Manjula Kumar is the Program Director of the Smithsonian Institution. She is an educator, director, actor, and activist with a strong belief in the arts as a vehicle for promoting peace and harmony. Through her numerous productions she has tried to build bridges of cross-cultural understanding between diverse communities. She is the recipient of the 2009 Gandhi Fellowship of Peace Award. Born in Kolkata, India, educated in Delhi and London; now in her third incarnation, she lives and works in the Washington Metropolitan area.