Venky’s Bio

Venkatesh “Venky” Raghavendra is a social entrepreneur with nearly four decades of philanthropy and development experience. He has been an advisor and consultant in the areas of philanthropy, fundraising, and social entrepreneurship, successfully building global partnerships and mobilizing significant resources for national and international organizations.

Venky is currently a part of Safe Water Network, working to enable safe water to underserved communities around the world. He is also a strategic advisor to the RoundGlass Foundation, working on a holistic community development and transformation effort in Punjab. He is a resource person and trainer for the Government of India’s Ministry of Finance, and a former Advisor to the country’s National Skill Development Corporation. He is currently an Advisor to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Government of Karnataka. He is a trustee of Ashoka India, and a board member and advisor for several not-for-profits.

Venky formerly served as Managing Director of Global Partnerships at Ashoka: Innovators for the Public and promoted social entrepreneurship around the world by collaborating with business entrepreneurs and foundations. He then worked with the American India Foundation as its Chief Philanthropy Officer. He has also worked with global entities like Common Purpose.

Venky has a Masters in Social Justice from the School for International Training, Vermont and an International DBA from the Lisbon School of Economics & Management in Portugal. He teaches social entrepreneurship and innovation to graduate-level students in the United States and India, and frequently writes for the media on various social issues. In 2017, he was featured in the book “Inspiring Personalities of the World”, brought out by the Neerja Bhanot Foundation.

His latest book is CareerSense, co-authored with Sonali Shetty.