OUR BOARD

Seeing Dasra grow in front of me has been very fulfilling. By being a part of Dasra’s growth journey, I feel I am creating meaningful impact and somewhere adding to progress at the bottom of India. I’m glad to see Dasra receiving recognition from some of the most respected foundations in the world, including the Gates Foundation. To see so many more donors acknowledge and therefore back Dasra’s model, is testament to the fact that the model works! 

Aditi Kothari Desai is an Additional Executive Director & Head of Sales and Marketing at DSP BlackRock Investment Managers Pvt Ltd. She is also the Executive Vice President, member of its Executive Committee and CSR committee. She joined Merrill Lynch’s investment banking group in New York in 1998, primarily working on M&A activities in the Financial Institutions Group. Subsequently Aditi worked in DSP Merrill Lynch as part of the fixed income sales team and later joined DSP BlackRock in 2002 (then DSP Merrill Lynch Fund Managers), working on various initiatives, including establishing an offshore fund for foreign investors.

Aditi is actively involved in social initiatives. She is the driving force behind DSP BlackRock’s WINVESTOR, an education initiative empowering women with financial knowledge. She is a member on the Advisory Board of Dasra India and also a trustee of the Hemendra Kothari Foundation and Wildlife Conservation Trust, actively involved with their educational initiatives in both urban and rural areas, as well as initiatives on saving India’s forests and wildlife.

Aditi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Sharing experienced perspectives, being unwavering ambassadors, mentoring us as founders, supporting Dasra financially and providing legal and regulatory oversight are just a few ways in which our Board has enabled us to impact more lives, nurture an inspired team and have the confidence to set ambitious goals. We are honored and grateful to have them be a part of our exciting journey.

Deval leads Dasra’s strategic philanthropy efforts, and provides foreign and domestic philanthropists with informed investment strategies for the social sector – with human lives as the center of all of its thinking. Since 1999, he has directed over USD 72 million to the Indian social sector; incubated and launched the Dasra Philanthropy Forum and Dasra Philanthropy Week; initiated the Dasra Giving Circle, India’s largest collaborative giving platform; and launched the Dasra Changemakers program, a peer-led learning platform aimed at inspiring philanthropists to take bold action to solve some of India’s most pressing problems.

Deval holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with a dual Honors degree in Business and Finance from the University of Texas, Austin, is a Cordes Fellow, and a founding board member of Magic Bus and Villgro. In 2014, he was awarded the Forbes Philanthropy Award in the 'Crossover Leaders' category for successfully transitioning from investment banking to the non-profit sector.

Our board members are leaders of industry. Over the years, they have kept us anchored through continuous engagement, constructive feedback and driving accountability towards Dasra's impact. By constantly pushing us to align strategy, people and governance, our Board enables us to be both ambitious and agile. It is extremely encouraging and reassuring to have a group of individuals that are deeply invested in Dasra’s vision, of transforming a billion lives with dignity and equity.

Neera leads Dasra’s ecosystem-building initiatives in the areas of Adolescents, Urban Sanitation, and Democracy & Governance and facilitates collaborative platforms by engaging donors, non-profits, government and other stakeholders. In 2016, she initiated the Dasra Adolescents Collaborative, an impact-driven platform that has till date united institutional funders, technical experts, government stakeholders from Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and seven social organizations to focus on four key outcomes for adolescent empowerment. She initiated and led the launch of the Dasra Social Impact Leadership Program with Harvard Business Publishing, a first-of-its-kind executive education program for social sector leaders in India.

Neera holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and is an Indian Leadership Fellow with Anantha-Aspen Institute. She is a recipient of the Canadian Governor General's Medallion for her dedication to addressing India’s critical development challenges, and the Forbes Philanthropy Award in the Crossover Leaders.