Passion for transforming
individual strengths into team spirit.
Passion for transforming
individual strengths into team spirit.
Advisory Board
Ashish Dhawan
Founder-CEO
Ashish Dhawan is the Founder-CEO of The Convergence Foundation (TCF). Ashish is also the Founding Chairperson of Ashoka University and Central Square Foundation and was recently appointed to the governing board of the Bill and Mellinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). Before his second career as a philanthropist, Ashish was among India’s most successful private equity investors. He founded and ran ChrysCapital, the country’s leading private equity firm. Ashish graduated from Yale University and received his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Manisha Dhawan
Founding Trustee
Manisha is a Founding Trustee and Advisory Board Member of The Convergence Foundation (TCF), which is focused on accelerating India’s economic growth and development. Manisha wears several hats at TCF. She is an ardent supporter of women’s empowerment and serves as an Advisor to The Udaiti Foundation. She is also passionate about making quality education accessible to school-going children in India, and is a Trustee at the Central Square Foundation. She is a Core Founder of Accelerate Indian Philanthropy, which promotes strategic philanthropic giving. Prior to her role across TCF’s portfolio organisations, she taught English as a second language in economically weaker sections of the society. Manisha completed her M.A. from Lady Shri Ram College and M. Phil from Delhi University.
Team
Adhiraaj Anand
Operating Analyst
Adhiraaj Anand
Operating Analyst
Prior to joining the Convergence Foundation in 2022, Adhiraaj completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago, worked at an education consulting company in China for four years, and completed a master’s in international affairs at the National University of Singapore.
Afreen Sharif
Senior Program Associate,
Talent Acquisition
Afreen Sharif
Senior Program Associate, Talent Acquisition
As part of the Talent Acquisition team, Afreen seeks out exceptional talent for our portfolio organizations. After graduating in finance from Jai Hind College, Mumbai, Afreen pursued the Gandhi Fellowship for two years and then served as a Project Coordinator at Peepul India.
Ashish Dhawan
Founder CEO
Ashish Dhawan
Founder CEO
Ashish Dhawan is the Founder-CEO of The Convergence Foundation (TCF). Ashish is also the Founding Chairperson of Ashoka University and Central Square Foundation and was recently appointed to the governing board of the Bill and Mellinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). Before his second career as a philanthropist, Ashish was among India’s most successful private equity investors. He founded and ran ChrysCapital, the country’s leading private equity firm. Ashish graduated from Yale University and received his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Ashma
Senior Program Manager,
Organization Development
Ashma
Senior Program Manager, Organization Development
Ashma supports portfolio organisations in setting processes, building culture, and with overall organization development. She completed her Bachelors in Engineering. After 2 years of working in the engineering field, Ashma moved to the development sector through Teach For India Fellowship as a Program Manager. She then moved to supporting schools in Delhi and Maharashtra through a 3 year stint with LEAD Schools. After that, consulted with DCPCR and is now with the TCF family.
Bikkrama Daulet Singh
Operating Partner
Bikkrama Daulet Singh
Operating Partner
Bikkrama Daulet Singh is an Operating Partner at The Convergence Foundation and works closely with two of our portfolio organisations: Air Pollution Action Group (A-PAG) and Central Square Foundation (CSF). His role involves supporting the leadership team towards sharpening the strategy and driving growth. He is an MBA from INSEAD and holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He went on to work as a management consultant with Accenture in India on a variety of projects.
Dinesh Kumar
Facilities Manager
Dinesh Kumar
Facilities Manager
Dinesh Kumar joined TCF as Facilities Manager in April 2022. He also manages administrative support functions regarding budgeting, space planning, building safety and compliance. He has a graduate degree in Economics and History from Delhi university and a diploma in Hotel Management from IHM Delhi. Earlier, he was with firms like Rockwell Automation, Headstrong, Accenture, and Omicron Energy Solutions.
