Sharada Ramanathan started her professional in 1984 as the secretary of the  Society For the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst
Youth (SPIC- MACAY), Chennai, a national movement for the awareness of Indian art and culture. She founded the Tamil Nadu chapter of the SPIC-MACAY
and also established the movement in all the four Southern states of India, and went on to be appointed its Chairperson in 1990.
Sharada served Child Relief & You (CRY), a non-profit philanthropy for disadvantaged children iin 1990-91. In the period 1991-94 she held the post
of consultant, arts and culture program at the Ford Foundation, Delhi and was instrumental in setting up the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA), a
national grant-making body in the arts, in Bangalore. On managing the final stages of setting up of the IFA including nominating the first board of
trustees, Sharada held the post of senior program director for the period February 1994 to August 1995 in the same organization.
As the Program Officer, Media, Arts & Culture at the Ford Foundation, Delhi, (1995-2001) Sharada responsibilities were that of conceptualization,
program development and implementation in the field of Media, Arts and Culture in south Asia, with a focus on India and building on the generic
emphases of the Media Arts and Culture program, including capacity building, support for innovations, networking including new partnerships, and
developing the field of arts and culture as a resource for development.

Ms Sharada Ramanathancompleted her first film drectorial venture, an Indian feature called called Sringaram -- Dance of Love, on the temple dancer of  the 1920s and her road to emancipation using her art as her strength. She also writes and publishes on the subject of culture in newspapers, magazines and journals in India and abroad.