Ishita is founder and secretary of Turning Point, an NGO whose mission is to rehabilitate victims of mental illness and fight stigma. She is also director of Disha, a child guidance and care center. In both contexts, she incorporates creative play and performance as an approach that inspires confidence and joy, as well as allowing participants to transform who and how they are. Ishita is a regular advice columnist for newspapers in Calcutta and has written books and chapters on mental illness. In 2003, she received the David Feinsilver Award for her research work on family empowerment and, in 2007, the Manthan Award. Ishita hopes that The International Class will enable students to share experience and become more able “to create a new world free from agonies.”