Mahima Goburdhun
Program Associate,
Strategic Communications
Mahima Goburdhun
Program Associate, Strategic Communications
Mahima joined TCF in 2022 as a Program Associate, Strategic Communications. Earlier, she was with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, India as an Editorial and Communications Coordinator, where she also produced the podcast ‘Interpreting India’. Mahima graduated in Internationals Relations and English in 2020 from Ashoka University,
Nupur Bhargava
Head,
Organization Development
Nupur Bhargava
Head, Organization Development
Nupur Bhargava leads Organization Development at TCF. Nupur has a proven track record of implementing strategic improvements, creating productive partnerships, developing, and implementing programs focused on achieving organization goals, and human resource management in the corporate and not for profit sector. She began her career in Human Resources with PepsiCo India where she gained rich and diverse experience and expertise in all areas of Human Resources including talent acquisition, compensation and benefits, inclusion and diversity. In 2010, Nupur chose to work in the development sector and served as a key member of the Leadership team at the Akanksha Foundation. She played an integral role in building and nurturing Akanksha’s school project as the organization grew from 7 schools to 20 schools in 7 years. Over the last few years, she has provided HR support and guidance to Central Square Foundation and other organizations in the TCF portfolio and has also worked with Ashoka University and the Indian School of Development Management.
She holds a Masters degree in Organizational Psychology and a Masters in Business Administration with a specialization in Human Resources.
Piyush Doshi
Operating Partner
Piyush Doshi
Operating Partner
Piyush Doshi works on shaping and scaling TCF’s portfolio organizations like AIP and FED. Until recently, he worked at Faering Capital as a Director in the portfolio team. Before this he worked in Gurgaon as a Partner with PwC (Strategy&). He has over 20 years of consulting experience with PWC, Booz Allen and BCG where he helped clients develop and implement growth strategies or improve business performance. He also worked as an Executive Search Consultant with Spencer Stuart in the Industrial practice for 7 years. He graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from Delhi College of Engineering and subsequently did his MBA from IIM Ahmedabad in 1996.
Praveen Khanghta
Head, Strategy, Investments,
Portfolio Development
Praveen Khanghta
Head, Strategy, Investments,
Portfolio Development
Radhika Kalra
Lead, Strategy, Investments,
Portfolio Development
Radhika Kalra
Lead, Strategy, Investments, Portfolio Development
Radhika is a Lead on the Strategy, Investments, and Portfolio Development team at The Convergence Foundation, working to build TCF and provide strategic and operational support to new nonprofits in different sectors across the social impact space. Previously, she worked on the Credit Strategy team at BlackRock in New York, specializing in Leveraged Finance portfolio construction. Radhika graduated from Northwestern University in 2017 and has completed two levels of the CFA.
Shantanu Bhanja
Operating Partner
Shantanu Bhanja
Operating Partner
Shantanu Bhanja joined TCF as an Operating Partner. In his last role since 2018, Shantanu was CEO of the Pidilite Consumer Products Business. Shantanu has earlier worked for more than 15 years with Reckitt, in India, at the Global Headquarters in the UK, and in Europe across brands like Dettol, Harpic and Lysol. Post Reckitt, Shantanu spent 10 years at HT Media Group, heading Marketing for Hindustan Times, and then as Business Head, and thereafter as the CEO of HT Digital Streams, leading all the Digital Content businesses across the HT Media Group. Shantanu is an Operating Partner at The Convergence Foundation. He also mentors Digital Start-ups and is a Visiting Faculty at Ashoka University, both with a view to leveraging his experience and learnings in Corporate life to create impact at scale.
Shyna Sehgal
Executive Assistant
to the Founder-CEO
Shyna Sehgal
Executive Assistant to the Founder-CEO
Shyna works at The Convergence Foundation as an Executive Assistant to the Founder-CEO. She was earlier a part of Central Square Foundation, which she joined in September 2018. Prior to CSF, she was based out of Dubai and worked for the university of Wollongong – UAE for over 9 years.
Subramanian KR
Operating Partner
Subramanian KR
Operating Partner
Subramanian has extensive management experience in large multi-national organizations, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, and Whirlpool home appliances. He has lived and worked in diverse cultural environments of India, Middle East, Europe, Australia, and East Asia. In a career spanning 30 years, Subra held various senior leadership roles, successfully developing & executing business strategies, and overseeing functions and business units to deliver profitable growth. Subra holds an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur and a Bachelors in Technology from IIT-BHU.
Tania Goklany
Senior Manger,
Strategic Communications
Tania Goklany
Senior Manger, Strategic Communications
Tania drives the strategic communications initiatives at TCF and its portfolio organisations. She’s the go-to for everything ranging from developing content, to devising branding and communications strategies, to running social media campaigns. She has 10 years of experience and has previously worked at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India; NDTV; and Hindustan Times.
