Raised in Suffolk County and residing in Nassau County, Kalpana Bhandarkar brings to the Board nearly 20 years of experience in health care and civic engagement. Kalpana has dedicated her professional career to improving access to quality health care for marginalized populations. She has worked at NYC Health + Hospitals, Maimonides Medical Center, Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, The Children's Defense Fund, and Manatt Health. Kalpana also has a long history of participating in voter registration, voter outreach and canvassing related to local, state and presidential elections.

Kalpana holds an undergraduate degree from Tufts University, A Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a Masters in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.