Amita Sharma served in the Indian Administrative Service with 33 years in the development sector as public policy maker, and program manager in different fields. Some of the key posts she held included Additional Secretary, Government of India, Department of Higher Education, Joint Secretary, Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development, heading the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program from its inception, Mission Director Elementary Education, Govt of MP for universalising elementary education and adult literacy programmes in the State.

She has worked on leveraging digital design technologies for enriching educational processes and has designed and implemented digitally enabled educational projects in government elementary schools across states.

She has won several national and international awards which include ‘India Today award for Woman in public Affairs (2010)’, South-South Cooperation Excellence award2010 (UNDP-ILO), President of India’s award for highest female literacy growth in the state of MP, 2001, Common Wealth Gold Award for best Global Innovation in Public Service for Education Guarantee Scheme, Govt of MP, 1998, President of India’s award for census (1991) Post retirement she has worked as Visiting Professor, IIT Bombay (IDC Design School,)and Centre for Urban Science and Engineering (C-USE), Advisor with IPE Global Centre for Knowledge and Development and with SHAKTI Foundation , Consulting Editor for Financial Chronicle, (newspaper) and Senior Consultant, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, Govt of India.

She works on issues related to sustainable development, with focus on education, climate change, gender empowerment. She has written and published articles on education, literature and culture. She likes writing as well as translating poetry . She has written and published several short stories, a novel and six volumes of poetry, receiving the Raza award for her poetry in 1998.