Vishal Doshi
Head, Talent Acquisition
Vishal Doshi
Head, Talent Acquisition
Vishal Doshi heads Talent Acquisition for TCF and our portfolio foundations / organisations. Previously, he built expertise in the service and manufacturing industries. His journey has been that of an entrepreneur and for the past 2 decades he has been leading recruitments for CPG, manufacturing, and the services sector. His expertise lies in building teams, setting up the required processes, and managing stakeholders internally as well as externally.
Portfolio Leaders
Anu Prasad
Founder-CEO,
India Leaders for the Social Sector
Anu Prasad
Founder-CEO,
India Leaders for the Social Sector
Anu Prasad is the Founder & CEO of India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS), a Delhi-based non-profit that works to strengthen the leadership talent pool in the social sector. Prior to setting up ILSS in 2017, Anu was the founding Deputy Dean of the prestigious Young India Fellowship (YIF) and a founding member of Ashoka University, India’s first liberal arts university. Before joining the social sector, Anu held leadership roles at multinational companies such as American Express and TNT.
Ashish Dhawan
Founder-CEO,
The Convergence Foundation
Ashish Dhawan
Founder-CEO,
The Convergence Foundation
Ashish Dhawan is the Founder-CEO of The Convergence Foundation (TCF). Ashish is also the Founding Chairperson of Ashoka University and Central Square Foundation and was recently appointed to the governing board of the Bill and Mellinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). Before his second career as a philanthropist, Ashish was among India’s most successful private equity investors. He founded and ran ChrysCapital, the country’s leading private equity firm. Ashish graduated from Yale University and received his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Desh Gaurav Sekhri
Co-Founder,
Sports and Society Accelerator
Desh Gaurav Sekhri
Co-Founder,
Sports and Society Accelerator
Desh is a dual-qualified lawyer in New York and India. His areas of specialization include sports policy, sports governance/law, and access to justice related policy. Before co-founding the Sports and Society Accelerator, his most recent position was as Officer on Special Duty for Sports and Law at NITI Aayog, Government of India, where he also headed Access to Justice.
Karthik Muralidharan
Co-Founder and Scientific Director, Centre for Effective Governance in Indian States
Karthik Muralidharan
Co-Founder and Scientific Director, Centre for Effective Governance in Indian States
For the last twenty years, Karthik has led several large-scale field research projects in India spanning education, health, and social welfare programmes, and has focused on improving the quality of public service delivery and the effectiveness of public spending. He has co-founded CEGIS to help state governments improve the quality of governance and public expenditure based on high-quality research evidence and a deep understanding of ground realities of public service delivery in India. Born and raised in India, Karthik earned an A.B. in economics (summa cum laude) from Harvard, an M.Phil. in economics from Cambridge (UK), and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard. He is currently the Tata Chancellor’s Professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego. He is also a Board Member and co-chair of the Education programme at the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL).
Kunal Jhunjhunwala
Co-Founder and Trustee,
ChangeInkk Foundation
Kunal Jhunjhunwala
Co-Founder and Trustee,
ChangeInkk Foundation
Kunal Jhunjhunwala, Managing Director & Principal Founder, Airpay Payment Services Pvt. Ltd,is a serial entrepreneur who was diagnosed with Dyslexia at age 10. In spite of his academic struggles,he incorporated his first start-up in the tech sector at the young age of 14, which he sold off for a profit. A graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology, he has a TRIUM Global Executive MBA.
Mohit Beotra
Director,
Air Pollution Action Group
Mohit Beotra
Director,
Air Pollution Action Group
Mohit is the Director of A-PAG, an organization fighting the air pollution crisis in India. Over 28 years, he has had vast experience across multiple advertising and marketing roles. He was Chief Brand Officer of Airtel before deciding to branch off on his own. He is now keen to make an impact in a way that can genuinely improve the lives of millions of people. He is an alumnus of IIM, Kolkata.
Nandan Kamath
Co-Founder,
Sports and Society Accelerator
Nandan Kamath
Co-Founder,
Sports and Society Accelerator
Nandan specialises in sports law, technology law, governance and regulation. He is the Founder and Principal Lawyer at LawNK, co-founder and Managing Trustee of GoSports Foundation, a National Award-winning organization for elite athletes, and co-founder of the Sports and Society Accelerator. He was involved with drafting the Target Olympic Podium Scheme, was a member of the committee to re-draft the National Sports Code that sets the standard for governance of national sports federations, of the NITI Aayog constituted Working Group for the policy paper on a national Justice Stack, and of several sports committees at the state and central government level.
