In 2018, I asked myself a question while pursuing my business school education- What matters most to me and why?
Upon interacting with diverse talented students on the Indian School of Business (ISB) campus and a multitude of global professors, I realized my answer lay back home.
Empowerment!
I realized how privileged and lucky I was to be walking and studying at a top Business School founded by Industry Leaders, which was producing India’s finest Next Gen leaders.
That’s when I noticed 3 odd things about my ecosystem-
- How many professionals would not have afforded a seat on the table in the Business School because of a lack of funds?
- How many meritocratic professionals were missing in classrooms because they couldn’t crack a nerdy exam like GMAT?
- How better women’s participation could have taken place in higher education!
“That lack of representation hit me”.
Realizing this, I knew how grateful I was to be in the position as a young professional because of the education and empowering ecosystem I had received thanks to my parents’ support.
However, I knew other middle-class families in India might not be as fortunate as I was. I knew I was looking at a problem on a massive scale. India, a land which is the 5th largest economy in the world, has ~700 million youth [Source: World Population Review and UN].
At the time, unemployment rates were at a record high, leaving a large portion of India’s youth largely underrepresented in the workforce
In January 2019, using the business and management tools learned in business school, I launched Alt MBA and Fellowship Programs at Global Governance Initiative with my cofounder Naman Shrivastava (from the United Nations and Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy).
Our goal was to empower Indian and global youth in the field of education on subjects centered around Business, Management Consulting, Strategy, Product Management, Impact Investing, and Social Impact, which later expanded to tech products and startups.
GGI’s mission is to create an inclusive world for youth and women by rebuilding the 20th-century higher education landscape through our innovative Alt MBA Program.
Today GGI has more than 35 working members. They’ve all contributed to impacting and upskilling more than 5500 lives who are inquisitive, international, multifaceted, multi-cultural, open-minded, and single-minded.
We have ensured that the majority of our young delegates are women joining us via the application process open on our platform.
Our previous instructors include former Global Head of McKinsey & Co. (Rajat Gupta), former Blackrock Asia Chairman (Peter Fisher), BCG India Current Chairman (Dr. Janmejaya Sinha), and Amazon AWS South Asia President (Puneet Chandok) amongst other 90+ CEOs who come and periodically train our students in Harvard case style format.
We continue to focus on scaling the impact further and thus, GGI Alumni have joined Global Impact firms through our collaborations with 51+ employment partners including BCG, Clinton Health Access Initiative, and ThinkThrough Consulting among many others.
Today, we are transforming and revolutionizing the way young professionals build products, start their ventures and nudge public policy in the fields of healthcare, education, climate impact, and financial inclusion to name a few.
Our working members have also designed their projects in the Impact Lab. With the Impact Lab’s support, they are launching these projects such as ensuring delivery of sanitary pads amidst the pandemic, improving livable conditions of patients in hospitals, or helping migrant laborers get rehired in the labor force.
Today, I derive my happiness from empowering others.
My previous roles with BCG, International Affairs, and the Government of India have immensely helped me broaden my thought horizons further in terms of understanding market insights on product delivery, and content consumption and imbibing the ethos of Unlocking the potential of those who will lead the World.
Hence, starting the Global Governance Initiative is a means for me to work on the issues that matter most to me while empowering others.
To me empowering is more than sharing knowledge. It is about removing obstacles. It is about mentoring. It is about creating leaders. Through Global Governance Initiative we have created a community of Passionate, Ambitious, and Kind Global leaders.
We are changing Lives.
We are changing Organizations.
We are changing the World!
