved with us by becoming a member or donating and actively drive impact in our work.
“Proximity to power should not determine access to opportunity.”
Transform: Share three key takeaways or lessons readers should remember from your journey creating social impact.
Sahana:
1) Voice alone isn’t power – Designing for voice is. When we design with a focus on driving the right outcomes and impact, we can make a positive difference.
2) Equitable access is a team sport; there are different roles to play. Evaluate how you are playing your role(s).
3) Impact is sustained by relationships, not just ideas – Change doesn’t move through strategy decks, it moves through people.
Check out our other Transform Spotlights on the blog to learn more about our Global Ambassadors. People-First Leaders, Authors, Award Winners, and more!