About Asian Century Foundation

The term ‘Asian Century’ refers to the fast emerging economic and demographic influence of countries in this region on world affairs. As the global center of gravity shifts towards Asia, the Asian Century Foundation’s aim is to help deliver the promise of this century by increasing mutual understanding amongst countries to leverage each other’s knowledge and experience in socioeconomic development. We aspire to achieve this by creating avenues for collaboration and knowledge sharing among scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.

Our work is divided into two streams, Education and Knowledge & Policy.

Asian Century Foundation is funded by Indian philanthropy, and directs all its work towards socioeconomic developmental areas of priority to India and the Global South.

Our Team

Founder

Ashish Dhawan

Founder

Ashish Dhawan is an Indian private equity investor and philanthropist who founded one of India's leading private equity funds, Chrys Capital. He left his position at Chrys Capital in 2012 to found Central Square Foundation (CSF), a non-profit foundation working towards quality K12 education for all children in India. In 2014, he founded India's first liberal arts university, Ashoka University, and is the Chairman of the University’s Board. Ashish has also launched the Indian School of Development Management, an institution focused on creating development managers for the social sector. Ashish graduated from Yale University and received his MBA from Harvard Business School. Ashish is currently the Chair of Harvard’s India Research Center, is on the Global Advisory Board for Harvard Business School, and is a Sterling Fellow at Yale University.

Advisory Board

Shivshankar Menon

Advisor

Shivshankar Menon is an Indian diplomat who served as the National Security Adviser of India under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He has previously served as the Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. Between 2000 and 2003 he was the Ambassador of India to China, prior to which he was the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka.

Vijay Keshav Gokhale

Advisor

Vijay Keshav Gokhale is an Indian diplomat and former Foreign Secretary of India. He served as India’s Ambassador to China (2016-2017), High Commissioner to Malaysia (2010-2013) , and also Director (China and East Asia) and Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Raj Jain

Advisor

Raj Jain has been at the helm of some of the largest institutions in the world, including his tenure as CEO of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Limited (The Times Group) and President & CEO of Walmart India. He is the founder of Bounce Inc. Over his 4 decades of experience, he has at different times been served on the boards of American Chamber of Commerce & Industry, HOPE Foundation and Advertising Standards Council of India.

Rajat M. Nag

Advisor

Rajat M. Nag is concurrently a Distinguished Fellow at India’s National Council of Applied Economic Research, Delhi and at the Emerging Markets Forum, Washington DC. He was the Managing Director General of the Asian Development Bank during 2006-2013. He served as the Chair, Act East Council of the Indian Chamber of Commerce during 2014-2019 and was a Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Development Management, Asian Institute of Management in Manila.

Suhasini Haidar

Advisor

Suhasini Haidar is the Diplomatic Editor of The Hindu, one of India’s oldest and most respected national dailies, regularly writing on foreign policy issues. Previously, she was the Foreign Affairs editor and prime time anchor for India’s leading 24-hour English news channel CNN-IBN where she presented the signature show “WorldView with Suhasini Haidar.” She has won a series of awards for her work in television as well as the Prem Bhatia, India’s most prestigious print journalism award.

Jabin Thomas Jacob

Advisor - Education Initiatives

Jabin T. Jacob is an Associate Professor at the Department of International Relations and Governance Studies, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shiv Nadar University. He is also Adjunct Research Fellow at the National Maritime Foundation and Associate Editor of the academic journal China Report. He was formerly Fellow and Assistant Director at the Institute of Chinese Studies. Jacob holds a PhD in Chinese Studies from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

K. R. Subramanian

Operating Partner, The Convergence Foundation

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 Asia. In a career spanning 30 years, Subra held various senior leadership roles, successfully developing & executing strategies, and overseeing functions and business units to deliver profitable growth. Subra has an MBA (PGDBM) from XLRI Jamshedpur and a Bachelors in Technology from IIT-BHU.

Team

Anumita Raj

Associate Director

Anumita leads the Knowledge & Policy vertical at Asian Century Foundation. She's a political analyst with over 12 years of experience working closely with governments, funders and research organizations, and leading large projects with multiple stakeholders based in different parts of the world. Anumita has an undergraduate degree in Mathematics from the University of Madras and a post-graduate degree in Diplomatic Studies from the University of Westminster.

Mahak Chhajer

Associate Director

Mahak leads the Education program at Asian Century Foundation. She is a Program Design and Innovation specialist and has worked extensively in the Indian education sector. Previously, she was a part of the Founding Projects Team at Ashoka University and created its first three batches. She graduated from Hasso-Plattner-Institute in Germany and did her BA in Economics from Hindu College, Delhi University.

Sajal Sehgal

Team Lead

Sajal is the Team Lead and former Founding Program Manager for Education at Asian Century Foundation. He has previously spearheaded launch and growth initiatives for Zomato across multiple international markets as a Global Expansion Manager, and worked with Fortune 500 clients as a Management Consultant at ZS Associates. Sajal is also a Young India Fellow from Ashoka University, and currently serves as Director of Ashoka University's Alumni Association. He holds an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering.

Smridhi Khanna

Team Lead

Smridhi is the Team Lead and former Foundaing Program Manager for Knowledge & Policy at Asian Century Foundation. She previously worked with Gartner as a Senior Specialist, creating research and advising clients of Fortune 500 companies. In addition, Smridhi has co-authored several policy research papers which have been published by the likes of NABARD and Bloomsbury Publications. Smridhi holds a master’s degree in International Business and an undergraduate degree in Commerce.

Tanya Rohatgi

Program Manager

Tanya is a Program Manager for the Education vertical at Asian Century Foundation. She graduated from Ashoka University in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations. Tanya has previously worked with Carnegie India and Brookings India, researching foreign policy, diplomacy, and regional security.

Ahaan Ghosh

Program Associate

Ahaan is a Program Associate in the Education Vertical of the Asian Century Foundation. He graduated in 2019 from Ashoka University. Previously, he has worked with Plaksha University as a part of the team building their new flagship programs, and then with École Intuit Lab, aiding them in setting up a new campus.

Akshat Khare

Program Associate

Akshat is a Program Associate for the Knowledge & Policy vertical of Asian Century Foundation. He has graduated from NMIMS University in Mumbai, one of India’s leading B-schools. He has previously worked with PRS Legislative and YLAC India, conducting policy research in areas of public health, finance, and Indian economics.

Bhavana S Resmi

Program Associate

Bhavana is a Program Associate in the Education Vertical of the Asian Century Foundation. She has a background in English and International Relations from Ashoka University and the University of Chicago, respectively. She has previously conducted research on international law and inclusive diplomacy at the American Bar Foundation and the Foundation for Law and International Affairs.

Samir Pius George

Program Associate

Samir is a Program Associate for the Knowledge and Policy Vertical of Asian Century Foundation. He graduated from the Indian School of Public Policy, and did his BA in Economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi. He has previously worked with Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement (GRAAM) and eGovernments Foundation in areas of skill development, public service delivery and state capacity.