Noopur Jhunjhunwala
Co-Founder and Trustee,
ChangeInkk Foundation
Noopur Jhunjhunwala
Co-Founder and Trustee,
ChangeInkk Foundation
Noopur Jhunjhunwala, a parent advocate for a teenage dyslexic daughter, is a life-long advocate of building equitable and inclusive societies. She has extensive experience in impacting national & global goals for disability rights, women empowerment, financial inclusion, education and digital inclusion. Through her extensive experience of working across multiple geographies globally, with Intergovernmental Organizations, State Governments as well as with several Government of India Ministries, she has successfully influenced regulation, negotiated financially sustainable multi- stakeholder partnerships and implemented innovative business models to drive large scale impact.
Rahul Ahluwalia
Director,
Foundation for Economic Development
Rahul Ahluwalia
Director,
Foundation for Economic Development
Prior to co-founding FED, Rahul led the work on governance at Central Square Foundation. Before that he worked on Economic policy formulation and research at NITI Aayog, the Indian government’s policy think tank. He also worked at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on identifying ways to improve governance in India. He has previously carried out research on economic and social sector policy at Brookings, IFMR and the Indian School of Business, and also worked in the corporate sector in consulting and marketing roles.
Rumjhum Chatterjee
Co-Founder and Trustee,
The Infravision Foundation
Rumjhum Chatterjee
Co-Founder and Trustee,
The Infravision Foundation
Rumjhum Chatterjee is one of the co-founders of Feedback Infra Group. Before her retirement, she served as the Group Managing Director and Head – Human Capital. She is the Chairperson of the Feedback Foundation Charitable Trust. Rumjhum pioneered the practice of community led interventions for R&R post land acquisition for infrastructure projects. She plays an active role in the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and served as the first woman Chairperson for CII Northern Regional Council (2016-17). She has a deep interest in women’s empowerment. She served as Chairperson of CII’s Women Exemplar Program 2015-17 and has been part of the Jury of the Selection Committee of the same program since its inception in 2005. She also served as the Chair of the CII National Women’s Empowerment Committee for several years. She is the Vice Chairperson and a member of the Governing Body of HelpAge India – India’s largest not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the welfare of the aged. She is also a Trustee of HDFC Schools.
Shaveta Sharma-Kukreja
CEO and MD,
Central Square Foundation
Shaveta Sharma-Kukreja
CEO and MD,
Central Square Foundation
Shaveta is the CEO & Managing Director at Central Square Foundation. She has been part of the founding team at CSF since 2012. Shaveta leads CSF’s work on FLN (Foundational Literacy & Numeracy), Early Childhood Education (ECE) and EdTech, and oversees the organization’s institution building. She is passionate to bring to life CSF’s vision of quality learning for all children and government-led system reform for scale and sustainability.
Shaveta is on the advisory board of Language and Learning Foundation Foundation (LLF), Madhi Foundation and Saarthi Education. She is also on the advisory board of India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS) in line with her commitment for high-quality leadership for the social sector. Another passion area for her is gender, and she is a founding mentor to The Udaiti Foundation that is working on women economic empowerment. Prior to CSF, she worked at The Boston Consulting Group and Citibank. She has also been a visiting faculty member in the Human Resources and Organizational Behavior disciplines at many business Shaveta earned her bachelor’s degree in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi, and holds an MBA in Management from IIM, Bangalore.
Subrahmanyam R
Secretary, Centre for Research in Schemes and Policies
Subrahmanyam R
Secretary, Centre for Research in Schemes and Policies
Subrahmanyam R. came to CRISP after serving as an IAS officer for 37 years. He has worked on several issues in the social sector including tribal development, rural development, poverty alleviation, education and social justice. For 4½ years, he served as Secretary to Government of India heading Higher Education and the Social Justice departments. He was involved in redesigning the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) by bringing in IT tools for timely delivery, improved outcomes and real-time monitoring of the programme. Promoted instruments for transparency and accountability in programme implementation including social audits. As Education Secretary, Government of India, led the preparation of the National Education Policy 2020 along with academicians and experts. His areas of expertise include rural development, education, large programme design and innovation. He has established several institutions for improved programme delivery such as Higher Education Financing Agency, National Testing Agency. He is a graduate in Economics from Madras Christian College, Postgraduate in macroeconomics from University of Bradford and MBA in International Business from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.
Varun Aggarwal
Co-Founder, Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology
Varun Aggarwal
Co-Founder, Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology
An entrepreneur and researcher, Varun is passionate about building science. He earned his Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Delhi and later his master’s degree at MIT. He cofounded Aspiring Minds in 2008. His work has led to the world’s first machine-learning-based assessment of coding skills and the world’s first automated motor skills assessment. Varun is a promoter and an advocate of data science. In conjunction with colleagues, he runs ML India to build India’s data science ecosystem, and has organized the world’s first data science camp for children.
Vandana Bhatnagar
President,
The Udaiti Foundation
Vandana Bhatnagar
President,
The Udaiti Foundation
Vandana Bhatnagar has worked in the development sector for over 25 years, leading large scale programs and initiatives related to skill development, water and sanitation, and women’s empowerment. Prior to her current role at Udaiti, she was Chief Program Officer at the National Skill Development Corporation, and spent a decade at the World Bank as team lead in urban water and sanitation services. Over her professional journey, Vandana has been associated with several transformational initiatives at the national and state level. She has also spent several years at an early stage of her career, in the corporate sector at Standard Chartered Bank. Vandana is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management (Calcutta).
Vijay Chadha
CEO,
Air Pollution Action Group
Vijay Chadha
CEO,
Air Pollution Action Group
Vijay has over 45 years of professional experience across fields. He served in the Indian Army for twenty years, later leading some of the marquee corporates in the travel and hospitality industry. He is the former CEO of Bharti Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Bharti Enterprises, one of India’s leading business groups. His army background has inspired many events to inculcate a sense of patriotism and integrity within him. Vijay is also the Chairman of the Managing Committee at Modern School, Barakhamba Road, one of the elite schools of India. He is a part of various National Committees in the area of Education, Skill Development and CSR. A graduate from National Defence Academy, India and the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College, Canada; Vijay went on to complete his M.Sc. in Defence Studies from Madras University.
Vijay Pingale
President, Centre for Effective Governance in Indian States
Vijay Pingale
President, Centre for Effective Governance in Indian States
Vijay comes to CEGIS with over 20 years of experience of working with government as well as the private sector. After serving as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer at Central, State, Local Body as well as PSU levels for over 14 years, Vijay Moved to EY India LLP as a Partner leading various projects in urban infrastructure and health sectors. He also has experience of working with various media organisations of Government of India for 3 years as an Indian Information Service (IIS) officer before joining IAS. Vijay is a medical doctor by training and moved into government and public-sector work to have a positive impact at a larger scale.
Vinayak Chatterjee
Co-Founder and Trustee,
The Infravision Foundation
Vinayak Chatterjee
Co-Founder and Trustee,
The Infravision Foundation
Vinayak Chatterjee co-founded Feedback Infra Pvt. Ltd. in 1990 and served as its Chairman from 1990 to 2021. Since stepping down from active management, he now devotes his time and energy to Infrastructure Policy and Advocacy; as well as to nurturing educational institutions. He is one of the leading proponents of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for developing India’s infrastructure. His more recent engagements with the Government of India relate to being a Member of the Committee on Setting up a DFI (Development Finance Institution), and a member of the Consultative Group on PPPs at NITI Aayog. In 1998, the World Economic Forum at Davos recognized him as one of the 100 Global Leaders of Tomorrow. In 2011, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad conferred on him the “Distinguished Alumnus Award”.
Yamini Atmavilas
President (Head Strategy and Research),
The Udaiti Foundation
Yamini Atmavilas
President (Head Strategy and Research),
The Udaiti Foundation
Yamini Atmavilas is a gender sector & philanthropy leader with a track record of building impactful partnerships in the philanthropic, public and social sectors for advancing gender justice. Yamini is currently President, Strategy, Data & Applied Research, at The Udaiti Foundation. Yamini spent the better part of the last decade at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where she led portfolios on Women’s Economic Empowerment, Gender Data & What Works Initiatives, and Health Systems Research & Evaluation. Yamini has also led the Gender Studies Area at the Administrative Staff College, Hyderabad providing policy research & advisory & capacity on gender policies, gender budgeting and gender data, and monitoring & evaluation initiatives across South Asia. She is widely published on gender, employment, health, education, and economic development. She has a PhD in Women’s Studies from Emory University, and lives in Bangalore.
Amitabh Jaipuria
Amitabh Jaipuria